Kindergarten Year 1 (JK) phonics games

Ages 4–5

Plays with rhyme and first sounds, and meets some letters and the sounds they make.

Opens Tick or Fix.

Your child's two kindergarten years are play-based. In the first, the programme asks that children notice words that rhyme or start with the same sound, begin to use a few letter sounds and familiar words when reading, and use letters and sounds in their own writing. There is no set order of sounds — schools choose their own way of teaching this, so ask your child's teacher what your class covers.

Checked against The Kindergarten Program, published by Ontario's Ministry of Education. How the words are chosen.

Games that match Kindergarten Year 1 (JK)

Fredle — phonics word puzzle.
Tick or Fix — fix the word, win a star.
ABC Gap — find the missing letter.
b or d — which way round? b d p q.
Number Words — spell the number, win a star.
Make a Rainbow — drop the colours in order.

Opening a game from this page sets the school year to Kindergarten Year 1 (JK), and every game then keeps the words at that level — so a Kindergarten Year 1 (JK) child gets Kindergarten Year 1 (JK) words, not a guess. The school year is a tap away inside the game, so a child moving up a year, or a younger sibling taking a turn, changes it in seconds.

Same ages in the UK: Reception (ages 4–5).