Some Kid-Friendly Fun Ways to Count Syllables

 

A syllable is a ‘word chunk’ that contains a single vowel sound. A word may contain one, two, or more syllables. For example, the ‘cat’ has one vowel sound, therefore one syllable; the word ‘laptop’ has two vowel sounds, so two syllables and the word ‘computer’ has three vowel sounds, so it has three syllables. 

If your kids are having trouble counting syllables in a word, or if you are teaching this concept for the first time, you should read through the entire blog post. Read on to understand various fun ways, shared by the Day Care Chino Hills CA teachers, to teach children how to count syllables in a given word. 

Four Ways to Count Syllables:

Here you can find the various effective methods of counting syllables in a word. If your child does not understand the concept with any of the methods, take a short break and then try another method. 

The Clap Method: Most of the Chino Hills CApreschool teachers use this method to introduce the concept of counting syllables. This is the most common and fun way to teach kids syllable counting. This method works quite well with young learners. You just have to say a word and clap with each syllable. 

The Hum Method: With this method, instead of clapping or saying the word, you have to hum with each syllable. Then ask your child to count the number of hums to get the numbers of syllables in the word.

Talk Like a Robot Method: This is another fun way to teach young learners to count syllables. In this method, you have to act like a robot and say the word in a mechanical tone and manner; with a pause between each syllable.

The Jump Method: Kids love this method very much as they get to jump with each syllable in a word. So if there are 2 syllables in a word you have to jump 2 times as you say the word.

Your kids can practice any of these four methods to practice counting syllables.

Here you can find some additional activities to give your kids some extra practice.

Sing simple rhymes or songs with a strong beat that they know. For example, you can sing the nursery rhyme “Mary had a Little Lamb” and clap out each beat in the song. You can also try beating out the rhythm on a homemade drum. Call it your music class and see your kids having fun while learning an important concept.

Play a robot game with your kids. Encourage your little ones to give you a word and you try to say it in your best robotic voice, segregating the syllables. Take turns to be the robot.

Turn mealtime into practice time. While having a meal together, you use the names of various foods and separate them into syllables.