Word Blending Boxes

These Word Blending Boxes, developed by Jolly Author Sue Lloyd, are an invaluable resource for parents and teachers alike to help children practise blending with the letter sounds that they have learned. All you need to get started are 8 boxes (of any kind), coloured card, and labels (99.1mm x 67.7mm) or paper and glue.

Getting Started

To get started creating your word boxes, you need to download the introduction, and the words for the word boxes (all of which are contained within one document).

1) – Click here to download the introduction to the Word Blending Boxes

2) – Click here to download the words for the Word Blending Boxes

You then need to select the correct label file to download. You can choose to either download labels (3a or 3b) or “DIY” labels (3c or 3d) which you can stick on yourself. You also have a choice between pre-assigned colours, or blackline labels so that you can pick your own colours.

For printing adhesive labels (99.1mm x 67.7mm):

3a) Colour Labels 3b) Black and White Labels

For printing “DIY” labels which can be printed on A4 paper, cut out and stuck on with glue or double-sided tape:

3c) Colour DIY Labels 3d) Black and White DIY Labels

Preparing materials

Each of the 8 boxes contain one group of letter sounds (group 8 contains the alternative vowel sounds).

The words are organised by colour, with each colour matching one letter sound from within the box. The group (and therefore box) that the words belong in are also indicated in the headings.

For example, Box 1 contains the following letter sounds:

/s/ – yellow /a/ – blue /t/ – pink /i/ – white /p/ – green /n/ – peach

The words are therefore easily identifiable within the box, giving you practise blending words for each letter sound using only those letter sounds which have already been taught. There are no words for the letter sounds /s/ and /a/ as they do not make any phonically regular words. The first words start with /t/ in pink, giving the words “at” and “sat”, as these are the only words which can be made with the letters /s/, /a/ and /t/. As more letter sounds are learned, more words can be made.

Once you have downloaded the files:

• Print the labels and attach them to the 8 boxes (label size 99.1mm x 67.7mm. If labels are not available, then they can be printed on A4 paper and stuck on)
• Print words on the thin card, using the appropriate colours. There are also black and white versions of the box labels available if you want to assign your own colours
• Laminate if necessary
• Cut up the words and put them into the relevant boxes

You can now practise word blending easily, with a decodable word bank at your finger tips!