How to practise Phase 2 phonics at home

Phase 2 is where reading begins. In the first weeks of Reception, children learn their first 23 sounds, and start to blend them into words like sat, pin and dog. A few minutes of practice at home each day makes a real difference.

The Phase 2 sounds, in teaching order

Most schools teach them in small sets of about four a week. Ask your child’s teacher which set they are on, and practise only the sounds already taught.

Schools using a different programme may teach a slightly different order; the sounds are the same.

Say the sounds short and pure

The single most helpful thing a parent can do is to say sounds the way school does: “mmm”, not “muh”; “sss”, not “suh”; “t” as a short whisper. Adding an “uh” makes blending much harder: “cuh-a-tuh” does not sound like cat, but “c-a-t” does.

Blending and segmenting

• Blending (for reading): say each sound, then push them together: “s-a-t … sat”. Many schools teach children to run a finger under the word as they blend.
• Segmenting (for spelling): the other way round. Say a word and help your child pull it apart into sounds: “pin … p-i-n”, holding up a finger for each sound.
• Oral blending first: before reading any letters, play “robot talk”: “Can you touch your h-a-t?” If your child can hear the word, reading it comes next.

Words your child can read in Phase 2

tap, map, pin, tin, man, pan, dig, pig, dog, cat, cap, pot, sock, duck, rock, kick, net, pen, red, sun, mug, bug, rat, nut

Tricky words in Phase 2

A few very common words cannot be sounded out yet: I, the, is, to, no, go, into, as, has, his, of, put, pull, full, all. Point out the “tricky bit” (in the, the “e” does not say “e”) instead of asking your child to memorise the whole shape.

Ten-minute activities, no screen needed

• Sound hunt: find three things in the house that start with this week’s sound.
• I spy with sounds: “I spy something that starts with mmm.”
• Magnetic letters on the fridge: make sat, then change one letter to make pat, pit, pin.
• Read it to teddy: let your child re-read a school reading book to a toy. Re-reading builds speed and confidence.
• Stop before they tire: little and often beats a long session. Finish on a success.

Phase 2 games in Pompom Kids

These games are set to your child’s phonics level, so they only ask for the sounds already taught. Every sound is spoken aloud, short and pure.

• Rhyme Time Free: Recognise and supply rhymes before and alongside Phase 2 letters.
• Same Sound Snap: Isolate the initial sound in a spoken word, ready to match it to a letter.
• Letter Garden Free: Learn each new Phase 2–3 GPC in teaching order; form the letter correctly.
• Sound Buttons Free: Blend sounds in CVC words using only taught GPCs (ELG: Word Reading).
• Word Builder: Segment CVC words into sounds and choose a grapheme for each.
• Tricky Word Pop: Read the Phase 2–3 tricky words (the, to, I, no, go…).
• Robot Talk Free: Orally blend CVC and four-sound words (adjacent consonants), choosing between pictures that share sounds — ready for reading words (ELG: Word Reading).
• Sound Pairs Free: Match each taught Phase 2–3 grapheme to its sound picture, remembering where cards are (ELG: say a sound for each letter and some digraphs).
• Alphabet Train: Say the names of lower-case letters and find the missing letter in a run of the alphabet, a to z.
• Sound Fishing: Find a taught letter or digraph inside short decodable words (6 fish, 2–3 to catch), reading each word to check (ELG: Word Reading).
• Syllable Drum Free: Split spoken words of up to four syllables into beats, ready for oral segmenting (Phase 1 aspect 7).
• Silly Soup: Find two or three words that share a first sound from six pictures, ready to link sounds to letters (Phase 1 aspect 5).

See the phonics games and the full phonics sequence to Phase 5.