Beginning Sounds with Animals — Letter G

Listen for the first sound in giraffe. On this sheet the child is handed the letter G and finds every one of the animals whose name begins with its sound — giraffe all open with G. Saying each word, catching its opening sound, then tying that sound to the letter G is the Kindergarten letter-sound link this practises, set among a cat, a sheep and a hen.

To find what begins with G, a child must say each picture and isolate its first sound, then judge whether it matches G. That is the heart of early phonics — knowing the sound a letter makes and catching it at the front of words like giraffe. The varied a cat, a sheep and a hen keep a wide set of opening sounds in play, so the work never narrows to one rehearsed answer; the child really has to listen.

Children who enjoy hunting the animals settle into saying each picture and listening for the G sound, and every match is a small win. When G feels easy, try the beginning sounds in the A-sound pictures in animals, or the B-sound pictures in animals. You can also browse every beginning-sounds worksheet or the whole animals collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly or plays online for free, and the more first sounds a child hunts, the quicker the link between a sound and its letter becomes automatic.