Have fun with three letter words with this Short Vowel Board Game! Children in Preschool, Kindergarten and First Grade can all benefit by thinking just about the middle sound or spelling out the whole word.

Short Vowel Board Game

How to prepare

No cutting required! Just print off the game board and reference sheet, either the color or black and white version. Laminate them if you like. You’ll need a pencil and paper clip as a spinner (or add a brad if you have one) and a counter for each child.

Starting to learn

Before playing the game, look at the pictures together to see if you know what word the picture represents. Double check with the reference sheet and take special note of the middle vowel sound of each word. What does it sound like when it’s pulled out of the word. Can you str-e-tch out the word and hear each individual sound?

Spelling pattern

Next, look at the way these words are spelled. They are all CVC consonent-vowel-consonent words. So if we can hear the first and last sound in the word all we need to do is work out the middle vowel and we’ll be able to spell it or write it.

How to play Short Vowel Jump

• Put counters on start
• Spin a pencil and paper clip on the spinner.
• If you land on a ‘u,’ for example, jump to the next picture that has a short ‘u’ sound, then spell it out loud. If you land on ‘Jump 2’ just jump two spaces. All these words follow the same CVC spelling pattern.
• Children can use the reference word sheet if they need support.
• They can jump to ‘you did it!’ when the vowel they spin is no longer represented in a picture ahead.
• For writing practice, write down the word they land on each time.

Looking for more vowel board games?

Pick up the free matching Long Vowel Jump Board Game.

Looking for more free CVC activities?

• -In Word Family Board Game
• CVC Transport Mats
• CVC Matchbox Words
• Pumpkin Word Family Sliders

Don’t miss all our free first grade worksheets and our other printable worksheets for prek-12th grade students.  We have free printable math worksheets, english worksheets, history for kids, cool science experiments, and even fun activities for kids to go with every season and holiday throughout the year!