This week, my kindergartner and I decided to work on recognizing beginning blends. To practice sorting the beginning blends sounds, I made a beginning consonant blends game just perfect for the autumn season, since it involves sorting turkey feathers and returning them to the correct beginning consonant blend turkey.

Learning to Recognize Beginning Consonant Blends

Although the consonant blends game I set up does not require reading of consonant blend words, it does require the child to hear the consonant blends. Before a child can learn to read words (decode) and spell words (encode), they must hear it themselves.

Each consonant blends turkey sort center has a turkey with a beginning consonant blend label on it. These poor turkeys are missing their feathers! The turkey feathers show images that start with blends. I made different sets for S blends, R blends, and L blends. My daughter can only do so much at ones! I believe most early readers are similar. Less is more!

Playing the Beginning Consonant Blends Game

Since Strawberry is an early reader, we started doing just one turkey together. We named the pictures on each feather and put it on the poor naked turkey. Strawberry loved helping him get his feathers back. After she understood the concept of becinning consonant blends, I gave her two different turkeys (that is two different beginning consonant blends), and she sorted the feathers for between the two of them.

For each turkey set, center I provide the turkey with holes to punch (so the child and use his or her own fingers as a puppet) as well as with feet attached. My kindergartner certainly enjoyed playing with her turkey once his feathers were attached! Even my fifth grader came along and got in the fun!

Get the Beginning Consonant Blend Turkey Sorts

Each of the turkeys are provided in full color (shown in the images), less color (the turkey bodies are not colored; print on colored paper instead), and black and white. The children can color their own turkey sorts with the b/w option, thus letting them take ownership in helping their poor turkeys get clothed once more. The colorful versions can be used in a classroom or group center and be laminated for more permanence.

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