Young children will learn the CH sound in no time at all with these fun CH activities! These CH sound activities engage young learners through sight, touch, movement, and sound, which makes it easy for them to remember the CH sound. These activities are appropriate for preschoolers who are learning to read and elementary kids who are homeschooled or in the classroom. The activities also make great literacy learning centers for kindergarten students and first great students. Read on for fun free printable activities for learning the CH sound and for practicing reading CH words!
Is My Child Ready to Learn the CH Sound?
If your child has mastered the consonant sounds and the short vowel sounds, and can sound out CVC words pretty easily, then your child is ready to learn some different sounds! The CH digraph shows up in a lot of different words, so it’s a great one to teach your child once she can read CVC words pretty well. Learning the CH sound will add so many new words for her to read!
You Will Need the Following Materials:
- white card stock
- scissors
- laminator and laminating sheets – this is optional, but recommended for durability
- adhesive magnet sheets – this is also optional but definitely adds an element of fun to the activities!
How to Prepare the CH CHoo CHoo CH Sound Activities:
- Print out the track and trains on white cardstock. You can print the trains in color, or have your child color the black and white ones.
- NOTE: I included a blank train and a blank caboose in each file, so if you do not want to cut out all the trains and cabooses, you can laminate the blank ones and use a dry erase marker to write the word ending or beginning as your child practices
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- Laminate (optional) and cut out the trains and cabooses. As a side note, if you are looking for a recommendation on a laminator, I use the Purple Cows Laminator and I LOVE it! I’ve worked it hard for years now and it has laminated hundreds of pages for me without a problem.
- (Optional) Use an adhesive magnet sheet and cut out small pieces to fit on the tabs of the trains and cabooses. Stick the magnets to the back of the tabs on the trains and the front of the tabs on the cabooses. You don’t have to do this – the activity can be done by just placing the caboose by the train, but the magnets make them stick together which makes it extra fun!
How to Teach Your Child the CH Sound
- (Optional) – Listen to Ch – Choo Choo from the album Sounds Fun Phonics. The album can be found on Spotify, and maybe other streaming services too. You don’t have to use the song to teach your child the CH sound, BUT music is a really effective way to help children learn and REMEMBER. Plus, it’s fun and joyful! This song goes perfectly with the CH Choo Choo activities, so I highly recommend using it to introduce the CH sound. Sing, dance, act silly, and have fun with your child while you play the song. Play it a few times so it sticks in your child’s head.
- Teach your child that when C and H are right next to each other they make a different sound. The new sound is ‘”CH” like the ch ch ch sound of a choo choo train. Instruct your child to drive the train along the track. and to make the train make a “ch” sound when the smokestack of the train lines up with the CH clouds.
- Below is a video of the CH sound in case you need a reminder!
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Depending on your child’s attention span, you can practice the above activity a couple of times and be finished for the day, or you can start matching trains to cabooses and making CH words!
Remember that your young child’s attention span is only a few minutes long. Phonics instruction should not take much time each day – a few minutes at a time of practice is enough! With consistent practice, your child will be reading CH sound words in no time at all!
Here is an example video of the ch sound activity:
Ready to Read CH Words!
- Before you have your child practice reading CH words with the CH trains, try a few CH sound words with a moveable alphabet or on a whiteboard to make sure she’s ready.
- Start with a few simple words that start with CH, such as those on the following word list: chip, chat, chop, chin, chug. Use common words that your child is familiar with. Build that words with the letter tiles or moveable alphabet and ask your child to try sounding them out. Remind him of the CH sound if needed.
- If your child is able to sound out the words without too much difficulty, you can practice reading CH words with CH CHoo CHoo!
Match the Train to the Caboose
- Practice CH words by matching engines and cabooses. Give your child a CH engine and let her complete a word by adding a caboose, then sound out the word that they form together.
- Try a word that ends with CH with the CH caboose and engines that have word beginnings printed on them.
- Give your child lots of positive reinforcement as you do this and keep it fun. When your child starts to get tired or lose interest, you are done for the day!
I hope you and your child enjoyed this CH sound activity! Feel free to check out more phonics activities for joyful learning!
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