Letter Sounds
Your child hears the sound of a letter at the start of words like ball, moon and sun, finds pictures that start the same way, sorts them into baskets and steers a flying parrot to catch the right ones. Every word is read aloud, so no reading is needed.
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Inside the game
Sounds
Tap a letter to hear its sound and two words that start with it.
Which one?
Hear a letter and a word, then tap the picture that starts with the same sound. Ten rounds.
Odd one out
Three pictures: two start with the same sound. Tap the one that is different. Ten rounds.
Sort
Drag each picture into the basket with its first letter. Three baskets per round.
Fly
Steer the parrot with a finger and catch the pictures that start with the asked sound. After four, a new sound.
Memory
Find two pictures that start with the same sound: 4, 6 or 8 pairs.
Fun facts
Short facts about sounds, read aloud: rhymes, sounds you can stretch and two letters that make one sound.
Quiz
Ten questions about first sounds. Every right answer gives the parrot a colorful tail feather.
Facts for kids
Word for word as the game reads them aloud.
A name and a sound
Every letter has a name and a sound. The name of this letter is S. In the word sun, you hear its sound at the start: sssun!
The first sound
Listen to the very beginning of a word. Moon starts with mmm. That is the sound of the letter M.
Parrots can talk
A parrot like Kiki can copy sounds! Some parrots learn to say real words. That is why Kiki loves to repeat words with you.
Your mouth makes sounds
Say ball and feel your lips touch. Now say tree: your tongue taps behind your teeth. Every sound is made in a different way!
Listen carefully
Your ears hear every little sound in a word. Close your eyes and listen: cat. Can you hear the C at the start?
Sounds make words
Put sounds together and you get a word! C, A, T makes cat. Try it slowly: c, a, t. Cat!
Two letters, one sound
Sometimes two letters work together to make one sound. S and H together sound like shhh, as in ship and shoe!
Two letters, the same sound
Cat and kite start with the same sound, but one is written with a C and the other with a K. Tricky!
Rhymes
Words that end with the same sound rhyme. Cat and hat! Can you hear it? Cat, hat, bat, mat!
Sounds you can stretch
Some sounds you can hold on for a long time: mmmmm, sssss, nnnnn. Others pop out quickly, like the P in pig. Try it!
Your name has a first sound
{name} starts with a sound too! Say your name slowly and listen to the very first sound.
Sounds everywhere
A bell rings, a bee buzzes, a dog barks. Letters show the sounds we make when we talk!
Quiet sounds
Some sounds are very quiet. Whisper hat: the H is just a little puff of air. Hold your hand in front of your mouth and feel it!
Questions kids ask
What is a letter sound?
It is the sound a letter makes inside a word, like the mmm at the start of moon. The letter's name is what we call it, like "em" for M, and that is something different.
Why listen to the first sound of a word?
Hearing that moon starts with mmm is one of the first steps in hearing the separate sounds in words. This skill, called phonemic awareness, helps a lot when children start to read and spell.
When do children start to play with sounds?
Starting around age 3 or 4, many children get better and better at playing with words, such as hearing that two words start the same way. Children learn at different speeds, and that is normal.
Why does the game use only 16 letters?
The game uses B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T and W, whose sound is easy to hear at the start of a word. The vowels A, E, I, O and U are left out because each one can make several sounds.
Why does the game stretch some sounds, like sssun?
Some sounds, like m, s, f, l and n, can be held for a long time, which makes them easy to hear. Others, like p and t, pop out quickly and cannot be stretched.
Why do cat and kite start with the same sound?
The same sound can be written with different letters. Cat starts with C and kite with K, but they sound the same at the start. It is fine to tell your child that this is tricky.
Can two letters make one sound?
Yes. S and H together make the sound shhh, as in ship and shoe. C and H together make the sound at the start of chair.
What does rhyming have to do with letter sounds?
Words that rhyme end with the same sounds, like cat and hat, and words that start alike share their first sound. Both are part of hearing the sounds inside words.
What do children learn about sounds in kindergarten?
In the United States, kindergarten standards ask children to hear the first, middle and last sound in short words. They also learn the most common sound for each consonant.
How can we practice letter sounds at home?
Play I spy with sounds: "I spy something that starts with mmm." Names work well too: find family members or friends whose names start with the same sound.
Talk about it
- What sound does your name start with? Who else has a name that starts like that?
- Can you think of three things in the kitchen that start with the same sound as ball?
- Which sound can you hold for a long time, and which one pops out quickly?
I spy with sounds
Look around the room together and say: "I spy something that starts with sss." Your child guesses, then takes a turn. Stretch the first sound so it is easy to hear, and swap roles often.
Read the story behind this game →
Facts checked against Nemours Reading BrightStart: Phonological awareness, Nemours Reading BrightStart: Help your child learn letter names and sounds, Common Core State Standards: Kindergarten reading foundational skills. Last checked October 13, 2026. Who makes Play & Learn