best Phonics Card Games for Learning to read games for kids
Phonics Card Games
Watch the difference that PLAY makes with
Phonics Card Games
Yes. There are 26 letters.
But there are also 44 sounds we make when we speak!
And these sounds can be spelled in over 100 ways.
(e.g., the sound of 'e' can be spelled: e, ee, ea, ie, y)
Getting the brain to connect sounds and spellings takes PRACTICE.
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Crazy Cards make it EASY.
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Crazy Cards turn practice into a FUN CARD GAME.
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Crazy Cards get phonics spellings to STICK.
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It's More than just Sounding out Words: After reading a word, students say a silly sentence using that word. This helps them relax, have fun with peers, and feel good! And THIS is what makes the sounds & spellings STICK in the brain.
- It's the WIN they Love : They spend most of their time focused on which card they can play that will stop you from winning! At the same time, they don't even notice they are getting sounds & spellings (phonics) to stick.
- It's so Easy: These are real card games. Just shuffle the deck and deal! Instructions are always the same. Wild Cards and Miss Your Turn cards make them BEAM with joy. It's funny, actually, how they don't even get they are learning.
- It Works: This isn't just a fun "nice to have" game. It has been loved by teachers and parents for over 25 years. Created by experienced Structured Literacy teacher, Martha Kovack, this game gets both reading AND spelling to stick too!
Perfect for Science of Reading Centers!
The Sound Readers® Crazy Cards Series:
A Fun and Organized Path to Decoding & Spelling Mastery
From basic short vowels to advanced vowel teams and suffixes
Crazy Shorts
FOR STARTERS
Start Here.
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first 5 decks
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spellings that go with short vowel sounds
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cvc words
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digraphs (sh/ch/th/wh)
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floss spellings
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-ck,
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-ng/-nk
Crazy Shorts
WITH BLENDS
Come back to these decks over & over again.
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beginning & end blends (ccvc, cvcc)
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even after moving on to the next decks, students need practice with these words
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L Blends
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R Blends
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S Blends
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End blends (plus '-tch' and '-dge')
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End blends (more)
(all with short vowel sounds only)
These games are perfect for Science of Reading games and Science of Reading activities for centers.
These games are perfect for Science of Reading games and Science of Reading activities for centers.
Original Crazy Shorts First 5 decks from 1998!
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Short a word families
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Short e word families
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Short i word families
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Short o word families
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Short u word families
These games are sometimes the easiest to play because they concentrate on only one short vowel sound at a time.
Crazy Longs
Ways to Spell Long Vowel Sounds
This set is Dr. Marnie Ginsberg's (Reading Simplified) favorite set.
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Long a spellings (a, a_e, ai, ay)
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Long e spellings (e, ee, ea, ie, y)
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Long i spellings (i, i_e, igh, y)
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Long o spellings (o, o_e, oa, ow)
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Long u spellings (u, u_e, ue, ew)
Crazy Mores
Even MORE spelling patterns
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Ways to spell the sound /oo/
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Ways to spell the sound /er/+ar & or
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ou/ow, oi/oy, au/aw
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short /oo/, short /ea/, all/alk/wa
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-tion, -sion, -ture, -ment, -age
Note that card games are EXPENSIVE to produce! They require a special card-playing printing machine. If we could make it any more affordable, we would!
Why buy the hard copies?
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they can be played right out of the box - they are ready to go - no prep
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they will last forever
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they come all organized and in their own tuck boxes
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no printing, no cutting, no organizing, no ripping, no replacing
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kids LOVE the feeling of playing a 'real' card game (not 'educational' ;)
But we get it. They are expensive with shipping and tax.
So... you can also purchase the games in printable pdf format to make yourself!
Available in Printable format too - just Download, Print, Cut, & Play!
Each deck is 7 pages double-sided - so 14 colour pages to print, but if you just print on one side, it would be 7 pages per deck. There are 25 decks in all. Note that it takes a lot of ink and work ;)
These phonics card games are so much more than learning about phonics. These phonics card games teach students how to decode, spell, and build vocabulary, syntax, and morphology skills too!
These are the best Phonics Card Games
How to Play Crazy Cards
Crazy Shorts FOR STARTERS
Deck #1: cvc words Demo
Crazy Longs
Deck #1: "Long a Words" Demo
Perfect for Science of Reading Centers!
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Click Here for Crazy Shorts FOR STARTERS Deck #2 "Digraphs" Demo
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Click Here for Crazy Shorts FOR STARTERS Deck #3 "Floss Words" Demo
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Click Here for "Doubling Rule" words Demo
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Click Here for Crazy Longs 2 Deck #17: LONG "e" Demo
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Click Here for "Crazy Mores Deck #5" (25th deck) "Suffix Words" Demo
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Click Here for Crazy Mores 3- Deck #23: ou/ow, oi/oy, au/aw Demo
Perfect for Science of Reading Centers!
"I have been using these cards forever! Kids enjoy the game and don't even realize they're getting phonics learning to stick!”
Dr. Marnie Ginsberg, Reading Simplified
These Phonics Card Games are Perfect for Science of Reading Centers!