Phonics Crafts – Hands-On Phonics Activities, Play & DIY Games

Make phonics learning fun with phonics crafts that engage children in a hands-on way. Phonics activities don’t have to be limited to worksheets—adding craft-based learning helps reinforce sounds, blending, and word-building while keeping children actively involved. Our phonics craft ideas combine creativity and phonics knowledge, making learning interactive and memorable.

Why Use Phonics Crafts in Teaching?

Craft-based phonics learning encourages children to develop fine motor skills, reinforce phonics knowledge, and build confidence in early reading. Using creative activities helps children retain information better and makes learning more engaging.

Phonics crafts can help with:

• Letter recognition: Reinforce letter sounds through hands-on activities.
• Blending and segmenting: Use crafts to support children in putting sounds together.
• High-frequency words: Encourage word recognition with fun, hands-on phonics games.
• Fine motor development: Cutting, gluing, and painting all support hand control.

Phonics Craft Ideas for Hands-On Learning

Try these engaging phonics crafts to support early reading skills:

• Sound Sorting Boxes: Create decorated boxes for different phonemes and ask children to place pictures or objects inside the correct box.
• Phonics Spinners: Use a DIY spinning wheel to blend sounds together and build words.
• Letter Collage: Children cut out letters from magazines and glue them to create words based on the phonemes they are learning.
• Paper Plate Phonics Game: Write different sounds around the edge of a plate and use a clothespin to clip onto the correct one.
• DIY Flip Books: Create word flip books by stapling together strips of paper with different consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words.

Phonics Play Ideas Using Crafts

Incorporate **phonics play** into craft-based learning to keep children engaged:

• Letter Treasure Hunt: Hide phonics flashcards around the room and have children find and match them to craft items.
• Build-a-Word Puzzles: Write different phonemes on puzzle pieces and let children match them to form words.
• Sound Stamping: Use letter stamps to create CVC words and practice blending.
• DIY Word Mats: Make reusable phonics mats where children match letters to pictures.

Using Phonics Crafts for Tricky Words

Tricky words can be harder to memorise, so **craft-based learning** can help make them more engaging:

• Tricky Word Flowers: Write tricky words on petals and match them to a centre sound.
• Magic Tricky Word Wands: Children decorate wands and “cast a spell” while reading tricky words.
• Sticky Note Wall: Create a tricky word display using sticky notes that children can rearrange.

Phonics Crafts for Small Groups & Continuous Provision

Phonics crafts are perfect for **continuous provision** or **small-group phonics sessions**. Try these ideas:

• Playdough Letters: Children form letters or words using playdough to support fine motor skills.
• Word Fishing Game: Make word cards shaped like fish and use a magnetic fishing rod to “catch” and read words.
• Chalkboard Phonics Art: Draw phonics patterns and words on a chalkboard to reinforce sounds.

Why Use Our Phonics Craft Ideas?

• Designed to **support phonics teaching** in a hands-on way.
• Perfect for **Phase 2-5 phonics activities**, blending, and segmenting practice.
• Encourages **engaged, multi-sensory learning** beyond worksheets.
• Easy-to-implement **phonics play activities** using everyday craft materials.

Explore our full collection of phonics craft resources today and make phonics learning interactive and engaging for young readers!