Long and Short Vowel Sound Cups

Identifying, sorting and discriminating between long and short vowels sounds is an important aspect of phonics. This is a fun, hands-on activity.

For this activity:

You will need: 2 plastic or paper cups, 6 – 10 rectangular papers, a marker.
Choose which vowel sound to practice.
Label each cup with “Long A” or “Short A”, changing according to your vowel.
On the rectangular papers write words with long and short vowel sounds.
Ask your child to read each word. Identify the vowel sound – is it long (says its own name) or short?
Put the word in the appropriate cup.
When all the words have been sorted into a cup, ask your child to read the words again and challenge them to spell each word without looking (either orally or writing on a whiteboard).
As an extra challenge – can they put each word into a sentence?