Big F has one tall line and two arms, one at the top and one in the middle. Little f curls over the top like a candy cane and has a short line across. And the F sound at the start of “fish” and “frog” is a third thing to learn. That is a lot for a preschooler, and the Letter F Game turns all three into a splashy fishing trip kids want to take again and again.
Meet Penny! She is fishing off the dock of a little log cabin on a calm crayon-drawn lake. Every fish swimming by carries a letter or a picture, and kids help Penny reel in the right ones. Tap or swipe to cast, the fish bites with a big splash, and it drops into its slot in the catch row on the dock.
Before you play, draw a big F in the air together. One tall line, then an arm at the top and an arm in the middle. Now try a little f: up and over like a candy cane, then a little line across. Penny uses those same words in the game!
Watch Penny play the Letter F Game
How to play
- Listen to Penny. She reads every direction out loud, and the wooden sign at the top shows what to catch.
- Tap the fish you want, or swipe from the fishing rod toward it. The line lands right where your finger lets go.
- Round 1: catch the fish with the big F. Round 2: catch the little f. Round 3: catch the pictures that start with F, like frog, fan, fox, fork and foot.
- A wrong fish just wiggles off the hook, so kids can look again and try another one.
- Tap any fish in the catch row on the dock and Penny names its letter or picture again.
- Watch for 3 in a Row!, 5 in a Row! and Perfect Game!, then finish with up to five stars.
What kids learn
The Letter F Game practices recognizing the uppercase and lowercase letter F and hearing the /f/ sound at the start of words, a key preschool and kindergarten skill (Common Core RF.K.1d: recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters, and RF.K.3a: letter sounds).
- Big F among look-alike letters like E, H, L and T.
- Little f among tricky ones like t, l, i and j.
- The F sound in frog, fan, fox, fork and foot.
Try this at home or in class: cut out a few paper fish and write a big F, a little f or an F picture on some of them. Spread them on the floor as your “lake” and go fishing with a spoon or a paper clip on a string. Each time a child catches an F fish, they say “big F” or “little f” or name the picture and the /f/ sound at the start.
More practice with letters and beginning sounds
- Letter F Song: sing along and hear the F sound in words.
- Letter F Tracing Worksheet: trace the big F and the little f.
- Letter E Game: deliver the mail with Lexy and find the letter E.
- Letter D Game: keep going with the letter D.
Every game, worksheet and activity in one membership
With a Have Fun Teaching membership you get every game, worksheet and activity on the site, including the Letter F Game. Teachers can assign games with a Classroom link, so students can play on any phone, tablet, Chromebook or computer.
