LEARNING TO COUNT SYLLABLES

FREE printable syllable sorting mats to help teach young children how to break words into syllables. Perfect for kindergarten or elementary school.

I first made these printable syllable sorting mats years ago and have used them both for intentionally teaching syllables to my whole class and also as a follow on literacy centre for small groups. 

Perfect for word work in the Early Years, these syllable mats provide ideal visual support for young children learning to break words into syllables.

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Recognising syllables in words makes both reading and spelling easier for young children. 

All words have syllables. 

A syllable is defined as 'one or more letters representing a unit of spoken language consisting of a single uninterrupted sound'.

It is an important concept to learn in early childhood but an easy one with most children leaving preschool being able to hear the parts in words.

In preschool, I start teaching by using children's names to introduce the concept of syllables. I clap the syllables as I say their name aloud and then encourage them to do the same. 

Another method is to put your hand under your chin and count the number of jaw drops as you say a word but I've found this strategy tends to work better for older children.

As a whole class, we then use our syllable mats and a big basket of familiar items and together we clap the words and sort the objects, adding them to the correct numbered mat.

You might also like our Syllable BINGO Game as you can use the picture cards together with these mats to make sorting quicker and easier than finding different objects. You can find them here.

Learning syllabification usually means plenty of different hands-on way to practice counting syllables. All the hard work is already done! Just print, laminate and cut.

Don't forget to grab a copy of 
our FREE Syllable Sorting Mats too!

You can download our Syllable Sorting Mats for FREE to use at home or in the classroom. 

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