Consonant Blends Teaching Resources

Explore consonant blends worksheets, word lists, reading group activities, educational posters and games to use in your primary school classroom this school year!

This collection of curriculum-aligned Australian English curriculum and editable teaching resources has been created by teachers for teachers. Save time on your lesson plans with easy-to-implement activities and worksheets that you know have been carefully curated and reviewed by our expert teacher team. Each one is designed to help unlock those 'aha' moments in your students.

New to teaching this part of the curriculum? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a definition of consontant blend, and a list of common blends in the English language.

What Is a Consonant Blend?

In phonics, the term consonant blend is used to refer to two or three consonant sounds that are pronounced together but retain their individual sounds.

Blends are formed by placing two or three consonants together in a word. For example, early readers may encounter 'fr' in frog. That's a consonant blend!

Blends can sometimes be confused with digraphs or trigraphs — where two or three letters come together to represent one sound (eg. sh or th) — but there is a difference. With a blend, the individual sounds can still be heard. In the example of 'frog,' you still distinctly hear an 'f' and an 'r' when pronouncing the word out loud.

Blends are commonly found at the beginning of words or syllables, and they're important in developing reading and spelling skills.

Consonant Blends vs. Sound Blends

Does the definition we described sound exactly like something you've always heard described as a sound blend? That's because these two concepts are the same thing! A sound blend is just a consonant blend with a different name.

Regardless of the name, learning these blends can be an important step in phonics instruction. It can help students develop their word decoding skills as they learn to recognise the individual sounds that make up the word.

Consonant Blend Examples to Share With Your Students

We already mentioned 'fr,' but there are plenty more consonant blends that your students will encounter at the beginning of a word, in the middle of a word, or at the end. Some of the more common blends we teach in early literacy include l-blends, r-blends and s-blends, but there are plenty more in the English language!

Beginning consonant blends — sometimes called initial consonant blends — include:

• bl-: blue, black, blast, blossom
• br-: brown, brick, branch, breath
• cl-: class, clear, climb, clip
• cr-: crab, cry, cross, crown
• dr-: draw, dress, dream, drink
• fl-: flag, fly, flame, flower
• fr-: frog, from, fruit, front
• gl-: glad, glass, glide, globe
• gr-: grape, green, grass, great
• pl-: play, place, plant, plus
• pr-: print, proud, problem, price
• sc-: scan, scare, scope, scuba
• sk-: skate, skip, skill, sky
• sl-: slide, slow, sleep, sleeve
• sn-: snack, snake, snap, snow
• sp-: spin, spot, space, spoke
• st-: stay, stop, store, story
• sw-: swim, swing, sweet, switch

Consonant blends at the end of words — often called final consonant blends — include:

• -ct: fact, insect, act, direct
• -ft: craft, gift, soft, lift
• -mp: jump, bump, lamp, pump
• -nd: sand, hand, sound, found
• -nt: want, paint, scent, bent
• -sk: desk, mask, risk, task
• -sp: wasp, crisp, grasp, clasp
• -st: last, fast, best, test
• -pt: adapt, kept, swept, wept
• -ld: cold, hold, wild, field