Gingerbread Free Printable Beginning Sound Mats
Use these free Gingerbread Beginning Sound Mats to bring learning to a whole new level this holiday season; practice isolating beginning sounds & letter identification!
Gingerbread Beginning Sound Mats
Scoop up these gingerbread-themed picture mats to make learning more fun this holiday season. The gingerbread activities will have your kindergarten and first-grade students isolating beginning sounds and matching the correct uppercase and lowercase letters with the pictures.
Learning to isolate and identify beginning sounds is a crucial phonetic skill that students need to know to move on to the next reading phase. This literacy activity comes with 3 color mats and 3 black and white mats for your students to practice on.
Each mat features a cute gingerbread house and gingerbread boy with 9 pictures to practice beginning sounds. The pictures are kid-friendly and can easily be identified by young students.
No Complicated Prep!
These gingerbread man beginning sound mats do not require complicated or time-consuming prep! The steps are quick and easy. Simply print, laminate, and go! Instead of laminating, you can also slide the mats into a write and wipe pocket for added durability.
These mats come in color AND black and white. Therefore, you can use them even if you don’t have access to color printing or are limited on your colored copies. You can even print black and white mats and let your students color them. This incorporates a little extra fine motor practice and adds fun to the learning!
If you plan to use these for small groups or centers, you can print fewer mats, making prep faster!
All you need for this activity are a set of letter tiles, magnetic letters, letter beads, or any other alphabet manipulative you have.
For easy storage, put the beginning sound mats in a large baggie, file folder, or storage tray for easy grab-and-go access. When you are done with the mats for the season, simply store them with your seasonal activities. Now you can use them every winter.
Setting Up The Gingerbread Beginning Sound Mats
Supplies needed:
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- Gingerbread beginning sound mats (button to download at the bottom of the post)
- Letter tiles or another letter manipulative
- Write and wipe pockets (optional)
Instructions:
- Print the gingerbread beginning sound picture card mats.
- Laminate or slide into write and wipe pockets.
- Gather letter tiles or letter manipulative of your choice.
- Store the entire activity in a large baggie, file folder, or storage tray.
Using the Gingerbread Alphabet Mats
For this activity, students will look at the picture on the gingerbread card. They will then isolate the beginning letter sound of the word and determine what alphabet letter makes that sound. Next, they will take the correct letter manipulative and cover the picture with the manipulative, matching the letter and beginning sound.
Students can take this literacy activity a step further by saying the word aloud, stating the beginning sound, and which letter makes that sound. For students ready for a challenge, have them say a sentence using that word. If they are working as partners, they can take turns telling each other.
You could even provide students with a recording sheet and have them write both the uppercase letter and lowercase letter represented by each beginning sound.
So Versatile!
These gingerbread letter mats could be used as a tic-tac-toe game or bingo board. Students could play in partners with different colored letter manipulatives and work to get 3 in a row for tic-tac-toe.
To play bingo, students could all have different mats. As the teacher calls out beginning sounds, students will see if they have the corresponding picture, working on getting a bingo.
More Differentitation Ideas!
There are a variety of ways that these holiday matching mats can be differentiated to meet the needs of your students. Since there are 3 different mats, you can start by having your students complete only 1 mat. As their skills progress, they can work their way up to completing 2 mats and then all 3 mats!
Another way to use this free printable is to have the students draw a letter manipulative and find the picture from the 3 mats that begins with that sound. Simply switching up the way students match the letters and sounds works their brains differently. They will use their phonics and problem-solving skills as they search from the pictures to find the match.
Students could use these matching mats with partners as well. They could take turns practicing letters and matching pictures or work together to complete the mat. This helps them work cooperatively and allows them to encourage and coach each other along the way.
These gingerbread mats are sure to engage your students this holiday season! There are so many fun games you can play with them to bring learning up a level and get your students progressing. I can’t wait for your students to be reading like pros in no time!
Click the button below to get the Gingerbread Beginning Sound Mats and incorporate them into your lesson plans!
Here are some more gingerbread activities for you!
Gingerbread Letter Sounds Write the Room
Gingerbread Editable Board Game
Gingerbread Match and Cover the Letter Mats
Editable Gingerbread Sight Words Write the Room
Editable Gingerbread Word Building Mats