If your first grade student is learning to read and write, they will encounter blends and digraphs. Let me help you understand the difference between what is a blend and what is a digraph. Then, after you learn the difference between blend and digraph blend, first grade students will need lots of practice. We have tons of fun blends activities and digraph games plus free printable worksheets to make practice simple and FUN!
Blends and Digraphs
Blends and digraphs are important phonics concepts that help young learners build reading skills. While they might look similar at first—like “bl” in black or “ch” in charm—they function differently, and understanding the difference between blend digraph is key to helping kids read confidently.
This article will explain the differences between what are blends in phonics and what is a digraph with examples plus practical teaching tips and free printable resources including blends games and digraph activities for grade 1 students.
We begin learning about digraphs and blends once kindergartners are comfortable with letter sounds and CVC words. It’s time to move on to consonant blends and digraphs with advanced kindergarten and 1st grade students. Since phonics terms can sometimes be confusing, especially for new learners, let’s break down exactly what blends and digraphs are and how they differ.
What are Blends in Phonics
Blends are two or more consonants that come together, but each letter keeps its own sound. They’re often called consonant clusters. For example, in the word “plum,” you can hear both the “p” and the “l” sounds. Blends can appear at the beginning or end of a word and in both places. Teaching blends helps kids recognize and pronounce words more easily as they progress with reading skills.
Blend Examples
Now that you know what are the blends in phonics, here are some examples:
- s-blends: st, sk, sm, sl, sp, sc, sw, and sn
- t-blends: tw and tr
- l-blends: pl, sl, cl, fl, gl, and bl
- r-blends: fr, gr, dr, cr, tr, br, and pr
- ending blends: nd, mp, lk, ld, ft, nt, and lt
What are consonant blend
Here are some words that use consonant blends:
- s-blends: stop, star, still, skip, sky, skate, smile, smell, small, slide, sleep, slow, spot, spin, spoon, scare, scarf, school, swim, sweet, swing, snow, snap, and snack.
- t-blends: twist, twig, twelve, twin, twirl, twine, twinkle tree, trip, track, train, trap, truck, tray, trail, trick, and trunk.
- l-blends: play, plum, slide, slow, clap, clock, fly, flame, glow, glass, blue, and block.
- r-blends: frog, fruit, green, grow, drum, drink, crib, crown, tree, trap, brick, broom, press, and prize.
- Ending blends: hand, jump, milk, cold, gift, tent, belt, sand, lamp, silk, wild, soft, plant, and felt
Blend Overwhelm
There are over 70 blends, and teaching them all can seem like a huge task. But here’s the key point: kids don’t have to memorize every blend! The goal is for them to learn how to combine the sounds, and then they can read any blend.
What Is A Digraph?
A digraph consists of a pair of letters that combine to produce one distinct sound (phoneme). These combinations involve two letters collaborating to form a specific consonant sound.
Take the word “shop,” for instance. The letters s and h combine to make the “sh” sound. Another common digraph is ch, as in the word chair, where the letters c and h form a new sound that differs from either letter.
What are consonant digraphs
When starting out, use the most common digraphs
- ch
- sh
- th
- wh
As your child progresses, you can also cover wWhat are digraphs in phonics with less common digraphs, such as ph, gh, kn, wr, and gn.
Difference between blends and digraphs
Blends and digraphs may look similar, but they function quite differently. In a blend, two or more consonants are paired, and each letter keeps its own sound, like the bl in black or st in stop.
On the other hand, a digraph is when two letters come together to create a single sound, such as the sh in ship or the ch in chat. Understanding these differences helps in teaching phonics effectively.
When To Teach Blends And Digraphs?
Every child learns at their own pace, so it’s important to be mindful of where your child is in their reading journey. The best time to introduce blends is when a child has mastered reading three-letter CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words.
Before teaching your children blends, ensure they know the sounds of individual letters. This will help them to blend the sounds in words. Once children can comfortably read words with blends, they’re typically ready to learn digraphs.
Don’t hesitate to go back to the basics if you find your child is struggling with either blends or digraphs. They may need more practice with letter sounds and CVC words before progressing.
Teaching blending
1 – Explain the Concept
It’s always helpful to tell the children what they’ll learn. Particularly when introducing a new phonics concept. In this case, explain what consonant blends and digraphs are. Keep it simple and use plenty of examples to make the ideas clear.
You might also find the following resources handy.
- Blends and Digraphs Chart
- Final Consonant Blends Word List with lots of charts and printables
- Initial Consonant Blends chart and printables
2 – Tap Out The Sounds
When teaching phonics, it is helpful to start by focusing on sounds. After introducing consonant blends and digraphs, have students listen to words with these sounds and ask them to tap out each sound they hear.
Elkonin sound boxes are helpful tools for students to identify individual sounds in words. Here is a helpful post about sound boxes and how to use them.
Use simple, closed-syllable words for this exercise. Here are some suggestions.
- Words with digraphs: ship, chat, thin, thick, shed, whip, shop, rich, chop, bath, fish, chin, shut, that, path
- Words with blends: plan, trap, clip, sand, spin, frog, jump, sled, drop, flag, stop, brick, trip, swim, block.
Note that the number of letters sometimes differs from the number of sounds. Let’s give an example using a word with a digraph, such as ship. You can tap it out and use a sound box to show that it has three sounds but four letters. Why is that? Because sh is a digraph and makes 1 sound.
3- Read And Use Digraphs and Blends In Sentences
Once children master the digraphs and blend in individual words, they can start reading them in full sentences. This helps children see how these sounds fit into real language. Watching them start to read is exciting, and kids love showing off their abilities. Naturally, this kind of activity also improves their fluency and comprehension.
You can find some free emergent readers with blends and digraphs here.
4 – Use Games To Review And Practice
Using games and hands-on activities to review and practice blends and digraphs makes learning fun and engaging for children. These interactive methods help reinforce phonics skills in a way that feels like play, encouraging active participation. This keeps kids interested while boosting their reading and writing abilities.
** See below for games, worksheets and activities seperated by blend or digraph
Blends
We have lots of free blends printable resources to make learning simple and FUN. Take a peak:
Blends Worksheets
- Bugs Color by Blends Worksheets
- Trace and color by blends
- Graphing by blends activity
- Consonant Blends Worksheets for Kindergarten students
- Find and Dot Ending Blends Printables
- Dot Marker Final S blends worksheets
- Ending blends worksheets
- L Blends worksheets
- free ng and nk worksheets
Blends Activities
- Blends activity – reading consonant blends, digraphs, and trigraphs in cute, free word family sliders
- Final s blends clip cards
- Mitten Blends Activity
- nk blend words clip cards
- leaf puzzles working on initial blend words
- blending activities pdf – free printable clip cards
- Blue birds sorting blends
Blends Games
- ng activities – 2 games to learn ending blends ing, ang, ung, ong
- Bee initial blending games
- Beginning BLends Worksheets and games
- S blends game
- R Consonant Blends beginning blends games free printable
- Free printable Ending Blends Game
Digraphs
We have lots of free digraph printable resources to make learning fun:
Digraph Worksheets
- Beginning Digraph worksheets
- Ending digraphs worksheets
- Free sh and ch worksheets
- Printable th sentences worksheets practice
- CH worksheets
- TH worksheets
- SH worksheets
Digraph Games
- BUMP: Ending Digraphs Games
- SH, CH and TH Words Digraph Games
- Digraph BINGO
- Consonant Digraphs free printable game
- ar digraph words game
- er digraph words game
- Build a Fort Digraph Games Free Printable
Digraph Activities
- Build-a-Flower Digraph Activity
- Ice Cream puzzles – free Digraph printables
- Hands-on Puzzles – digraph activities for first grade with free printables in color or black and white
- Digraph practice puzzles – freebie
Trigraph Activities
- ch and tch worksheets
- Trigraph Readers – set 1 with spr, squ, and str words
- Printable trigraph readers – set 2 with spl, scr, shr
- Cut and Paste trigraph worksheets
- Do-a-Do trigraph worksheet pages
Blend and digraph blend
Blends and digraphs are essential building blocks in early reading development, and learning how to decode them is key to helping children grow into confident readers. Following our tips and providing lots of hands-on practice will allow you to guide your child through these phonics concepts.
Don’t forget to use the free printable resources and engaging activities to keep learning fun and interactive.
Blend digraph
Learn the difference between blends and digraphs and access free printable activities, worksheets, & charts to help teach phonics easily.
