Phonics: Sing and play

The first in Tim Harding’s Come Alive Phonics series, aptly titled Playing with Sounds and Letters, has just been published. Drawing on years of experience as a teacher, headteacher and trainer, Tim Harding has created these original songs, animations and activities to teach letter sounds and letter formation together. It’s a multi-sensory approach that harnesses the power of music and movement to actively engage children and support memory.

Using singing to teach phonics makes sense on many levels. Singing is a naturally enjoyable means of repeating sounds, words and ideas without it becoming boring. Children will happily sing lyrics again and again, not knowing they are practising sounds and committing them to memory. Taking a playful and active approach like this also helps to tackle the Letters and Sounds programme while staying true to the child-initiated play-based approach of the EYFS. A ‘singalong’ approach to phonics teaching also reinforces the important skills of Letters and Sounds Phase 1.