The letter R takes a little extra practice. Big R looks a lot like big P and big B, little r is easy to mix up with little n, and the /r/ sound is one of the last sounds many young kids learn to say clearly. The Letter R Game turns all of that into a rainy day in a bright toy-brick garden.
Meet Sunny! Flower pots, rocks and animals fill the garden, and a little rain cloud floats across the sky. Kids tap the pot with the big R and the cloud glides over and rains on it until a flower grows and blooms. Then they find the rocks with a little r, where a rabbit peeks out, and tap the animals that start with R to watch them do a robot dance.
Before you play, draw a line down, a bump and a kick in the air together: that is a big R. Then draw a short line with a little arm on top: that is a little r.
Watch Sunny play the Letter R Game
How to play the Letter R Game
- Press Play. Sunny says hello and reads the directions out loud, so even non-readers can play on their own.
- Round 1: big R. Tap the flower pot with the big R. The rain cloud glides over and rains on it, and the R grows into a blooming flower. You can also slide the cloud with your finger and tap it to make it rain.
- Round 2: little r. Tap the rock with the little r and a rabbit peeks out. Peekaboo!
- Round 3: R animals. Tap the animals whose names start with R, like rabbit, raccoon and rat, and watch them do a robot dance.
- A wrong tap is okay: Sunny gives a friendly tip, like “little r is a short line with a little arm on top,” and tricky letters come back for more practice.
- Build streaks for 3, 5 and 10 in a Row!, beat your High Score!, go for a Perfect Game! and collect your stars at the end.
What kids learn
The Letter R Game helps preschool and kindergarten kids recognize the uppercase and lowercase letter R and connect it to the /r/ sound at the start of words (Common Core RF.K.1d: recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters; RF.K.3a: the most common sound for each consonant).
- Big R is a line down, a bump and a kick (not a P, which has no kick, and not a B, which has two bumps).
- Little r is a short line with a little arm on top (not an n, which comes back down).
- Rabbit, raccoon and rat all start with the /r/ sound.
- Each round has its own feeling to it: rain on the big R, peekaboo for the little r, and a robot dance for the R animals.
Try this at home or in class: go on an R hunt. Say rain, rabbit, robot and red, and growl a little /rrr/ at the start of each one. Then draw a line down, a bump and a kick in the air to make a big R.
Members and teachers can assign the Letter R Game to students with a Classroom link, and every child’s score shows up for the teacher automatically.
