A basic matching game is useful in teaching the letter-to-sound relationship of spelling. Start out with two sets of cards: one set for the letters of the alphabet and the other for pictures of objects that start with those letters. Allow your children to match the letter card with the picture card. Once your child has mastered initial letter sounds, focus your attention on the final sound of a picture word for each letter of the alphabet. Matching games are also helpful in hearing the vowel sounds of words. For an added element of fun to the matching game, turn the letter and picture cards over and play a memory game.
Bingo is another fun activity to teach phonical spelling. Create your own Bingo cards with pictures or letters, buy a set at your local educational supply store or search online for premade cards ready to print. (See Resource 1.) Either call out a word or show a picture and have your child mark the letter that the word starts with on their Bingo card. You can also switch the categories so that you are calling out the letter and the child marks the picture on his card that starts with that letter. Once that initial sound is mastered you can play Bingo with the ending and vowel sounds of words.
For more advanced spellers, fill the bingo card with words that have one phoneme left blank. Call out the phoneme and have the child mark the word that needs that sound.
Create a fishing game by placing magnets on the back of picture cards. Make a fishing rod out of a stick and string, and attach a magnet to the end of the string. Have a child fish for a card, and when she catches a card, ask her to call out either the first sound, last sound or vowel sound of that picture word.
Adapt this game for advanced spellers by writing out a word with one phoneme left out. After the child fishes out the word, have him call out the missing phoneme to complete the word.
Many websites offer free phoneme games for all levels of reading. These games range from basic fill-in-the-blank pages to pages that encourage interaction from the child. Your child will read interactive books centered on phoneme sounds and play matching games that advance in difficulty as he progresses. See the Resources section for some free interactive websites.