Welcome to Alphabites Game Pack!

We're so glad you're here, and we can't wait for you to play Alphabites Games with your children. Our little bites for little learners makes it easy to practice reading skills in just 5 minutes a day. Below you will find helpful ideas to get you started.

1. Intro to Sounds Video
2. Overview of the Cards
3. How to Play
1. Beginners
2. Making the Games More Challenging
4. Materials Guide
5. Guide to Printing Letters
6. Glossary of Terms
7. FAQ

Don't forget you can always reach out on social media @juneberrylearning or by email if you have any questions! 

1. Introduction to Sounds

Please watch the following video to familiarize yourself with the sounds that each letter card represents!

2. Card Overview

The first card in your Alphabites Game Pack has a guide to show what each element on the cards is and how to use them. 

3. How to Play

Beginners

1. Introducing the Cards: Look through the cards together and see if your child recognizes any of the letters. You can introduce them to your child by saying, “These are a special set of cards and games. They have letters on the front of them that represent the sounds we make when we talk and read.”

2. Find the letters of your name: “Your name is spelled with letters that tell us what sounds to make. Let’s see if we can find those sounds.” Look through the cards to find and say sounds that are in your child’s name. Help your child make any duplicate letters needed using paper or cardstock and a marker.

3. Teaching Sounds: Take 5 minutes each day to play a game to practice sounds. Choose 3 cards to work on until they are learned. When you finish the game, take a couple minutes to review the sounds they have previously learned.

4. Order for Introducing the Sounds: We have packaged the cards in order, with easier to learn sounds first. You don’t have to follow this specific order, but it can help to start with some of the easy sounds that your child may already recognize (s m t a p i n). These letters also lend themselves to quickly making words.

Here’s a list that will make it easy to decide:

• Familiar letters in your child’s name and birth month, sounds they like to make, and names of favorite things, people, or places
• Blue and Red Cards: Consonants and short vowel sounds
• Red and Pink Cards: Long vowel sounds, vowel teams (diphthongs), and schwa
• Yellow Cards: Combined letters (digraphs) that make one sound
• Green Cards: R-Controlled vowels 

5. Time to Play! Select some familiar and new sounds to play Alphabites Games with. Keep it playful and fun by choosing activities that your child enjoys.

• Alphabites Ready-Set-GO (mM card) is great for running.
• Alphabites Sound it Out Hide-Out (qQ card) is a fun hide and seek phonics game.
• If your child loves throwing, play the Alphabites Wallyball (dD card) game.
• Leaping Lava Land (lL card) is great for kids who are into jumping around.
• For music lovers, Alphabites Dance Around Sounds (gG card) will be a favorite. 

Make the Games More Challenging

Once your child has learned a few of the single letter sounds, it’s important to put the sounds together into words.

1. Practice blending sounds together by using the cards to create CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words (mat, sat, cat, bat, bit, pit, sit).
2. Practice reading words by playing the games with sets of cards that spell out short words. Switch out one letter in the words to make new words. For example: Start with the d, o, and g cards to spell dog. Then make rhyming words by changing the d to l f b c j h fr sm and b.
3. Practice building, writing, and tracing larger words, including tricky words that have irregular spelling patterns such as: want, was, of, they, my, are, said, who (See our Sight Words Blog Post for more).  

What to do if Your Child Gives an Incorrect Answer

Always frame your responses in a positive tone to help guide the learning. If your child gives an incorrect response, offer them some options. Here are three examples of how you might do this:

1. Let’s try again. Is it /s/ or /m/? 
2. Is that a real word or a made up word? 
3. This is the letter b and its sound is /b/. Say it with me /b/. Say it again /b/. Now you say it /b/. Say it again /b/. 

Is My Child Ready to Learn to Read?

Download our free guide to Reading Readiness: Juneberry Learning Reading Readiness Guide

4. Materials Guide

Alphabites Games are designed to be played with items you already have around your home! We suggest you gather the following items.  We also encourage you to get creative by using what you have to play the games.

• Soft Ball or other item for throwing, such as a rolled up sock or smaller soft toy 
• Small baskets or recycled containers, cardboard boxes, bowls, or pots
• Toy vehicles or other items that roll such as balls, marbles, toy trains
• Painters tape, sticky notes, or masking tape
• Whiteboard/markers, chalkboard/chalk, or a plastic sheet protector/clear plastic lid for using whiteboard markers to practice printing letters
• Reusable tote bags, shopping bags, or grocery bags
• Flashlight, or light from your phone
  
• Dice

Each game includes instructions on what materials to use and suggestions for alternative items.

5. Guide to Printing Letters

See our guide below to learn the best way to help your child move from sound recognition to writing.

Juneberry Printing Guide

Juneberry Pencil Practice + Animal Puppets

6. Glossary of Terms

Definitions of terms used on the cards are included in the games pack. We’ve added a list of phonics terms here that you will find useful as you help your child learn to read.