Best phonics learning tools

Introduce your child to the concept of synthetic phonics before they start school with a wooden ‘sound’ puzzle. Your child can replace one of the chunky pieces (easy for little hands to hold) to hear the phonic sound of the letter or digraph, the name of an object or animal relating to that sound, and a sound effect. They can also use the pieces to make short words.

My First Phonics Sound Puzzle and My Second Phonics Sound Puzzle, £19 each

You might have heard your child singing some of these songs already, as so many schools use them. Each of the 42 phonics sounds has a song, sung by children on the audio CD which comes with the explanatory book. The tunes are very catchy, and we can guarantee you’ll be hearing them (a lot!), singing them and then desperately trying to get them out of your head!

Jolly Songs book and audio CD, £9.95

Written by a teacher (and mum of two), TheSchoolRun’s downloadable phonics resources are designed to help you understand everything you need to know about phonics as a parent – and suggest some easy ways to help your child practise phonics at home.

As well as free phonics activities there are two subscriber-only learning packs about phonics on the site. Fabulous phonics comes with 50 worksheets to print out for your child; if you’d rather practise through play the ten printable board games in Phonics games offer lots of opportunities for the whole family to compete to test their phonics knowledge.

Your child will love the cheering pencils; you’ll appreciate the fact that they can practise phonics on the go with this app. A fun and engaging combination of letter and sound pronunciation and writing practice, abc PocketPhonics helps your child sound out letters and teaches 170 simple words. You can customize the app for different children or stages of learning, and try out the Lite version for free before you buy. The perfect game app for when you’re queueing in the supermarket / stuck in a traffic jam!

abc PocketPhonics iPhone / iPad app, £1.99

For lots more great phonics apps for kids, read our parents' guide.

A free online game from the Usborne Foundation, Teach your monster to read (First steps and Fun with Words) uses mini-games to help children develop the speed and accuracy with which they recognise graphemes (letters). They'll also have the opportunity to practise blending sounds to read a word, looking at tricky words and segmenting words into the sounds they're made by.

Fun With Words provides children with the next set of key building blocks to help develop their reading skills, introducing new graphemes and phonemes, new tricky words and lots more blending and segmenting practice too.

With the opportunity to customise monsters and lots of rewards this is sure to be a bookmarked favourite for beginner and early readers.

If you're looking for an effective and engaging tool to help your child learn to read and rhyme, the movable CVC word builder blocks and matching phonics flash cards are an excellent choice. Designed for new readers, this set includes letter combinations carefully selected to maximize the number of common decodable CVC words, ideal for Reception and EYFS levels.

The focus on three-letter words ensures that children are learning the fundamental building blocks of reading. There are no sight words or irregular words in this set, which means your child will be able to easily sound out each word they create. This approach boosts their confidence and reinforces their understanding of phonics in a fun and interactive way.

This handy phonics kit is a fantastic resource for developing early literacy skills. 

One of the standout features is its compact carry case, allowing you to take it anywhere. Whether you're at home, on a trip, or visiting family, your child can continue learning without interruption.

The kit includes helpful letter forms specifically designed to promote good handwriting habits. These letter forms guide your child in forming letters correctly, laying a strong foundation for their writing skills.

Inside the kit, you'll find flash cards, foam magnetic letters, a whiteboard and a pen—everything your child needs to practise and improve their literacy skills.