Tap the letters to build a word. Find 20 words to complete the activity!
No words found yet.
Reading a word involves decoding letters into the sounds they represent, then blending those sounds into a recognizable word. Building a word involves breaking a word into sounds, then recoding those sounds into letters.
Practice with these two skills strengthens the neural connections required for reading. Once a word has been analyzed for sound, letters, and meaning, a student is more likely to be able to read it the next time they see it in print.
This tile set was chosen so that a beginning reader could find their first word quickly, while a more confident reader has a challenge to go beyond the clues provided. Readers will vary in the amount of words found and the amount of scaffolding needed.
There are many more words hiding in these 12 letters. For example:
aid, and, ant, ape, ate, bad, ban, bat, bed, bet, bid, bin, bit, bud, bun, bus, but, dab, den, dip, doe, dot, eat, end, nap, net, nod, not, nut, oat, one, out, pad, pan, pat, pea, pen, pet, pie, pin, pit, pod, pot, put, sad, sap, sat, sea, set, sip, sit, sob, son, sub, sun, tab, tan, tap, tea, ten, tie, tin, tip, toe, ton, top, tub, use, van, vet
band, base, bead, bean, beat, beds, bend, bent, best, bets, bids, bind, bins, bite, bits, boat, bond, bone, dens, dine, dive, does, done, dose, dust, ends, into, nest, nets, node, nose, note, nuts, open, oven, paid, pain, pans, past, pest, pets, pine, pins, poet, pond, pose, post, pots, puts, said, sand, save, seat, send, sent, side, site, snap, soap, soup, span, spin, spot, step, stop, stud, suit, tape, tend, tide, tied, ties, tips, tone, tons, tops, tube, tune, undo, unit, used, vast, vote
about, above, beads, beans, beast, boats, bones, bound, notes, paint, pants, point, pound, sound, spent, spine, stand, stone, tubes, tunes
If your child makes a real word the activity doesn't recognize, celebrate it! Talk about what the word means. If they make a pretend word, simply explain that it isn't a real word and keep exploring.
Word building uses movable letters to help children construct words. It gives children practice connecting sounds and letters, spelling patterns, and words.
When children build a word, they listen for its individual sounds and connect those sounds to letters. These connections help words become easier to recognize and remember.
The set includes all five vowels and seven high-use consonants. Children can also compare words that differ by just one vowel, such as pit, pet, pot, and pat.
More than 170 common English words can be made using these 12 letters, with each letter used only once in a word.
Magic Squares is designed for kindergarten through second grade, although younger and older children may enjoy it too. Younger children can focus on the three-letter words, while stronger readers can hunt for longer words.
No. Each letter has only one tile, so a word cannot repeat a letter.
Not quite. Phonics is the knowledge of how letters represent sounds. Word building is one activity that lets children practice that knowledge.
Yes! Magic Squares is free and requires no account or login. Teachers and families may use it without permission or payment. Please credit Marian University when sharing it.
Many of the resources below are drawn from the Science of Reading and Dyslexia Toolkit on the Indiana Learning Lab, developed in partnership with the Indiana Department of Education.
For Families:
For Educators:
Research supports explicit instruction and practice in alphabet knowledge. Learning letter names also helps children connect letters with the sounds they represent. Letter naming is one piece of early literacy learning and works best alongside instruction in letter sounds, phonemic awareness, and decoding.
Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (1992). The Reading Teacher, 46(2), 106–115.
Ehri, L. C. (2014). Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), 5–21.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel.
