Match the Sounds
Preschool · 3–5Five pictures down one side and five letters down the other, shuffled. Draw a line from each picture to the letter it starts with. Say the picture out loud and stretch the first sound — mmmmushroom — because the sound is the thing being matched and the letter name can get in the way of it. Every row answers to a different letter, so there is one right answer and no near miss. A free phonics printable for ages four to six, on A4 or US Letter.
Stretch the first sound
Say the picture out loud and hold its first sound — mmmmushroom, rrrrainbow. The sound is the thing being matched, and the letter name can get in the way of it: a child who knows the letter is called "em" but has not heard the m in mushroom will match nothing. Stretching makes the sound audible as a separate piece of the word.
One letter, one answer
Every picture on the sheet starts with a different letter, so there is exactly one right line per row and no near miss. That matters more than it sounds: a page with two pictures starting with b teaches a child that their correct answer was wrong, which is the fastest way to lose them.
Frequently asked questions
- Should my child know letter names or letter sounds first?
- Sounds are what reading runs on, and most phonics programmes start there. Names come along anyway; this sheet only needs the sound.
- What if my child cannot hold the line straight across the page?
- Let them point and say the pairs instead, or draw the line for them once they have chosen. The matching is the exercise; the ruler-straight line is not.