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    Home » Literacy Activities

    Published: Jul 31, 2019 · Modified: Aug 20, 2024 by Fynn · All activities should be supervised by an adult. This post may contain affiliate links.

    Paper Plate Sunflower Word Family Activity

    Inside: Learn how to make and use this brilliant sunflower word family activity!

    Brilliant Word family activity for kids
    Jump to:
    • Let’s talk about word families first
    • Presenting the Sunflower Word Family Activity
    • 3 ways to use this Sunflower Word Family Activity
    • How to make this Word Family Sunflower
    • What’s next for your beginning reader?

    Let’s talk about word families first

    Word Families are group of words that have same ending group of letters and thus have the same ending sound. For example, big, pig, rig, wig are part of the “ig” word family and can, ban, ran, tan are part of the “an” word family.

    Word families play an important role in helping kids learn to read. 

    Words in the same word family have similar patterns. By first recognizing these patterns and learning their sounds, beginning readers can use this predictable structure to sound out any new words in the same word family.

    I am totally speaking from my experience of teaching my kindergartener. 

    I won’t forget the day when my 5yo learnt his first word family ‘at’ and later realized he can easily sound out every new word from the “at” word family on his own.

    That was a HUGE confidence booster for him. 

    Related: If your child has just started learning to read, start with teaching the alphabet and beginning sound phonics, followed by learning to count syllables, blending and reading simple CVC words, and finally, learning simple sight words for beginner readers.

    Presenting the Sunflower Word Family Activity

    To introduce new word families to my son, I made this cute Word Family Sunflower. We have been using this sunflower every other day to practice sounding out CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words from the same word families.

    Making words and then taking them apart, moving letters, laughing over made up words (think: cag? zet? vog?)… all of this makes the learning more physical, and therefore, more memorable for your kids. This is an activity that really brings learning to life and makes learning word families easy and enjoyable for everyone. 

    My son practicing his word families with the sunflower.
    My son practicing his word families with the sunflower.

    Note: An important prerequisite to using this word family sunflower is that the child must be familiar with all the consonants and short vowels sounds.

    Related: Help your child learn the alphabet and letter sounds, to build a strong foundation for literacy success. This video series on teaching letters of the alphabet may also be helpful for you!

    3 ways to use this Sunflower Word Family Activity

    How to use this Word family sunflower learning toy
    1. Choose a word family together, say “an” and turn the inner paper plate with the 26 alphabets to form 26 CVC words. Invite your child to sound out all 26 words, regardless of whether the words are valid or not. My son loved this one and we usually ended up laughing over all the silly invalid words we made.
    2. Call out words from the same word family one at a time. Ask your child to turn the inner paper plate until he/she forms the word that is called out. Other than helping with reading, this activity also builds the foundation for spelling these simple CVC words
    3. Once your child is familiar with all the word families on the sunflower, try this third activity: call out any random words and ask your child to search for the right combination of beginning sound and word family to form the word.
    Learning with this Word family sunflower learning toy

    Related: Our Bottle Cap Word Family Puzzle is also a great hands-on activity to introduce word families. Watch how to make and learn with the puzzle. 

    How to make this Word Family Sunflower

    How to make the word family sunflower
    • Write the 26 alphabets all around the edge of one of the paper plate.
    • Attach a popsicle stick on the second paper plate.
    • Cut out 16 small petals and write a word family on each petal. Attach them all around the second paper plate. These are the 16 two letters word families I included in this sunflower: ad, ag, an, ap, at, eg, en, et, ig, in ,it, og, ot, ug, un, ut. All of these word families use the a short vowel with a consonant. 
    • Put the first paper plate on the second one. Poke a hole in the center with a pair of sharp tip scissors. Attach the two paper plate together using a brad pin.

    Your learning toy is all ready!

    Related: More creative DIY learning toy ideas!

    What’s next for your beginning reader?

    Once your children master their word families, they are ready to move one to blends and digraphs. Make another Word Family Sunflower with blends and digraphs, instead of the 26 alphabets. Or include 3 letters word families like ack, all, ish and so on. The Measured Mom has written an useful post with a long list of word families and words.

    Your child may also enjoy these hands-on name recognition activities! If they are very active, try these gross motor activities for learning names instead.

    If your child is ready to learn to spell, check out these 10 Multi-Sensory Spelling Activities!

    Bonus: Join my mailing list and download this free guide: 9 Simple Ways to Spark a Love of Learning in your Children. Get this guide now>>

    Share a photo with me on HTS Instagram or Facebook if you make this Word Family Sunflower too!

    Pin this to your favorite children's activities Pinterest board!

    Fun Word Family Activity for Preschoolers - A Word Family Paper Plate Sunflower
    Fun Word Family Activity for Preschoolers

    More Literacy Activities for Kids

    • Learn to Read Part 4: 10 Easy Sight Words Activities for Kindergarten Beginning Readers
    • fun multi-sensory spelling activities for children
      10 Fun Spelling Activities for Children to Learn to Spell
    • Preschoolers learn to read by segmenting and blending CVC words, using this printable activity
      Learn to Read Part 3: CVC Words for Preschoolers
    • fun activities to overcome b d confusion
      3 Fun Activities to Overcome ‘b’ and ‘d’ Confusion

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    About Fynn

    Fynn is a Math and Science teacher from Singapore, author of The Happy Learning Book for Siblings and founder of Happy Tot Shelf. She helps parents enjoy home learning with their children through her highly popular kids' activity membership, The Happy Learners' Club. Fynn has been featured in various newspapers, websites and on radio shows as an expert in early childhood learning and creative hands-on learning ideas.

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    Comments

    1. Paula says

      March 28, 2020 at 10:39 pm

      very interesting and informative content. Great hands_on experiences

      Reply
    2. Cheryl webb says

      March 29, 2022 at 11:20 pm

      I hav a 7 and 5 year old gfanddaughters

      Reply

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    Hi there! I’m Fynn—educator, author, and mom of three. I believe a lifelong love of learning starts at home, and I’m here to help you nurture that spark. Together, let’s create joyful learning experiences that strengthen bonds and inspire curiosity for both you and your little ones!

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