Target Phonics with Free Blends Worksheets

5 January, 2025

The terms ‘blends’ and ‘digraphs’ are often used interchangeably, but they are two distinct phonics elements. Blends are two letters that go together to make two distinct sounds. ‘tr’ is a blend. You can hear both the ‘t’ and the ‘r’ sound. There are also three letter blends such as ‘str’ and again, all three sounds can be heard. Digraphs are two letters that combine to make a different, single sound, such as ‘sh’. Neither the sound ‘s’ nor ‘h’ can be heard. Other digraphs are ‘ch’, ‘th’ (hard as in ‘that’ and soft as in ‘thumb’), ‘ph’, ‘nk’ and ‘ng’. These free blends worksheets focus on helping students identifying letter combinations that form blends. Check out free digraph worksheets here.

Certain consonants blend together and recognising the sounds these make is an important step in learning to read.

Blends Practice

Worksheets can be very useful, especially in the classroom, where they provide structured practice and reinforcement. However, hands-on activities and interactive games can make learning blends even more engaging for children. By incorporating fun, practical exercises into your child’s routine, you can help solidify these essential phonics skills in a way that feels natural and enjoyable.

• Help your child come up with a short singable song line for each letter. For example, ‘dr’ says drr… drr, drr, drr. The dragons are dreaming… drr, drr, drr. Practise the rhymes. Make these into flash cards so your child can practise independently!
• Focus on one (or two similar) blend or digraph at a time. Help your child to come up with words. For example, “cr says /crr/. Can you think of any words that begin with ‘crr‘?” 
• Print and laminate our Blends and Digraphs Cards. Choose a few at a time to stick around the room. Sticking them to the door works great as a reminder to practise when entering/exiting a room. Practice makes perfect!

Some of the blends worksheets focus on a single blend. Other worksheets combine blends, giving children the opportunity to distinguish between similar sounding blends.

Focused Blends Worksheets

Worksheets that focus on a single blend are a great way to introduce new blends to students. They allow children to become confident hearing, producing and recognising the focus blend sound before moving on.

Combination Blends Worksheets

Blends worksheets that combine multiple consonant blends provide children with opportunities to distinguish between similar sounding blends.

This collection of free blends worksheets is designed to make teaching easy and learning fun. If you’re looking for even more blends worksheets, games and activities? Explore our full range of blends and digraphs resources here, and support your child in mastering essential phonics skills.

More Blends Activities & Games

These resources targeting blends are fantastic for use in literacy rotations. Print and laminate for long last resources that your kids will enjoy going back to time and again!