One of the most overlooked building blocks of reading has nothing to do with print at all. Phonological awareness, the ability to hear and play with the sounds inside words, is one of the strongest predictors of future reading success, and it can be built long before a child ever opens a book. Better yet, it can be practiced anywhere: in the car, at the dinner table, or on a walk. Here are five simple games to try.

1. I Spy with Sounds

Instead of "I spy something that is red," try "I spy something that starts with the sound /b/." Take turns choosing the sound. For younger kids, stick to the first sound in a word. For older children who've got the hang of it, try ending sounds or even middle sounds for an extra challenge.

2. Rhyming Chains

Start with one simple word and see how long a chain of rhymes you can build as a team: cat, bat, hat, mat, sat. Silly, made-up rhymes count too, and honestly, they usually get the biggest laughs. This game builds an ear for word patterns without any pressure around spelling or print.

3. Syllable Clapping

Clap out the syllables in names, pets, or favorite foods. "El-e-phant" is three claps. This simple exercise helps kids hear that words are made up of smaller chunks of sound, a skill they'll lean on heavily once they start blending sounds together to read.

4. Sand or Salt Tray Letter Tracing

This one borrows a classic technique used in structured literacy instruction. Spread a thin layer of sand or salt on a baking tray, and have your child trace a letter with their finger while saying its sound out loud, not its name (so "mmm" instead of "em"). Repeat a few times, then try it with eyes closed. For commonly reversed letters like b and d, pair the tracing with a quick memory trick: have your child make a "bed" shape with their two fists and pointer fingers, since b comes first, just like in the word bed.

5. Tap and Say

This game builds a physical connection between sound and word. Say a word slowly, tapping out each individual sound on your fingers as you go. For "chip," that's three taps: /ch/ /i/ /p/. Then have your child blend the sounds back together to say the whole word out loud. Mixing in five or six words per session, a few times a week, tends to work far better than one long session all at once.

Why these games matter

None of these require your child to look at a single printed word, which is exactly the point. Phonological awareness is foundational to reading, and building it early, through play rather than pressure, can make an enormous difference once formal reading instruction begins.

If your child is already in school and still struggling with these kinds of sound-based tasks, it may be worth having a conversation with their teacher about a reading screening. Catching a gap in these foundational skills early on tends to make everything that follows a lot easier.

Want more ideas like these, or a closer look at how your child is doing? We're happy to chat.