The Montessori I-Spy Game for Phonemic Awareness
“I-Spy with my little eye, something in Annie’s hands that begins with the sound /n/ – net!”
In my previous blog post, Essential Guide To 4 Fun Letter And Sound Activities, the first lesson is I-Spy, a phonemic awareness activity.
Studies have shown that phonemic awareness helps prepare young children for writing and reading success.
The beauty of the I-Spy games is that you genuinely don’t need anything to play it, and you can play I-Spy with your child wherever you go!
For several months, I brought my 4-year-old daughter, Annie, to a kids’ farm class, and she loved to play I-Spy with the things we found on the farm after she turned 3.
I would say, “I-Spy with my little eye, something sleeping in the barn that begins with /g/.” Annie would shout, “goat!”
In this post, I will share 4 variations of Montessori I-Spy games, as I learned from my teacher training. I’ll also share how the lessons went with Annie at home!
Table of Contents
Why are sound games important?
Sound games like the Montessori I-Spy games help young children to:
- focus attention on individual sounds
- hear sounds in isolation
- practice auditory discrimination of sounds
- develop auditory perception
- recognize that sounds have an order in words
- recognize the difference between vowels and consonants
- prepare for writing and reading
What is Phonemic Awareness?
Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear that words have different sounds.
According to the Reading Rockets article, Phonemic Awareness in Young Children,
"Research clearly shows that phonemic awareness can be developed through instruction, and, furthermore, that doing so significantly accelerates children's subsequent reading and writing achievement."
A wonderful way to explore phonemic awareness is with the Montessori I-Spy games.
40 Key Sounds
Before getting started with the I-Spy sound games, it’s important to be familiar with the 40 key sounds. Remember that we want to work with objects or words with three key sounds. This way, we can isolate and focus on the beginning, middle, and ending sounds.
There are about 40 key sounds (or phonemes) in the English Language. A phoneme is a single speech sound such as /a/ as in at or /b/ as in big. Different letter combinations represent the sounds; a single or double letter, for example, /ch/ as in much.
Tip: When saying consonant sounds with your child try not to add “uh” or “ah” at the end of the sound. Try to only say the sound. For example, it is a quick and short /t/ not “tuh.” Also, I’ve heard some teachers say the /r/ sound like “er.” This can be confusing. Note that we say “rabbit” not “er-abbit!”
*I created a 40 key sounds cheat sheet listing all the sounds. If you’d like to download it, sign up for the resources library at the bottom of this post. If you’re already a subscriber, see my most recent email for the updated password.
How to do the Montessori I-Spy Game: 4 Sound Games
What you will need
To do the Montessori I-Spy games, you’ll need objects in a basket that use some of the 40 key sounds and contain only three of these sounds per object/word.
For example, the objects in our basket include:
- duck: /d/ /u/ /ck/
- horn: /h/ /or/ /n/
- hat: /h/ /a/ /t/
- mop: /m/ /o/ /p/
- net: /n/ /e/ /t/
- sheep: /sh/ /ee/ /p/
- box: /b/ /o/ /x/
- bird: /b/ /ir/ /d/
- card: /c/ /ar/ /d/
- fox: /f/ /o/ /x/
You want objects with three sounds because we will isolate and focus on an object or word’s beginning, middle, and ending sounds for these sound games.
As your child becomes more advanced with this activity, you could use objects with more sounds and syllables.
You could use objects and toys you find around the house, or you could use pictures. Although, I find that objects work best for young children because they love to hold little objects in their hands.
We got our language objects from Montessori Services. They are pricey, but I found them to be worth the cost because you can use these objects for several language activities, such as:
storytelling
rhyming activities
go-togethers
I-spy games (this post)
sandpaper letters with objects
object game (reading activity)
You can also use any objects or toys you have around the house.
If you don’t have objects or you’d rather use pictures, I created 22 I-spy cards that have pictures of things with three sounds. All 40 key sounds are covered in the 22 cards.
*If you’d like to download the I-Spy cards, sign up for the resources library at the bottom of this post. If you’re already a subscriber, see my most recent email for the updated password.
The 22 I-Spy cards cover all 40 key sounds; beginning, middle, and/or ending sounds – some sounds are used more than once:
- cat /c/ /a/ /t/
- yarn /y/ /ar/ /n/
- moon /m/ /ue/ /n/
- fox /f/ /o/ /x/
- bike /b/ /ai/ /k/
- book /b/ /oo/ /k/
- boy /b/ /oy/
- zip /z/ /i/ /p/
- rug /r/ /u/ /g/
- dog /d/ /o/ /g/
- sheep /sh/ /ee/ /p/
- wall /w/ /au/ /l/
- quail /qu/ /ai/ /l/
- fork /f/ /or/ /k/
- church /ch/ /ur/ /ch/
- goat /g/ /oa/ /t/
- heart /h/ /ar/ /t/
- ship /sh/ /i/ /p/
- duck /d/ /u/ /c/
- vase /v/ /ai/ /s/
- mouth /m/ /ou/ /th/
- jet /j/ /e/ /t/
Tip: We are not going over letter symbols with I-Spy; only objects or pictures with sounds we hear.
Step-by-step I-Spy Game Lessons
1. Beginning Sounds
Invite your child to do this activity. Name the activity, “I-Spy.”
Place the basket of objects on the rug or table. Ask your child to choose one object from the basket and hold it in their hand. You also choose one object.
Name the objects with your child.
While holding the objects in your hands, say, “I spy with my little eye something in Annie’s hand that begins with the sound /d/.” (say the sound it makes, not the name of the letter).
Annie answers, “dog.” You repeat the word slowly.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 with your object and with anyone else playing the game.
Ask your child if she would like to play the game again or have her place the objects back in the basket. Return the basket to the shelf.
More ideas for beginning sounds
Use objects in your immediate environment (table, chair, couch).
Extend the game to include pieces of your child’s clothing, for instance, “I spy with my little eye something Annie is wearing that begins with /s/.” “socks.”
Increase the difficulty of the exercise by having two objects on an empty rug or table. Encourage your child to guess which object you are thinking of by giving her the first sound, for example, using a hat and a cup – “I spy with my little eye something that begins with /h./.” “hat”
Once your child masters discriminating the beginning sound between two objects, increase the number of objects to provide further challenge.
Collect groups of objects/pictures that begin with the same sound and play a sorting game:
- cat, cork, can
- fish, fan, frog
- sock, star, spoon
Do a matching game with pairs of objects or pictures that have the same beginning sound. You could also play a memory game with the cards!
Play “Odd One Out.” Choose three objects. Two of the objects have the same beginning sound. For example, cat, cork, and dog. Ask your child to point out the object with a different beginning sound – “dog.”
2. Ending Sounds
Note: These activities are done using objects containing only three sounds. This lesson develops your child’s awareness of the sound at the end of a word.
Ask your child to choose one object from the basket and place it on the rug. Now you choose an object and place it on the rug.
Name the selected objects with your child.
Ask your child, “I spy with my little eye something on our rug that begins with /h/ and ends with /t/.”
Your child answers “heart.” Repeat the word slowly.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 with all the objects.
Ask your child if she would like to repeat the game or have them return the objects to the basket. Return the work to the shelf.
More ideas for ending sounds
Use objects in the immediate environment rug, cup, chair.
Use a fixed set of objects that all begin with the same sound and end with different sounds (boat, bag, bin, bed).
Play by just giving the ending sounds as a clue. (“I spy something that ends with /p/”).
3. Middle Sounds
Note: Once your child quickly hears the beginning and ending sounds, introduce the middle sound. Choose objects containing only three sounds.
Ask your child to choose one object from the basket and place it on the rug. Now you choose an object and place it on the rug.
Say, “I spy with my little eye something that begins with /b/ and ends with /t/.” Your child responds, “bat.” You repeat the word slowly, “bat. What sound does bat begin with?” “/b/” “What sound does it end with?” “/t/”
Say to your child, “Now, what do we hear in the middle?” Say the word slowly to help your child find the middle sound, “/a/.”
More ideas for middle sounds
Use objects in the immediate environment. (dog, bag, box)
Use a fixed set of objects that all begin and end with the same sounds and contain different middle sounds (boat, bat, bit, bet, boot)
Play by just giving the middle sounds as a clue. “I spy with my little eye something that has the middle sound /a/.”
4. All sounds
This stage is more abstract—no need to use objects or cards.
Choose any word that has three sounds, using the 40 key sounds.
Remember that there is often a difference between the number of sounds heard in a word and the number of letters (church, which has three sounds and six letters).
Now, we are interested not in writing but only in listening to sounds.
Say to your child, “I am thinking of the word ‘ship.’”
“What sound do you hear first?” /sh/
“What do you hear next?” /i/
“What sound do you hear at the end?” /p/
More ideas for all sounds
Use prepared objects in a box for your child to use independently.
Try to use more than three sounds in a word for an extra challenge.
The child picks any word and breaks it down into its component sounds. For example, “/b/” “/o/” “/x/”
See how many words your child can think of that begin with or contain any one sound.
Notes about the sound games
These sound games are a key activity in the development of written language.
I-Spy sound games should be thoroughly covered before going on to the Sandpaper Letters, or associating the letter symbol with the sound.
I have observed some teachers and parents wanting to rush through I-Spy or skip it all together because they want to get to the sandpaper letter lessons as soon as possible. It’s important to spend quite a bit of time with I-Spy games before moving onto letter symbols.
The ultimate goal is for young children to enjoy playing these sound games and to continue this activity independently.
It is important that children at age 5 or 6 master these types of sound games in order to move on and to be successful in phonics, writing, and reading.
Tip: Remember that we are not teaching sounds here; if your child can speak, she knows the sounds. With this game, we are developing awareness of the sounds in language.
Another sound game idea: use rocks to mark each sound you hear
Another fun idea to help prepare for writing with the moveable alphabet is to get some beads or rocks to count and use them as a “marker” to note each sound you hear in a word.
For instance, you have a picture of a “church.”
Place a rock under the picture of the church for each sound you hear: “/ch/” “/ur/” “/ch/.” So you’ll have three rocks under the picture of the church.
Concluding Thoughts about I-Spy games
Annie and I have explored quite a bit with sound over the past eight months. She loves small language objects. They grab her attention and motivate her to want to play the sound games. She also loves talking about the beginning sounds of things we see when we are out exploring or going for a ride in the car!
Playing I-Spy by isolating the middle sound, which is a vowel, is the most challenging. Middle sounds are a bit difficult for Annie, as well.
I also noticed that vowels are the most challenging with sandpaper letters and writing simple 3-letter words with the moveable alphabet. I recommend playing quite a bit with the middle sounds to help prepare.
After your child has spent time exploring sounds and phonemic awareness, it’s time to move on to the sandpaper letters, associating sounds with symbols.
Have you played sound games with your child? How did you play it? Leave a comment below!
More Montessori Resources
If you liked this post, you’ll also like:
The Montessori I-Spy Game for Phonemic Awareness
*If you’d like to download the I-Spy Lesson Plan, I-Spy cards, and the 40 Key Sounds Cheat Sheet, sign up for the resources library at the bottom of this post. If you’re already a subscriber, see my most recent email for the updated password.
Great information and resources! One note, in the Margaret Homfray training videos she said the moveable alphabet should be in print, NOT cursive.
Hi Loretta,
Thank you so much for your comment! It depends on the Montessori school, teacher, or parent if they choose to use print or cursive. The most important thing to remember is that if you use the print sandpaper letters, you need to use the print moveable alphabet for consistency (same thing if you choose cursive). In the Montessori world, there is a debate on print vs. cursive, which comes down to personal preference. I support both.
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Back again to read this over as it’s just so helpful!
Your blog posts make me so much more interested in monsterroi school. Thanks for sharing this about phonemic awareness!
I love the idea of games to bring learning to life. Thanks for this detailed post !
This is a really educational read, I was not aware of the benefits practicing Phonemic with children using play could have on their success in reading and writing. Thank you for the tips and game idea, love I spy.
Such a creative way! Love the step by step guide.
Super interesting! It has been so long since I sounded out letters intentionally instead of just reading subconsciously. This is such a helpful resource for me to use in a couple years. Thanks!
Oh wow, this is what exactly we need now! It is really important to strengthen the kids’ phonetic awareness, as this serves as a basis for reading and writing later on too! Thank you very much for the great hints!
Such a cute idea! I-spy is a big hit in our house.
Love your detailed steps and information for this game. Will share with my friends and family with younger kids.
This is a good strategy to keep in mind when it comes to teaching younger kids. I wasn’t familiar with this term.
This will definitely help the little one’s with their language and social skills. Thank you!
I’ll have to try these games with my daughter! She is great with beginning sounds but is still working on end sounds.
Hi Patricia, I’m glad you found the phonemic awareness sound games helpful. We tend to focus on beginning sounds, but it’s also good to practice ending and middle sounds!
This is such a great way to help the little ones. I’ll send this to a friend in hopes that it helps her and her family.
I love how detailed this is – super helpful. Thank you!
Sound games are such an important component to building strong reading skills
This technique is so much helpful to let the kids learn how to read. They can a both have fun whilst learning.
This I-Spy game sounds extremely educational and beneficial for children! Thank you for sharing 🙂