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Jolly Phonics Teacher's Guide

Cross-Curricular Learning

Incorporating Phonics in Every Corner of Learning

Creative Ways to Practise Phonics

Incorporating phonics into art, music, PE and outdoor learning gives pupils fun, creative ways to practise their sounds. These playful experiences help children apply phonics in new contexts, strengthening recognition and recall through movement, creativity and exploration.

1
Art
Focus:

Reinforcing sound–letter connections through creativity and fine motor activities.

Ideas:
  • Sound Collage: Create a collage of magazine pictures beginning with a target sound.
  • Sound Painting: Trace or paint large letters while saying the sound aloud.
  • Phonics Posters: Group artwork showing sound with matching words (e.g. /m/ – moon, mug, map).
  • Textured Letters: Craft letters using string, foil, or fabric to trace while naming the sound.
2
Physical Education
Focus:

Building sound fluency through physical movement and rhythm, adding excitement and engagement while reinforcing letter–sound recognition.

Ideas:
  • Corners game: When in the hall or playground, place large letters that have been taught in the corners of the room. When you show or say a letter sound, ask the children to run to the correct corner.
  • Phonics Relay: Pupils race to find objects or collect pictures or letters for a called sound.
  • Sound Jump: Hop or step onto letter mats, saying each sound as they land. Can they make a word? (‘/b-e-d/ says bed!’)
  • Action Sounds: Perform actions for each sound (e.g. puff for /p/, bounce for /b/).
  • Letter Path: Follow a chalked phonics path outdoors, blending as they move.
3
Outdoor Education
Focus:

Linking phonics to the natural environment and real-world exploration.

Ideas:
  • Outdoor Sound Hunt: Search for items that begin with a target sound (leaf, rock, twig).
  • Nature Labels: Collect and label natural items; practise saying and writing the initial sound.
  • Phonics Trail: Hide letter or picture cards outdoors; pupils find and sort by letter sound.
  • Environmental Listening: Identify environmental sounds (birds, bells) and discuss what letter they might start with if written.
4
Music
Focus:

Strengthening auditory memory through rhythm and repetition.

Ideas:
  • Guess the Sound Song: Hum or sing one of the Jolly Phonics songs without saying the key sound. Use gestures or the sound’s action to give clues. When the class guesses correctly, everyone joins in singing the sound aloud together.
  • Beat the Sound: Clap or drum phonemes in words.
  • Sound Rhythm Patterns: Tap or shake instruments for each sound in a word.
  • Rhyme Time Beat: Keep a steady rhythm — clap, clap — between rhyming words. Say a word like bat, then clap, clap and say sat. Continue the rhythm as long as you can, taking turns to add more rhyming words without breaking the beat!
Continue your phonics learning journey:
Jolly Phonics Assessment