One of the keys to beginning reading is understanding the parts of words, including syllable breaks. For my beginning readers, I made a Valentine’s Day-themed syllable practice set to practice hearing the “beats” in the words. We also played with syllable clip cards for fun as well.
Teaching Syllables in Kindergarten with “Heartbeats”
I began working on learning the sounds of syllables by focusing on the concept of “heart beats” in words. This is just perfect for Valentine’s Day! Encourage your child to nod their head or tap each “heartbeat” for the words: pg, frog, but-ter-fly, tur-tle. Can they hear that the words have beats?
Another way to recognize the rhythm of syllables is with poems. Some kids’ picture books have a great rhythm for practicing finding these “beats.”
In my free printable, I share four fun animal and Valentine’s Day-themed worksheets. Two of them provide pictures of animals, and students draw a line from the animal to the number of heart beats (syllables) that are in it. The last two pages provide images and the student circles the number of syllables, from 1 to 3 and 1 to 4.
My daughter loved the adorable Valentine’s the animals held. But she also loved that she could easily figure out the number of syllables too.
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Free syllable worksheets
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Counting Syllables with BOOM Learning
I made a Boom™ Cards version of these animal valentines too. My daughter loves taking learning on to the computer. Teaching syllables in kindergarten is just perfect for this time of year.
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I also offer two other counting syllable decks for teachers who want to have more practice.
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Note: Boom™ is the trademark of Boom Learning. Used with permission.
More Kindergarten Syllable Activities
These worksheets are similar to a few worksheets in my larger offering about rhythm in poetry, a Picture Book Lesson plan for kindergarten or first grade teachers. Introduction to Rhythm is available at Teachers Pay Teachers and my Shop.
Picture Book Poetry: Introduction to Rhythm is more than just syllables practice. It includes all of these things!
- A lesson plan and book list, as well as a compilation of ideas for teaching the basics of rhythmic poetry to kindergarten or first graders
- Eleven pages of worksheets (some simple “draw a line” and others cut and paste activities) for students
- Three templates for creating a “silly rhythm poem”
- Two pages of public domain limericks and nursery rhymes
- Four charts for students to write their names on to declare how many syllables are in their name
Available at my Shop and TPT
My daughter and I also practiced counting syllables with my syllable counting clip cards (also at TPT). Then, I also made a few Boom Card online task card decks for syllable counting too: Syllables Counting Animal Valentines, Count the Beats Syllable Counting (to 4 syllables), and the Count the Beats Animal Theme! I think she’s got the hang of it now. Check out all the syllable counting practice I provide by browsing through my products. Shop links are provided below.
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Before a child is ready to jump into learning to read, it’s important to review basic phonemic principles, such as hearing the parts of words. Rhyming is a fun activity that is ideal for kids preparing to read or just starting out. After reading a favorite picture book, we played a “Dusty” Rhyming Game to practice making our own rhymes. 
