Add the butterfly beginning sounds activity to your list of butterfly activities for preschoolers. The free printable puzzles are such a fun literacy activity, perfect for any spring theme!
These puzzles offer students the opportunity to practice phonemic awareness in a variety of ways. Puzzles, games, and matching letter manipulatives – there are so many options! Regardless of how you use them, the butterfly beginning sounds puzzles offer a fun literacy component to your spring lesson planning.
Below, you’ll find some specific activity ideas for the butterfly cards. But remember, you can always alter the activities or create new ideas based on your students’ needs, their interests, and the items you have on-hand.
Related: Beginning Sounds Activities
Read through the post for some tips on prepping and using the butterfly puzzles. Then be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for the free printable. Grab your copy today and you can have the beginning sounds activities ready for the kids to do tomorrow!
Butterfly Beginning Sounds
These phonemic awareness puzzles are perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students. And the best part? They’re easy to prep and multi-use! You can use them during whole group lessons, for small group activities, or as part of your literacy center plans.
How to Prep the Butterfly Initial Sounds Cards
Prepping the butterfly beginning sounds printable is super simple. Just be sure to read through this post for some tips and tricks. Then sign up for your free printable at the bottom of this post. Once you have the printable, you will only need a few supplies to prep them. Here are the items I recommend (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
That’s all you’ll need to prep the butterfly cards. Your list of supplies might change and expand based on the activity you choose though. Here are some materials to have on-hand for the activities I’ve outlined below:
Related: Free Preschool Printables
Once you have all of your materials, it’s time to prep the butterfly beginning sounds printable. As I already mentioned, there’s not much to it:
- First, scroll to the bottom of this post and request the download link.
- Next, save the printable to your computer.
- Then open the file in the most up-to-date version of Adobe Reader.
- Print the butterfly picture cards, making multiple copies if desired.
- Cut the cards, using a different puzzle pattern down the middle of each butterfly.
- Finally, laminate all the pieces.
Now the butterfly sound puzzles are ready to use with students! Note that the puzzles are self-correcting, so long as you use a different cutting pattern for each butterfly.
How to Use the Butterfly Beginning Sounds Printable
My favorite activity for the butterfly cards is to use them as puzzles. Before jumping into all the fun, be sure to teach students how to find the beginning sound of a word. Here are a few easy steps for review:
- Say a word out loud. Start with either a short word or a word that you’ve been using frequently during the current unit. Students love when you use their names, too!
- Then say the word slowly, placing special emphasis on the first sound.
- Repeat just the initial sound a couple of times in isolation.
- Explain that’s the first sound in the word.
- Repeat these steps a few times using a different word each time.
- Finally, let students have a turn. Give them a word and have them isolate the beginning sound.
Now that the children know how to find the initial sound of a word, introduce the butterfly beginning sounds puzzles. Explain to them that each butterfly wing has a match based on the beginning sound of the image on the wings. Be sure to model this exercise for students, making sure to say each word and isolate the beginning sound out loud. Then make a mistake and see if the kids catch it.
Now that the kids have a good grasp on the learning activity, invite them to work the puzzles. They can work in small groups or individually. Start with only a few puzzles, working your way up to the entire collection as they progress. Once the kids begin to master the activity, perhaps after a few days, move the butterfly puzzles to the literacy center for more independent play and learning.
A Few More Ideas for the Butterfly Phonemic Awareness Cards
Using the butterfly beginning sounds printable as a matching puzzle is my go-to. But there are tons of other ways to use them in the classroom! Here are a few other activity ideas:
- Combine a sensory activity with literacy. Students will get hands-on as they dig through one of your spring sensory bins in search of matching beginning sounds. Throw some children’s tweezers in the bin for some fine-motor practice, too!
- Pair the butterfly puzzles with a set of magnetic letters. Students will isolate beginning sounds, match picture cards based on their beginning sounds, and identify the letter that correlates to that sound.
- After the kids work each puzzle, they can go back and use a dry-erase marker to write the letter for each beginning sound.
- Use the cards for a classroom scavenger hunt. Have students search the room for items that begin with the same beginning sounds as the butterfly picture cards.
How would you incorporate the printable butterfly beginning sounds into your lesson plans? Remember to scroll down and sign up to get your copy.
What’s Included in the Butterfly Beginning Sounds Free Printable?
This free phonemic awareness activity comes with 14 pages of butterfly picture cards. Once cut out, there are 27 butterfly cards in total. Each butterfly has two pictures, on either wing, which have the same beginning sound. There are two sets for the letter x – one beginning sound and one ending sound. I tend to find it easier to teach the “x” sound at the end of a word.
These are the word pairings you can expect to find on the cards:
- A – alligator & ant
- B – bubbles & basketball
- C – cake & cat
- D – dolphin & donut
- E – elephant & emerald
- F – frog & flower
- G – gorilla & grapes
- H – hose & hat
- I – iguana & insect
- J – juggle & jellyfish
- K – kangaroo & kite
- L – lime & lollipop
- M – mermaid & magnet
- N – necklace & narwhal
- O – octopus & ostrich
- P – penguin & pumpkin
- Q – queen & quarter
- R – rainbow & raccoon
- S – strawberry & sloth
- T – turtle & toaster
- U – umbrella & upstairs
- V – volcano & vacuum
- W – walrus & watermelon
- X – x-ray & x-ray or fox & six
- Y – yolk & yoyo
- Z – zipper & zebra
Regardless of how you choose to use the butterfly initial sounds printable, I’m sure the kids will have a blast!
More Butterfly Activities for Kids
The butterfly beginning sounds puzzles are so much fun! Round out your lessons with even more butterfly activities. Here are a few more ideas:
So many butterfly activities! And they each cover a different subject, making the perfect lineup for a well-rounded butterfly theme.
Butterfly Lesson Plans
Teaching is such a rewarding career. And it’s a ton of fun, especially with preschoolers! But some aspects of the job can be stressful due to the time commitment – namely, lesson planning. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in! We have hundreds of done-for-you preschool lesson plans, activity packs, and teaching resources to save you time.
With our butterfly lesson plans, students will learn all about butterflies and their lifecycles through playful reading, science, math, and miscellaneous activities. Click on the image below for more information.
Looking for more preschool resources this spring? You’re in luck! Here are a few of my favorite products for spring:
If these preschool resources seem like they match your teaching style, consider a Preschool Teacher 101 membership. Members get regular access to our products at steeply discounted rates!
Free Printable Butterfly Beginning Sounds
This free printable is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s free email community. If you’re a member, fill out the form below and the download links will be sent to your inbox. If you’re not a member, you can join us by entering your information in the form. Then you’ll receive the butterfly beginning sounds printable as a welcome gift!
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