Free posters and activities for kids phonics: B on Your Thumb

Today, we have a lovely kids phonics activity for you. Something simple, but really effective to help kids with some of those tricky words when kids are learning to read. Parents can sometimes agonise about how best to teach their children to read and when.  But they should feel confident.  They already teach their children complex things like morals and manners. By contrast, teaching a child to read is doddle.  The important thing is for both parent and child to have  fun and to take delight in the oddness of our language.  The fact is that there is no one right way to teach a child to read.  While the kids phonics experts battle it out with whole word enthusiasts , parents can simply crack on.  Once a child has a basic grasp of letters and the sounds they make, you are ready to jump into this book!  

This post includes Amazon affiliate links.

The B on Your Thumb is a collection of rhymes to boost reading and spelling. Using rhythm, rhyme and wordplay, these playful ditties aim to help children navigate the strange territory that is the English language.    In this book, the letters have their own stories to tell. Why do Q and U stick together? (They’re actually in love!) What is life like as a silent letter? (Hugely frustrating!) And why is E so bossy? (’E just is!)

Each rhyme teaches a particular lesson . The rule for parents is one rhyme at a time. It’s important to leave them wanting more. Where to start? Simply choose a rhyme your child will enjoy and a sound they’ll have fun making.  Take the sound of a double O. While they not be quite sure of an o sound, a double O is distinctive. What’s more, It’s fun to say oo! in an exaggerated,  sing song way.

Man in the Moon

Before reading this rhyme with your child, work together to create a list of ten  words with a double O. Write the words down in big letters – the bigger the better as it’s more fun.  Nudge your child to include the words in the rhyme:  Moon, school, noon, proof, Roof .  Now ask your child to circle the double oo in each word.  And now….now you are ready  to read the rhyme.  Read it  together aloud several times encouraging your child to join in.

Then ask your child to put their hands in the air each time an oo word comes up. Then ask them to jump for each oo word. This helps them to listen actively and anticipate the word.

“The Man in the Moon
Came into our school
Just yesterday morning
At round about noon
You may not believe me
But I have the proof
There’s a man in the moon shaped
Hole in the roof.”

From B on Your Thumb, by Collette Hiller

See with 2 Es: A kids phonics poster

Use a similar approach with the Double E sound.  Make a list together of EE words – Again,  encourage your child to think of some of the double words in the rhyme:  see, Cheetah, sleep, trees, Bees, flee, Eek! Read the list several times , adding new physical things to do on the EE sound. Stand up or sit down, hands on head…whatever will make them alert and happy.

“Use your 2 eyes
To see with 2 Es..
Do you see the cheetah
There in the trees
Do you see his teeth
As sharp as can be
See with 2 Es
How fast you can flee!’

From B on Your Thumb, by Collette Hiller

Magic spells are powerful, they’re easy and they’re quick.  You can cast a magic spell , once you learn the trick!

 Even very young children can learn spellings  – provided the rhyme is clear enough.

One final rhyme to leave you with that children seem to like a lot is….A Lot!

A lot: Remembering rhyme…

“A lot is not just one word
It’s always made of two
A lot of people don’t know that
From now on you do!”

From B on Your Thumb, by Collette Hiller

We hope your children enjoy learning these rhymes and that they really do learn from them.  We would love to hear how it is all going too! Drop us a line on Twitter, or visit our Facebook page.

To download the poster and the phonics activity sheet, please click on the circular image below.

If you are after other activities around kids phonics and reading, we do have more on the site, so check them out.

There are loads of other phonics activity sheets out there too – so do check these out as well….

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Thanks for stopping by,

 Helen 

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