Using magnetic letters and board, display a number of vowels and consonants. Be sure to repeat the number of vowel magnets you post so that there will be as even a number of vowels and consonants as possible. Divide the class into two teams, a vowel team and consonant team. With each team beginning in separate corners, have them, on "Go", run one at a time to the board. The "consonant" team members should collect consonants and the "vowel" team members should collect vowels. Each member of the relay should select only one letter per trip to the board. With their chosen "team" letter, each member should run back to their group and put the letter in a box or basket and tag the next team member to follow suit. Once all the letters are gone, see which team has the most correctly collected letters.
Create a number of large flashcards, each with three or four letters printed on them. One at a time, show each flashcard to students, asking them to identify the letter that does not belong. For example, if the card reads: "F G E X", then "E" would be the letter that does not belong. Once students are able to distinguish between vowel and consonants, repeat this game with cards that list words such as "cat", "dog" and "sheep," allowing students to distinguish between long and short vowels. You can also adjust the game for students to distinguish between the pronunciation of hard and soft consonants, such as the "c" in "coat," "cup" and "city" or "g" in "giant," "golf" and "gum".
This is a listening game. Find a poem or simple story that emphasizes hard or soft consonants or short or long vowel sounds. A poem such as "Hickory, Dickory, Dock" will work. Begin by assigning your students or "detectives" the task of detecting short vowels sounds, instructing them to raise their hands when they hear one. Read the poem slowly, pausing to repeat the short vowel sounds as the students raise their hands to acknowledge them. Have the students repeat the words containing the detected sound. Alternately, use a simple list of unconnected words that suit your topic (hard or soft consonants, for example) for this game.
Divide students into groups of three or four, giving each group a bag with letters written on cards inside. For example, some bags may simply have cards that have vowels -- "a", "i", "u" "o" and "e" -- while other groups have cards with consonants -- for example, "b__t", "c__t" and "h__t". Have each group choose a card from the bag, searching among the other groups for a match that will, when combined with their letter or letters, create a word. Have the groups repeat the process until they have joined with other groups to create words for all of their bag's cards.