Learning Worksheets Phonics Letter S sound
Free printable PDF · beginning sounds · ages 3–5
Letter S Sound Worksheet: Beginning Sound /s/ (Free PDF)
Sun, sock, sandwich and seal: /s/ is the snake’s hiss, a long sound that is easy to stretch and one of the first letters many schools teach.
What’s on the letter S worksheet
- Trace: a big dotted S and s, then a row of Ss pairs, next to the key picture (sun).
- Circle: 12 pictures to say aloud. 6 of them start with /s/: sock, sandwich, salad, soap, saxophone and seal.
- Match: draw a line from 4 pictures to their first sounds.
- Page 2: the answer key, with the name of every picture and tips for grown-ups.
How to say the /s/ sound
Keep your teeth close together, smile a little and let air hiss out: /sss/. No voice is needed. It is the sound of a snake or a tyre letting out air.
How to teach the letter s sound
Hiss like a snake and wiggle your arm along the table in an s shape. Then say words with a long, hissy start (sssun, sssock) and ask your child to hiss back when they hear it. Do the worksheet and trace the big S with a finger first, saying /sss/ all the way along the curve.
More /s/ words to say together
Sat, sit, sun, sad, six, sand, seven, sister.
Watch out for
Some children lisp, saying “thun” for sun, especially while losing baby teeth. It does not affect hearing the sound. The /s/ sound is also spelled with c in words like city, and sh is a different sound altogether.
Game: Snake trail
Draw a long, wiggly snake on paper and mark ten circles along its body. Each s word your child says lets them colour a circle. When the snake is full, it gives a big hiss.
Everyday practice
Socks in the morning, sandwiches at lunch and the sun in the sky: three easy /s/ words to point out each day.
Tongue twister
Six silly seals sip soup in the sun.
Trace and write the letter s
Practise writing the letter too: uppercase S tracing, lowercase s tracing and cursive s.
Practise next
Next, try letter t and letter u. Later, s joins other letters in the sh sound.
Letter S sound questions
Why do many phonics programmes start with s?
It is common, it can be stretched for blending (s-a-t) and it is easy to hear. That makes it a favourite first sound.
Is the s at the end of cats the same sound?
Usually, yes. In some words, like dogs, the end s sounds more like /z/. Children learn this gradually through reading.
More answers in the phonics FAQ.
More Letter Sound Worksheets
Also try: CVC words · sight words · alphabet tracing