Alphabet match phonic puzzles - five colour sets (ages 3-6)

What’s included?

This download includes 22 colour portrait PDFs, each featuring ten or five images sharing the same initial sound for learners to match the grapheme.

What’s it for?

This resource is to enable learners to practise identifying the first (initial) sound (phoneme) of objects (images) and match these with the correct, matching letter (grapheme).

This is a fun and engaging way to practise recognising these letters and identifying the correct initial letter (phonics) sound for ten (or five) images (per letter).

Who’s it for?

This resource has been designed for early years children, pupils in year one as well as older students needing additional learning support, revisiting any/all of these sounds.

How to use it?

1. Preparation instructions: An adult prints each sheet out, ideally onto card, and cuts along the dotted lines, including to separate the letters from the images. Instructions are included on every sheet.

2. Activity setup: The pieces, (which include images/letters), can then be placed on a table top/carpet for learners to match the image with the correct initial letter sound as a two-part mini jigsaw puzzle.

3. Self-correcting design: Each image card only fits the letter card with the matching (correct) initial letter.

4. Targeting sounds: This resource could be used as a phonics support focusing on groups of sounds as needed, such as combining eg, s a t p i n (the red set) with another colour set or as an intervention to target specific sounds within a set that learners may be finding more challenging.

Resource Details

There are ten images for the letters: a b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t w

There are five images for the letters: e/o, i/u, v/y, x/z

• Initial letter sound: The images chosen all have a clear initial letter sound at the beginning but are not words which can easily be sounded out. The focus of this activity is purely to identify the initial letter sound for these images. The cross (top right of each image) indicates that these images are not to be sounded out.

• X exception: The letter x is the only exception where the x sound is at the end of those words/images.

Letters of the alphabet together are grouped together as listed below:

• Red set - letters (vowels) a e i o u (letters e and o / i and u are together and have x5 images each)

• Orange set - letters b d g p q

• Yellow set - letters c f k s t

• Green set - letters h l m n r

• Blue set - letters j v w x y z (letters v and y / x and z are together and have x5 images each)

• Design: Each image card only fits the letter card with the matching (correct) initial letter. The font used is ‘Sassoon Infant Std’ - size 120, so a large, ‘easy to read’ size.

• Layout: Every image/letter puzzle included in each set is the same format, making this a structured, predictable activity, ideal to keep learners engaged and independent.

Links to similar resource sets

Alternatively each set is available individually:

• Alphabet match (red set) - vowel sounds a e i o u
• Alphabet match (orange set) - sounds b d g p q
• Alphabet match (yellow set) - sounds c f k s t
• Alphabet match (green set)- sounds h l m n r
• Alphabet match (blue set) - sounds j v w x y z

Alternatively the full set is available in uniform grey:

• Alphabet match (grey set) - ALL 26 letter sounds

Important message

Any issues with this resource please get in touch - we are happy to make changes.