Introduction
CVC Words or 3-letter words form the basic building blocks for the kids in early education. When we are about to start preschool, or kindergarten, or even when you teach kids at home, the immediate thing after teaching phonics to kids is that – teaching CVC words.
Learning CVC words is crucial in early literacy. It helps kids to identify the sound, and use phonics to blend the sounds together to form the basic words that will eventually help them to form the base of reading.
CVC words can be viewed as the first step to decoding and reading more complex words once you are clear with the phonic sounds.
Kids learn quickly when the things are taught in a fun, interactive, and playful manner. In this blog, we shall be bringing up the best ways to keep kids engaged during learning CVC words. ALso we shall have a look into different ways to teach CVC words or 3-letter words to kids. So, let’s get into it!
What are Three Letter Words or CVC Words?
Before jumping into teaching CVC words, first get a clear picture of what CVC words or 3-letter words are. CVC stands for (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant).
For example: cat, dog, pen, etc
Here, the first word is cat, it is formed by letters c-a-t (c is a consonant, a is a vowel, t is a consonant). We have blended the sound of the first letter sound /k/ with the sound /a/ followed by the letter t /t/.
These 3-letter words help kids understand the concept of phonetic blending.
Step-by-Step Guide to Teach CVC Words(3 Letter Words)
In this section, we will explore step-by-step methods for teaching CVC words to children through engaging CVC word activities. We’ll also cover phonics instruction using various approaches for kindergarteners and introduce sound blending techniques for our young learners.
Step 1: Introducing Phonic Sounds
Phonics as the foundation
Phonics is the essential foundation for helping children learn to read. By teaching kids the sounds associated with each letter, they begin to understand how words are formed. Phonics gives them the building blocks to later blend these sounds together to form complete words. Before children can effectively blend sounds to read, they first need a solid grasp of individual letter sounds, making phonics the crucial first step in their reading journey.
Download Free PDF Phonics Worksheet
Jolly Phonics
Jolly Phonics turns learning to read into an adventure! With fun actions, catchy songs, and colorful visuals for every letter sound, kids stay engaged and excited. It’s like bringing phonics to life—kids sing, move, and play while they learn, making reading feel like a fun game instead of a lesson.
Watch the full Jolly Phonics Song for kids
Activity ideas
Try out these amazing set of activities which offers a fun way to teach phonic sounds to kids:
Here are a few simple phonics activity ideas:
Letter Sound Hunt: Find objects around the house that start with a specific sound (like “B” for ball).
Sound Sorting: Sort toys or pictures into groups based on their starting sounds (e.g., “C” for car, “D” for doll).
Phonics Hop: Place letter cards on the floor. Have your child hop on each card and say the sound it makes.
Sound Matching: Match letter cards with pictures that start with the same sound (e.g., “M” with a picture of a moon).
Songs and Rhymes: Singing or watching videos of phonics songs and rhymes with kids
Step 2: Tracing and Writing Alphabets with Phonic Sounds
As a mom of a kindergartener, I’ve seen firsthand how important tracing is for little ones. It’s not just about learning to write letters; it’s about building strong motor skills too. Tracing helps kids recognize letters more easily, and the act of following the lines strengthens those tiny hand muscles needed for writing. Plus, it’s a fun and hands-on way to keep them engaged with learning! My kid loves it, and I’ve noticed a huge improvement in both letter recognition and coordination.
You can try a variety of approaches, the one that suits your child. Here are some ideas:
Sensory Methods – Provide different sensory methods for letter formation, such as using sand, clay, finger painting, or writing in salt trays. This keeps it tangible, real, and fun.
Printable Worksheets – You can check out some of the amazing tracing worksheets we have designed for kids to trace and learn. These worksheets are free to download. Click here to download.
Apps – Download alphabet tracing and writing apps for kids. Kids enjoy visuals more, so the fun and interactive apps encourage kids to trace the alphabets and teach them how to write using color path and arrows.
Read Also: Top 5 Kids Phonics Learning Apps For Kindergarten Kids
Step 3: Blending Sounds
Here’s a simple way to teach it- Start by saying each sound in the word clearly, one at a time. Here’s our classic example, “cat,” say /k/, /a/, and /t/. Next, encourage your child to blend those sounds together slowly. Start by stretching them out, like “/k/-/a/-/t/,” and then say them more quickly, like “cat.”
Here are a few more CVC words you can practice blending with:
- Dog: Start with /d/, /o/, /g/ and blend them to say “dog.”
- Sit: Blend /s/, /i/, /t/ to form “sit.”
- Run: Start with /r/, /u/, /n/ and blend them to say “run.”
- Top: Blend /t/, /o/, /p/ to read “top.”
- Hat: Begin with /h/, /a/, /t/ and blend to say “hat.”
Practicing these with your child can help them get the hang of blending sounds smoothly!
Tools to use
There are many ways to teach and get along with the blending sounds.
Books
Here are some great beginner reading books that focus on CVC words and are perfect for helping your child apply their phonics skills:
- “Hop on Pop” by Dr. Seuss – This book is full of simple CVC words and fun rhymes that make reading enjoyable.
- “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss – While it includes a mix of words, it features many CVC words and playful rhymes.
- Scholastic Bob Books – Set 1: Beginning Readers Box – It has 3 letter words and short vowels that help kids to read and gain confidence.
- Priddy Books Us Learning: My First Let’s Spell – An interactive book to help a child learn to spell simple words using flip cards.
- Skillmatics Preschool Learning Activity – Children will learn to spell 60 words with color-coded boards & wooden letters, all while having fun!
- Junior Learning CVC Flips -Teach CVCs with this early flip stand for teaching spellings for consonant-vowel-consonant words, with colorful pictures.
These books are designed to reinforce phonics skills and build confidence in young readers.
Flashcards
Flashcards are very helpful in learning cvc words via visual recognition. Kids love colorful cards, and we will tell you how to make this activity interesting. These two ways worked for me:
Sound Out the Word:
- Show a flashcard with a simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) word (e.g., “cat”).
- Ask the child to sound out each letter individually: /c/ /a/ /t/.
- Then, guide them to blend the sounds together smoothly to say the word: “cat”.
- Repeat with other simple words like “dog,” “sun,” or “hat.”
Picture and Blend:
- Show a flashcard with a picture (e.g., a sun) and three letters underneath (s, u, n).
- Say each sound slowly and have the child repeat: /s/ /u/ /n/.
- After repeating the sounds a few times, encourage them to blend them and say the word: “sun”.
CVC Videos
Kids love to watch videos and especially the children of this age – kindergarteners, are always up and get excited whenever there’s colorful and catchy animated videos with catchy sounds.
Here’s a list of some famous and kids most loved CVC words videos:
- CVC Words | Learn to Read by Alphablocks ( My all time favorite)
- Consonant Vowel Consonant | Phonics Song by Jack Hartmann (All time classic song)
- Everybody’s Reading Now – CVC Phonics Song
Bonus Section: Useful Resources Links Compilation for Learning 3 Letter Words (CVC Words) by Mommytutors
Here’s a comple te list of useful resources of CVC words (3 letter words) for you! Enjoy 
Phonics worksheets:
3 Letter Words Worksheets Free Download (This include CVC letters basic introduction, reading, writing and other cvc word activities)
Phonics Worksheets Free Download (Single Letter sounds, beginning and ending sounds)
Apps and games: Here are the best apps for learning CVC words, along with their download links:
- Starfall Learn to Read – Engaging phonics lessons with games and stories.
- ABCmouse – Comprehensive learning with CVC word activities and phonics games.
- Endless Reader – Fun monsters help with CVC words and sight words.
- Teach Your Monster to Read – Help a monster learn to read with phonics and CVC games.
- Phonics Ninja – A ninja-style game where kids slice through CVC words.
These apps are a fun way for kids to practice their CVC words and phonics!
Conclusion
We have discussed all ins and outs about learning CVC words or 3-letter words. They are truly the building blocks of a learning journey.
During this learning journey, just keep in mind that it isn’t necessary that your child will show interest in the very first attempt. These are the small kids who are sometimes willing to learn or look at something, and sometimes they won’t.
Just choose a suitable time and environment to reinforn=ce these learning strategies.
Also, not every child picks up the thing at the same pace as other children would do. I can say that with such confidence because I have seen that while teaching both my kids. Both have different learning capacity and different approaches towards learning and observing this.
I hope you have found this blog useful. If you have any queries, any ideas to share, you can always reach out to us at MommyTutors.
Happy Learning!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
