Jolly Phonics: Summer Edition – 5 Fun Phonics Games for Kids

Summer is the perfect time to bring a little sunshine into your English lessons – and phonics practice doesn’t have to take a holiday! The Jolly Phonics: Summer Edition is a set of five playful activities designed to help children strengthen their sound recognition, blending, and reading skills while exploring seasonal vocabulary.

🌞 Sandcastle Sound Hunt

Children match summer-themed picture cards (like sun, bucket, or crab) to the correct initial sound “buckets.” It’s an active, multisensory way to reinforce phoneme awareness – and if you hide the cards in a sandbox, the activity becomes a treasure hunt!

🍉 Ice Cream Rhyming Scoops

This activity uses cones labeled with word families and “ice cream scoops” with rhyming words. Kids build delicious rhyme towers while practising blending and recognising patterns in words.

🕶️ Summer Sound Swat

Armed with fly swatters, children listen for target sounds like sh, ch, or th and “swat” the matching summer-themed pictures. A perfect way to keep listening skills sharp while having fun.

🏄 Flip-Flop Word Flip

Using flip-flop-shaped cards, children blend letters to make CVC words – both real and silly ones. Adding summer vocabulary keeps the game relevant and exciting.

🍧 Beach Ball Blends

Pass around a beach ball with blends written on it. Wherever a child’s thumb lands, they must say a summer word starting with that blend. Great for quick-fire vocabulary building and speaking practice.

Why try them?
These games are low-prep, high-energy, and adaptable for different phonics levels. They combine movement, seasonal vocabulary, and core reading skills – making them perfect for keeping learners motivated and engaged. Whether you’re teaching in a classroom, a summer club, or outdoors, these activities bring the sunny vibes straight into your lessons.