Phonics Tuff Tray Ideas (Activities for Preschool, Kindergarten, EYFS and Beyond!)

Are you looking for some fun Phonics Activities to do with your Preschool, Kindergarten, or EYFS kids? This fun list of Easy Phonics Tuff Tray Ideas has been created for you!

I have personally designed and then tried-and-tested all these Phonics Tuff Tray Ideas myself with my daughter, to make sure there are no issues with them. I’ve made them self-explanatory, so that they can be set up in the corner of the classroom or playroom for your kids to explore at their leisure.

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This pin has text saying, 5 fun and easy phonics activities eyfs kids love. 4 images of tuff tray phonics ideas.

I used my Tuff Tray from Amazon to design these Phonics Activities for my daughter.

However, you can easily do all these activities on a table, or small tray instead. I just find that they worked best for us on the Tuff Tray. It allowed my kids to stand and move around the table, as well as stopping any bits and pieces falling off the side. Clean up was quick and easy too.

This is a photo of one of my tuff tray ideas for learning letters and phonics for preschoolers, Kindergarten and eyfs. The tuff tray has a basket in the middler with objects in it beginning with a,b,c, or d. Around the edge are 4 letter cards with these letters on. The child is to place each object next to the letter it starts with.

Objects Beginning with…

To create this Phonics Activity, I popped Letter Flashcards, similar to these from Amazon, around the edge of the Tuff Tray. You can choose whichever letters your little ones are currently learning.

Then I collected a bunch of kid-friendly objects that begin with those letters and placed them in a basket in the centre of the tuff tray. The idea is that your kid matches the objects with the letter they begin with.

An example of one of my Phonics Writing Tuff Tray Ideas. The tuff tray is covered in a light sprinkling of flour and there are a few letter cards and words spelled out on it, and someone has written in the flour to copy the cards.

Writing Practice for Preschool

This fun, sensory activity takes less than 5 minutes to set up.

I just sprinkled a light covering of flour over my Tuff Tray and then added some cards with various letters on. The letters can either stand alone or you can make simple words with them, depending on the stage your kids are at.

Practicing writing letters in flour like this is a great break from constant worksheets, and a brilliant way to learn through play.

If you’re interested in more ways to practice writing through the use of sensory materials you may like, Teach Your Kid to Write Their Name: 15+ Fun and Easy Activities. These ideas can all be used to practice writing any letters or numbers you’re currently working on.

One of my tuff tray ideas for eyfs, kindergarden and preschool to learn letters, and phonics. There are boards with a picture and space for each letter to spell the word, and then letter cards are sprinkled in the middle of the tuff tray.

Learn to Spell Phonics Tuff Tray Idea

This one is super simple to set up. I just used the cards and letters from the Orchard Toys Match and Spell Game, which I bought from Amazon for my son’s birthday.

If you don’t have this, or fancy buying it, then you can easily make a homemade version of this instead.

One of my tuff tray ideas for learning letters and phonics. tubs round the edge of tuff tray with a letter in each and then capital letters, pictures and words in the middle to match to the correct letter.

Tuff Tray Letter Learning Ideas

To set up this Phonics Tuff Tray, I set out some tubs and lids around the edge. You can use any containers you have to hand. I then added, some letters that my daughter is currently learning.

I did an upper case and lower case version of each letter, along with a short word beginning with that letter, and a picture of an animal or object that also begins with the letter. Each tub had a letter in it, and the rest of the pieces were spread out in the middle for my little one to pop into the right tub.

Nice and simple, yet effective. my daughter enjoyed this one as she loves to sort things out and put everything in it’s proper place.

A tuff tray with words around the edge and pictures in the middle to match to the words.

Word and Picture Match

Lastly, this little Phonics Activity was created to help my daughter as she began learning to read short words.

She simply spells out the words round the edge of the Tuff Tray and then matches the correct picture to the word.

I hope you found my Phonics Tuff Tray Ideas useful as you plan your Phonics Activities for your class or home-school. If you did, feel free to share them with your friends and colleagues.

You may also like:

Maths Tuff Tray Ideas

Fine Motor Skills Tuff Tray Ideas

Sensory Tuff Tray Ideas