Find f phonics resources for teaching the ‘f’ grapheme and /f/ phoneme in Reception. Our worksheets, games and practical activities give pupils plenty of practice recognising ‘f’, saying the sound, forming the letter and using it to read and spell simple words.
Use these activities when first teaching ‘f’, for a quick revisit during phonics lessons or with pupils who would benefit from some extra practice. You can also browse our full collection of Phase 2 phonics resources, or visit our main phonics resources page for resources covering Phases 1 to 5.
When pupils meet ‘f’ in Phase 2 phonics, they learn that the grapheme represents the /f/ phoneme heard in words such as fan, fin and fog. At first, activities can focus on recognising ‘f’, saying /f/ clearly and listening for the phoneme in familiar words.
The /f/ phoneme can be stretched without changing the sound, making it useful for modelling oral blending. Encourage pupils to say /f/ cleanly, rather than adding an extra ‘uh’ at the end.
A little regular practice can help pupils become quicker at spotting ‘f’ and using it in their reading and writing. These f phonics resources can be used to practise:
Pick and choose activities to suit your class and the stage they have reached. They work well as part of a whole-class phonics lesson, with a small group, for independent practice or when a pupil needs another opportunity to go over ‘f’. They can be used alongside your school’s chosen systematic synthetic phonics programme.
Once pupils know ‘f’, they can use it with graphemes they have already learned to read simple words such as fan, fin, fit and fog. Word-building games and phoneme frames are useful for encouraging pupils to look carefully at each grapheme, say the sounds and blend them together to read the word.
The same words can be used for spelling practice. Say the word aloud, ask pupils to identify the sounds they can hear and then choose the graphemes they need. This gives them a chance to use ‘f’ for a real reading or writing purpose rather than practising it only in isolation.
Pupils can practise writing ‘f’ at the same time as learning to recognise and read it. Tracing, guided writing, large-scale mark making and other hands-on activities can help pupils get used to the shape and movement before forming the letter independently.
Looking for the next sound or something to revisit? Browse our complete collection of Phase 2 phonics resources for activities covering the rest of the Phase 2 teaching sequence. You can also visit our main phonics resources page for worksheets, games, lesson presentations and practical activities across Phases 1 to 5.
The grapheme ‘f’ represents the /f/ phoneme heard at the beginning of words such as fan, fin and fog. Pupils learn this sound during Phase 2 phonics.
Model /f/ as a continuous sound that can be stretched, rather than saying ‘fuh’. Keeping the sound pure makes it much easier for pupils to blend it with the sounds that come next.
Once the other letters in the words have been taught, pupils can practise reading and spelling words such as fan, fin, fit and fog. Keeping practice fully decodable means pupils can work the words out using the phonics they already know.
