Read and Play with CONNETIX

Have you felt the excitement when your child begins recognising and tackling new words on their own? When they suddenly start sounding out words on signs or menus, trying to make sense of the world around them? It’s one of those lightbulb moments that feels like the start of something big.



But what next? Rather than diving into the heavily marketed educational workbooks and flashcards, you can continue to lay the groundwork for early reading at home through play.



Children learn best through play….in fact, play is learning! Research shows that young children learn most effectively through active, hands-on exploration rather than passive, structured instruction. In the early years, the brain is extremely adaptable; continually forming and strengthening neural connections in response to sensory rich, engaging experiences. This means providing play-based learning opportunities for children is hugely beneficial.



CONNETIX create an ideal foundation for this type of learning. They are naturally inviting, engaging and the perfect open-ended tool for learning. Below are a few games to try using CONNETIX to foster early reading skills.

This game consolidates initial and final sounds, plus builds vocabulary. You will need square tiles, a chalk maker and timer to play.

Write sounds/ letter patterns – using a chalk marker, write sounds or letter patterns on individual tiles. For example, on separate tiles write ‘s’, ‘b’, ‘sh’ and ‘ch’. Try using five tiles to start with. To increase complexity of the game, increase the number of tiles with sounds.

1. Scatter tiles on a table.
2. Announce whether the game is to search for initial sounds or final sounds. For example, “this round, we are hunting for initial sounds”.
3. To begin, have your child select a tile. Once the timer starts, they need to run around the house and find an object that starts/finishes with that sound. For example, if the letter is “b” and if looking for initial sounds, they might find a book. If looking for final sounds and the tile selected was ‘ch’ they might find a watch.
4. Once an item has been found, bring it back to the table and take another tile. Continue the above steps until the timer goes off.
5. The player with the most tiles wins.

This game helps practice and consolidate sound patterns by sorting words based on similar phonetic features. You will need triangle tiles, square tiles and a chalk marker.