Phonics phases sound mats

Use our free phonics phases sound mats to see what sounds your child will be taught when in their phonics learning journey. These mats cover phonics phases 2-5.

What are phonics phases?

Phonics phases are a way of breaking down learning to read and write into smaller steps. They help children understand how letters and sounds work together to make words.

• Phase 1 is all about listening and making sounds. Children learn to recognise different sounds in the environment, like animal noises or everyday sounds.
• In Phase 2, children start to learn about letters and the sounds they make. They'll learn simple letter-sound correspondences, like 's' for snake or 'm' for monkey.
• During Phase 3, children learn more sounds and how some letters can make more than one sound. For example, 'c' can make a 'k' sound as in cat or an 's' sound as in circle.
• In Phase 4 children learn to blend sounds together to read words. They start to read simple words by blending individual sounds together, like c-a-t for "cat".
• Phase 5 focuses on more complicated sounds and spelling patterns. Children start to learn about alternative spellings for the same sound, like 'ai' in rain and 'ay' in day.
• Finally, in Phase 6 children become more fluent readers and spellers. They learn to read and spell longer, more complex words and understand more about how words are structured.

How will our Phonics phases sound mat help your child?

Our colourful phonics phases sound mat present the phonemes and graphemes children learn to read in Reception and Year 1, organised according to their phonics phase.

You can also use our interactive sound mats to listen to each of the sounds.