Bubblegum CVC Word Building Mat for Kindergarten

Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish, how many pieces do you wish? How many of us remember this rhyme as a child? I’ve heard this little ditty sung by children even now and can only imagine how much our kindergarteners would love this bubblegum CVC word building mat.

Reading takes time, patience, and lots of practice. A fun way for children to explore relationships between letters and sounds is with word building. This hands-on reading activity would be great to ‘pop in’ any kindergarten literacy center.

Your Kindergarteners will get a kick out of these popping pictures while gaining practice building words on the cvc word list. Get the Bubblegum CVC Word Building Mat for Kindergarten today!

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Teaching CVC Words in Kindergarten:

EARLY READING SKILLS

CONNECTING A VISUAL IMAGE WITH A WRITTEN WORD IS VERY IMPORTANT IN EARLY READING AND CONNECTING LETTERS AND SOUNDS. PICTURES ARE GREAT FOR VISUAL LEARNERS.

One of the first steps in reading is practicing CVC words. When children realize they can blend sounds (phonemes) to create words, they will gain confidence in their reading skills.

Using letter tiles/magnets/cutouts to physically build the CVC words is a great way to help your hands on leaners get motivated. Using multiple senses and learning styles is so much more beneficial then simply reading words off a list.

Start by introducing and modeling this activity in a whole group setting. Students will see how to complete the activity and practice the task together several times. Then, the activity could be used as a center or small group activity during guided reading. Let your kindergartener explore and have fun. It’s okay to not check for accuracy every time.

This activity can also be used as a formal assessment. Working individually or in a small group, students can identify short vowel words.

These adorable CVC picture cards include different words families, words with the same vowel, rhyming words, beginning consonants, and other spelling patterns. Using smaller sets of the cards can help focus your student on a specific task.

In addition to practicing letter-sound knowledge in this activity, students will improve phonological awareness by saying each word and stretching each sound to spell it.

CVC word building mats with a bubblegum theme.

Phonics for Kindergarteners

KINDERGARTEN SPELLING AND READING

DECODING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS A NEW CONCEPT TO YOUNG CHILDREN! KINDERGARTENERS WILL GAIN CONFIDENCE AND MOTIVATION WHEN THEY FEEL SUCCESSFUL WITH CVC WORD GAMES.

Writing the letters that represent each sound is called phoneme (sounds)- grapheme (letters) mapping. Breaking the word into individual sounds also gives students practice in decoding more complex words in the future. There are four basic steps to follow for phoneme-grapheme mapping:

Identify the picture and the correct meaning of the CVC word
Orally stretch the word into individual sounds
Place a manipulative on the mat for each sound (cube, counter, finger, etc.)
Identify which letter makes each sound

Why Is Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping Important?

Learning easy words to spell in kindergarten provides basic decoding practice. Spelling lists with CVC words form a strong foundation for taking on the challenge of digraphs, consonant blends, longs vowels, and additional patterns.

Reading Skills Gained From Building Words

Phenomenal Phonics

Word building mats help students sound out words, sound by sound. The sounds are sequenced in the right order to create a word.

Writing Skills Wowzers

After building the word with manipulatives, your student will use a dry erase marker to copy the consonants and vowels in the word. This is great practice for fine motor skills and pencil grip.

Star Spellers

Building words with manipulatives will ideally help children break down each sound and ultimately create star spellers in kindergarten and 1st grade.

Best Blenders

Your students will identify the letter for each sound and practice putting those sounds together to form words.

More CVC Word Resources:

Grab these CVC Word activities for fun whole-group activities, small groups and independent beginning reader activities for your kindergarteners!

Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers Learning Resources 3-Letter Word Puzzle Cards, Kindergarten Readniness, Self Correcting Puzzles, Ages 4+, Multi ThinkFun Zingo Word Builder Early Reading Game – Award Winning Game for Pre-Readers and Early Readers Wooden Reading Blocks | [5] Sets of Fun, Educational Spinning Alphabet Manipulative Blocks for Children w/ Easy-Grip Handles | STEM & Montessori Approved Toy for Pre-Kindergarten Boys & Girls Gift Teacher Created Resources Word Shark: Short Vowels Game (7805), Multicolor AIVANT 80 Words Self-Correcting Spelling Puzzle for Three and Four Letter Words with Matching Images,Perfect for Preschool Learning (40 Blocks Double Sided)

Tools you’ll need

Don’t worry about making a special trip to the store. You can get all the supplies for this activity right here. Click the pictures above to get what you need.
Note: The clear baseplates are included in the set above, even though they are hard to see in the picture.

Writing practice for early readers activity.

How To Use The Bubblegum CVC Word Building Activity

BUILDING WORDS WITH KINDERGARTENERS

It’s as easy as 1,2,3! Simply print out one word building mat for each student. You will use paper or card stock and laminate them.

Print, cut, and laminate the bubblegum picture cards.

Place one of the cards at the top of the building mat.

Next, you have two choices. You can have your students use manipulatives to represent each sound. They can slide the manipulative, or their finger, while saying each sound.

They can also spell the word with cutout letters and say each sound while placing it in the corresponding box.

Finally, students will copy the letters onto the lines at the bottom of the page.

Erase, repeat!