Phonics games for kids: sounding words out, step by step

Peabody has 11 free games that ask phonics, including Deep Dig, Critter Farm and Dino Dash. The path has 16 steps and 590 practice words, and a step opens when 80% of the one before is read. Every answer is three boxes to tap. Free through the end of 2026, no sign-up.

By Aaron, founder of PeabodyChecked 18 October 2026

Game	Asks	From	What it is
Deep Dig	phonics, first sounds	K	Read the word on the block to dig deeper.
Critter Farm	phonics, first sounds	Pre-K	Plant, water and harvest by sounds and numbers.
Dino Dash	phonics, first sounds	Pre-K	Hatch dinos, ride them through nine lands, chomp wrong eggs.
Astro Rescue	phonics, first sounds	K	Jump through space and free the lost bots.
Temple Escape	phonics, first sounds	Pre-K	Run eight temples on a companion you hatched, and take the arch with the right answer.
Cell Break	phonics, first sounds	Pre-K	Dig out of jail: find letters, finish words, win your lunch.
Last Word	phonics, first sounds	Pre-K	Give the zombies their words back. Survive the night.
Choose Your Own Adventure	phonics, first sounds	K	Pick a story. Every choice changes how it ends.
Onslaught	phonics, first sounds	K	Build a maze of towers. Hold back the Clankers!
Number Trails	phonics, first sounds	K	Sail a map of numbers. Pick +10, ×2 or −1 to reach the treasure in the fewest moves!
Potion Shop	phonics	2nd	Read the orders and brew the right potion.

The arcade also has two action games with cartoon violence, Sniper and Doomcrawl. We leave them off these lists on purpose; every game is on the games page. A game's "From" grade is where it is made to start; its questions follow the grade a child says they are in.

Two word games sit outside the learning list: Word Rescue (catch falling letters to spell words from your story) and Word Blocks (hop on the word you hear).

Which grades work on phonics

The practice brain works on phonics for Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade. It starts a child on the rung their grade puts them on, then moves up when answers are solid, so a child ahead of their grade is not held back.

The sixteen steps

Step	Letters and patterns	Practice words	Some of them	Heart words taught
1	s a t p i n	22	sat, sit and tip	21
2	m d g o c k	35	mat, map and mad	10
3	ck e u r	37	sock, rock and kick	3
4	h b f l ff ll ss	40	hat, hen and hop	10
5	Word families with j v w	38	jet, jam and jig	8
6	sh ch th	35	ship, shop and shed	4
7	wh ng nk qu x y z	40	whip, whiz and which	4
8	Blends at the start	40	flag, frog and crab	4
9	Blends at the end	40	hand, sand and band	4
10	Silent e: a_e i_e o_e u_e	40	cake, lake and bake	0
11	ee ea ai ay oa ow	40	bee, tree and feet	3
12	ar or er ir ur	40	car, star and jar	1
13	igh and y as in fly	28	night, light and right	0
14	-le and two-part words	40	apple, bubble and puddle	0
15	un- and re-	35	unzip, unlock and unpack	0
16	-ing -ed -er -est	40	jumping, jumped and kicked	0

Heart words are the ones that do not sound out, like "said". Peabody teaches 133 heart words beside the steps, right after the step that makes the rest of the word decodable. The full table is the phonics scope and sequence.

Other skills

Questions parents ask

Do these games need typing?

No. Every answer is one of three big boxes, so a child who cannot type or read well yet can play, and a wrong answer costs a little time, never a life.

Do they ask the same questions every time?

No. Questions come from the same practice brain behind the lessons, which brings phonics back on a schedule and does not ask again what was answered right.

Is it free?

Yes, free through the end of 2026, with no sign-up. The games teach and review; Peabody is not a full curriculum and gives no test or score against other children.

Checked against how Peabody works on 18 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher.