If your child has learned all the short vowel sounds, knows the consonant sounds, and can sound out CVC words, you can teach him or her the EE sound! The vowel team EE makes the long vowel sound of E, like the sound in the middle of the words feet and street. In this Fun Phonics activity, we will practice the sound of EE. through a fun activity that will get your child moving! It’s a great activity for wiggly kids and kids with short attention spans (which includes most young children!). It’s super simple and quick to put together, and it’s a phonics activity that your child will enjoy! My little one liked it so much that she kept asking to do more. You can use this EE sound activity for homeschool or for English Language arts instruction in the classroom. It is easy to do with an individual child or a small group of children. Read on for instructions and the free printable EE sound activity!
Materials Needed for Teaching the EE Sound with EE Feet
The EE Feet activity is simple to prepare. All you need is:
- Colored Printer Paper (or cardstock if you want the feet to be more durable). Walmart has a good price on card stock, and you can also find it at Hobby Lobby (for half off every other week!), or online at Amazon or elsewhere if you don’t have a store near you that carries it.
- EE Feet Printable
- Scissors
- Laminator (optional – but I highly recommend it for durability, especially if you plan to do this EE sound activity with multiple children or do it multiple times).
How to Teach Your Child the EE Sound
Before you get started with the EE Feet activity, you will want to briefly introduce the sound of EE to your child. I like to use a moveable alphabet, letter tiles (such as those from Scrabble or Bananagrams), or magnetic alphabet letters when teaching new sounds, but you can just use a whiteboard or pencil and paper if you prefer.
- Give your child two letter E moveable alphabet letters or tiles (or write them on paper). Ask your child what sound the letter E makes. If your child does not remember the short E sound, remind him that E usually makes the short vowel sound at the beginning of the word elephant.
- Now, have your child push the two letter E tiles or letters together. Tell her that when two E’s are next to each other, they form a vowel team and they make a new sound. Two E’s together make a long E sound, which says the name of E, which is the long vowel sound in the middle of the word FEET.
- Using the moveable alphabet or letter tiles, make a few simple words that contain the EE sound. Start with short words that have the EE vowel sound at the end of a word, such as bee, see, and fee. Ask your child to try reading the words. Remind her of the EE sound as needed. Next, try a couple of long E words that have an additional letter, such as feet, meet, and deep. Help your child as much as needed. If your child is able to sound out these EE sound words, you can try practicing reading the sound of EE with the EE Feet activity!
Instructions for EE Feet
- Use your colored paper or cardstock to print out the EE Feet.
- Laminate the feet (optional).
- Cut out all of the feet.
- Lay the feet out on the ground. Your child is going to step on the feet while doing the activity, so you can make a simple path with the feet if your child likes things to be pretty straightforward, or if you have a child who enjoys being really active you can space the feet out and make room for jumping, turning, doing a somersault, or whatnot. You can also place several right feet or left feet in a row and have your child hop. Do whatever you think your child would enjoy!
- Remind your child that EE makes the long e sound found in the word feet. So he is going to practice reading the sound of EE by following the feet! Tell him that he is going to read the new words on the EE feet and step on each foot as he reads the word on it. Now you can have him hop on the feet, jump on the feet, or just walk a path on the feet, whatever you would like!
Depending on your child’s attention span, you can have her read just a few feet or all of them at one time. Practice for as many days as you need in order for your child to feel confident in reading EE words. And remember to keep it short and have fun!
Here’s a example video to help you get started:
I hope you enjoyed this activity for learning the sound of EE! Check out the activities below for more fun ways to practice the EE sound and other phonics skills:
