New, improved phonics playing cards
10 RepliesOur new download-and-print phonics playing cards include 8 free sample decks, the first one of each of 8 sets (90 decks). These first target basic VC and CVC words, then consonant blending, consonant digraphs like ‘sh’ and ‘ng’, several sets targeting vowel spellings, then less common consonant spellings. We now have other games targeting prefixes/suffixes, syllabification and flexing sounds.
Each card deck prints on four sheets of light A4 cardboard, and can be used for any game that uses a standard deck of playing cards (e.g. the games here). We use Sounds-Write and Phonics With Feeling printable decodables as well as Phonic Books, so our card sequence dovetails well with them, but can be reorganised if teaching a different sequence.
Learners focus more on sounds and spellings when words are presented in lists, not sentences. Turning lists into games boosts attention and engagement, two of Stanislas Dehaene’s four pillars of learning.
Our revised cards have:
- Larger print words, facing in only one direction (having words facing both ways confused some kids).
- More common words – word choice based on frequency as well as sound-spelling relationships.
- More polysyllable words, including plenty of Tier 2 words.
| Deck 1 targets | Example words |
| CVC abcghimnopst | can, him, top, bag, sip |
| CVC alphabet less x and y | fed, van, kid, leg, run, jam, win, zip |
| CVC alphabet, x, y, ff, ll, ss, zz | box, yes, off, well, fuss, buzz |
| VCC & CVCC with final mp, nd, nt | and, limp, hint |
| VCC & CVCC with other CCs | act, elf, film, gust, kept, hold, pulp |
| CVCC | cross, drill, glad, plus, slam, trip |
| CCVCC | brand, crisp, frost, print, spent |
| Words with CCC | gifts, midst, script, strum, tempt |
| Deck 2 targets | Example words |
| ch/chin | chip, bunch |
| sh/ship | shot, dish |
| th/that, th/thin | them, thin, width, athletic, seventh |
| ck/back | sack, neck, stick, lock, duck |
| ng/long, n/think | sing, sink |
| qu/quick, wh/when, ve/have | quit, which, live |
| suffixes -ed, -ing | stopped, grabbed, rented, thinking |
| Word-final ch/bunch and tch/catch | lunch, catch |
| compound words | backup, chinstrap, handbag |
| final syllable le | angle, drizzle, middle, settle, uncle |
| j and dge | judge, edge, adjust, gadget, object |
| suffixes -ed, -y | cutter, helper, fuzzy, muddy |
| Deck 3 targets | Example words |
| a + consonant-e (VCe) | tap, tape |
| ee, e + consonant-e (VCe) | meet, me, mete |
| i + consonant-e (VCe) | fin, fine |
| o + consonant-e (VCe) | hop, hope |
| u + consonant-e (VCe) | us, use, rude |
| a + consonant-e (VCe) – 2-syllable | combat, collate |
| ee, e + consonant-e (VCe) – 2-syllable | comet, compete, coffee |
| i + consonant-e (VCe) – 2-syllable | resin, reside |
| o + consonant-e (VCe) – 2-syllable | along, alone |
| u + consonant-e (VCe) – 2-syllable | result, refuse |
| c before e or i | cent, dance |
| g before e or i (sometimes) | gem, singe |
| Deck 4 targets | Example words |
| a/apron | basic, halo, native, stable |
| e/evil | decent, equal, legal, vegan |
| i/item | child, giant, pirate, vibrate |
| o/open | bonus, disco, global, zero |
| u/unit, u/tofu | emu, fluid, music, rural |
| y/very | carry, family, jelly, study |
| er/alert | convert, herb, kernel, servant |
| i/ski | alien, genius, media, studio |
| o/mother | among, cover, love, wonder |
| y/by | cry, lying, sky, typing |
| Deck 5 targets | Example words |
| ai/rain, ay/day | delay, holiday, maintain, train |
| ee/see, ea/sea | each, queen, speech, wheat |
| oa/boat, ow/slow | coach, growth, shadow, toast |
| ir/bird, ur/turn | burger, furnish, sturdy, thirty |
| ea/meant, e/metal | dread, health, itself, plenty |
| ou/out, ow/now | about, flower, mouth, towel |
| oo/too, ue/blue | choose, glue, proof, untrue |
| i/find, igh/night | climate, lion, sight, twilight |
| oo/good, u/put, oul/could | could, wouldn’t, push, look, wood |
| or/horn, aw/saw | awful, forty, morning, straw |
| oi/oil, oy/boy | appoint, destroy, poison, royal |
| ar/car, a/last | basket, father, garden, party |
| air/hair, are/care | beware, dairy, fair, square |
| ear/hear, eer/cheer | clearly, fear, sheer, volunteer |
| Deck 6 targets | Example words |
| sh/shop, ch/chip, tch/catch, th/with, th/then | brush, children, fetch, than, fifth |
| ng/sing, n/think, ck/back, qu/quit | strong, pink, pocket, squint |
| wh/when, le/apple, dge/bridge, ve/have | which, saddle, ledge, solve |
| initial code words with 3-4 syllables | confident, ethical, independent significant |
| er/ever, y/very | every, industry, river, together |
| a/make, a/making, ai/rain, ay/day | came, danger, paint, Sunday |
| ee/see, ea/sea, e/be, y/funny, ey/donkey | deep, jeans, recess, suddenly, valley |
| o/home, o/go, oa/boat, ow/slow | clothes, going, load, shown |
| er/her, ir/bird, ur/turn | expert, girl, return |
| i/time, i/find, y/by, igh/night | fine, lion, reply, tight |
| oo/soon, u/flute, u/truth, ew/grew | balloon, June, ruin, threw |
| or/for, aw/saw, ore/more, a/all | corner, hawk, score, stall |
| Deck 7 targets | Example words |
| a/make, a/making, ai/rain, ay/day, ey/they, ea/great | brake, crazy, paint, maybe, they, break |
| ee/see, ea/sea, e/be, e/these, y/very, ie/chief, ei/ceiling | asleep, easy, believe, please, receive, supreme |
| o/home, o/go, oa/boat, ow/slow, oe/toe | broke, frozen, goat, narrow, heroes |
| er/her, ir/bird, ur/turn, ear/learn, or/work | concern, dirt, return, research, worship |
| ou/out, ow/now, oi/oil, oy/boy | around, power, employ, toilet |
| oo/soon, u/flute, u/truth, ew/grew, ue/blue, ou/soup | choose, include, ruin, jewel, true, youth |
| i/time, i/find, y/by, igh/night, ie/pie | decide, final, myself, slight, tried |
| or/for, aw/saw, ore/more, a/all, al/talk, ough/thought, au/haunt, ar/warm, awe/awesome | also, author, awkward, explore, hall, walk, bought, pause, warn, awe, important |
| air/hair, are/care, ear/bear, ere/there, eir/their | airfare, compare, fairy, pear, where, heir |
| ar/car, a/last, al/half, au/aunt, ear/heart | farther, father, garden, fast, palm, laugh, hearth |
| Deck 8 targets | Example words |
| u/cute, u/stupid, ue/due, ew/dew | attitude, duty, pursue, skewer |
| u/cup, o/front, ou/cousin, oo/blood | hundred, money, southern, flood |
| o/cotton, a/wander, au/fault | dollar, quality, wander, sausage |
| s/sent, c/cent, scent, ss/less, se/house, ce/voice, st/castle | sentence, circus, muscle, process, porpoise, piece, whistle |
| j/jump, g/gem, ge/large, dge/bridge, dj/adjust, gi/region | adjust, change, enjoy, general, hedge, religion |
| f/fifty, ff/office, ph/phone, gh/cough | belief, effort, graph, enough |
| c/cat, k/kit, ck/back, x/box, q/quit, ch/school, que/mosque, qu/conquer, cc/soccer | anchor, boutique, chaos, click, kick, next, liquor, broccoli |
| n/not, nn/bunny, kn/knit, gn/sign | banana, dinner, knives, resign |
| m/mum, mm/hammer, mb/thumb, mn/autumn, gm/paradigm | member, mammal, numb, column, phlegm |
| r/run, r/hurry, wr/wrist, rh/rhubarb, rrh/diarrhoea | different, horrible, wriggle, rhyme, haemorrhage |
| i/city, y/symbol, e/pretty | liquid, myth, English |
| y/yes, i/union, j/hallelujah, ll/tortilla, gn/lasagne, ñ/mañana | canyon, junior, Reykjavik, bouillon, gnocchi, El Niño |
It takes me a couple of minutes to print and laminate a deck of these cards, then eight minutes to cut a deck up while having a cuppa, listening to a podcast or watching telly. I now have a full set in these neat craft storage boxes, for use in word sorts and spelling quizzes as well as games.
We have colour printers, so I often print a deck of phonics playing cards on 4 sheets of light cardboard for a client’s family to cut up and use at home.
If you’re coming to the Perth Language, Literacy and Learning conference next week, please come and try out these and our other games at our exhibition stand.
Thanks once again to now-Dr Caitlin Stephenson (applause!) who had the original idea for these games.
10 responses to “New, improved phonics playing cards”
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The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
I would like to get the phonics playing cards but keep getting an error message when I try to download them online. Can you help? Thank you.
Hi April, I emailed you the free cards, and if you send me a screenshot of the error message you get if trying to get the other cards, my web person can investigate. Sorry about this, websites glitch now and then. Alison
I would like to order the new phonics cards too but the checkout keeps saying that the shipping option hasn’t been selected. I have tried everything including changing the shipping options but the checkout will still not let me proceed, redirecting me to an alert that the shipping option has not been entered.
I tried to include a screenshot to show you but I am unable to paste it here.
MY BAD, so sorry, it is fixed now and I am sending you some free cards by way of apology and thanks for telling me about the problem. All the best, Alison
Hi, When attempting to access the free phonics playing cards, I am brought to the checkout cart, asked for payment information, and there is a shipment cost of $11. I appreciate any guidance you can provide. Thank you! Laura
So sorry Laura, the site was adding shipping when it should not have been, I have fixed it up now and will send you some free cards to say thankyou for helping pinpoint exactly what the $11 was about (I was looking at all the sets and none of them cost $11, and scratching my head). Alison
Hi there,
I was very interested and excited about these phonics cards so I tried downloading them, however, it says its $11.00. Just wanted to see if that is the price for them.
Thank you!
Hi,THANK YOU SO MUCH for pointing out that there was a mistake on the site, it was adding a shipping cost when these are downloads and there’s nothing to ship. I am emailing you some free cards as a thankyou present, and have fixed up the site. Now I need to send refunds to everyone who accidentally paid for shipping when they didn’t need to, sigh. Anyway, thanks again for being the first person to point out the problem. All the best, Alison
Hi there,
I am having the same problem as above, have tried downloading but I to cant get them without a payment?
Cheers,
Wendy
That’s weird, are you using this link? http://www.spelfabet.com.au/materials/free-sample-phonics-playing-cards. I think other people are using it successfully now. Let me know if you’re still stuck. Alison