The Secret Word Activity: A Fun, Hands-On Way to Build Early Literacy Skills

A fun, hands-on Secret Word activity that builds beginning sounds, letter recognition, spelling, and early literacy skills for young learners.

If you’re looking for a simple, engaging way to help your students strengthen letter recognition, beginning sounds, and early spelling skills, The SECRET WORD Activity is a tried-and-true favorite you can use all year long. It isn’t new—but it is one of those timeless resources that teachers return to again and again because it just works.

This hands-on activity invites students to solve a “mystery word” by looking at each picture, identifying the beginning sound, and placing the correct letter underneath. Once they’ve worked through each image, they’ve built the secret word—without even realizing how much phonics practice they’re getting!

Whether you’re teaching in a classroom, supporting small groups, or setting up literacy centers, this activity is easy to introduce and incredibly versatile.

How the Secret Word Activity Works

Students begin by examining the picture prompts on each task card. For each picture, they:

Say the picture name.
Identify the beginning sound.
Place or write the corresponding letter beneath it.

They continue this process until the entire word is built—revealing the secret word.

You can choose whatever manipulatives work best for your classroom:

Use the letter tiles included in the pack
Pull out magnetic letters
Write letters on bottle caps for a DIY option
Or simply have students write directly on the card using whiteboard markers

This flexibility makes the activity great for morning tubs, literacy centers, small-group phonics instruction, fast finishers, and independent work.

What’s Included

Inside this resource, you’ll find everything you need:

40 Secret Word Task Cards
Beginning Sounds Reference Page (optional support for learners)
Letter Tiles in uppercase and lowercase
40 Picture Flashcards (perfect for review and additional practice)
Color + Black & White Versions

Just print, cut, and laminate, and your activity is ready for years of use.

Prep Once, Use Forever

The cards do take a little cutting upfront, but the prep is simple—and the payoff is huge. You can laminate the cards or print on heavier cardstock for durability. Once they're prepped, you can reuse this resource year after year across multiple groups.

Words Included

Your students will build 40 kid-friendly words, including:

pencil, jumper, monkey, orange, yellow, cheese, coffee, garden, spider, T-shirt, shorts, sunhat, rubber, purple, banana, candle, guitar, iguana, skirt, shoes, dress, ruler, train, plane, table, chair, bread, green, tiger, zebra, snake, mouth, boat, hall, door, blue, lion, bear, wolf, book.

These words provide a mix of familiar vocabulary, phonics variety, and visual support—perfect for early learners.