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🌍 🔤 🛰️ ☄️

Space Sound Mission

A crew of young astronauts flies one rocket to the Moon Base together—saying letter sounds and blending three-letter words to refuel the rocket with "sound power".

Recommended age

Age 5–6

Players

3–4 players (one crew)

Time

About 20 minutes

Learning objectives

✓Say the sound for s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d when shown the letter.
✓Hear the first sound in a word, e.g. map starts with /m/.
✓Blend three sounds into a word, e.g. /p/ /i/ /n/ → pin.
✓Cooperate with the crew, taking turns to move one shared rocket.

Materials

1 A4 space-route board
Letter-sound, word-picture, mission and fuel cards (28 in total)
1 die
1 rocket token (shared by the whole crew)
Optional: a small whiteboard to write blended words

Story

The lights at the Moon Base have gone out! Pip, the base robot, only understands "sound codes". Our astronaut crew must fly one rocket along the space route. Every sound we say correctly gives the rocket a bar of sound power. Let's work together, bring the power to the Moon and help Pip switch the lights back on!

How to play

1The crew shares one rocket token on Earth Launch Pad. Take turns rolling the die to fly the rocket forward.
2Land on a 🔤 planet: turn over a letter card and say its sound (not its name).
3Land on a 🛰️ satellite: turn over a word-picture card and say the first sound. In Challenge play, blend the whole word.
4Land on a ☄️ mission space: the whole crew does the mission card together.
5Whether you say it yourself or with a crewmate's help, the crew earns 1 fuel card.
6When the rocket reaches the Moon Base, count the fuel cards and count down together: "3, 2, 1, lights on!"

Space Sound Mission

Board

1🌍Earth Launch Pad

2🔤Letter Planet

3🛰️Word Satellite

4☄️Mission Comet

8🔤Letter Planet

7🛰️Word Satellite

6⭐Fuel Station

5🔤Letter Planet

9☄️Mission Comet

10🛰️Word Satellite

11⭐Fuel Station

12🔤Letter Planet

16🌕Moon Base

15🪐Saturn's Rings

14🛰️Word Satellite

13☄️Mission Comet

About the board：A 16-space route from Earth Launch Pad to the Moon Base, alternating 🔤 letter planets, 🛰️ word satellites, ☄️ mission comets and ⭐ fuel stations. A 10-bar fuel gauge along the bottom gets one bar coloured in (or a card placed) for each fuel card earned.

Letter cardL01

🐍

s — /s/ like a snake: sss

🎨 Big lowercase letter s shaped like a friendly green snake, flat style

Letter cardL02

🐜

a — /a/ as in ant

🎨 Big lowercase letter a with a small cartoon ant climbing on it

Letter cardL03

🎾

t — /t/ like a ball tapping: t-t-t

🎨 Big lowercase letter t next to a bouncing tennis ball

Letter cardL04

🐧

p — /p/ as in penguin

🎨 Big lowercase letter p with a cartoon penguin

Letter cardL05

🐭

i — /i/ like a squeaky mouse: i-i-i

🎨 Big lowercase letter i with a little mouse on top as the dot

Letter cardL06

👃

n — /n/ as in nose

🎨 Big lowercase letter n beside a cartoon nose

Letter cardL07

🍦

m — /m/ like yummy ice cream: mmm

🎨 Big lowercase letter m beside an ice-cream cone

Letter cardL08

🥁

d — /d/ like a drum: d-d-d

🎨 Big lowercase letter d beside a toy drum

Picture cardW01

🗺️

map (m-a-p)

🎨 A simple cartoon map with a dotted path

Picture cardW02

🍳

pan (p-a-n)

🎨 A cartoon frying pan

Picture cardW03

📌

pin (p-i-n)

🎨 A big round push pin

Picture cardW04

🐜

ant (a-n-t)

🎨 A smiling cartoon ant

Picture cardW05

🧍

man (m-a-n)

🎨 A friendly cartoon man waving

Picture cardW06

🚰

tap (t-a-p)

🎨 A cartoon water tap with one drop

Picture cardW07

🧘

mat (m-a-t)

🎨 A rolled-out colourful floor mat

Picture cardW08

😢

sad (s-a-d)

🎨 A cartoon face looking a little sad with one tear

Picture cardW09

😴

nap (n-a-p)

🎨 A cartoon child napping on a pillow

Picture cardW10

🥫

tin (t-i-n)

🎨 A cartoon tin can

Action cardM01

🚀

Whole crew: name 3 things that start with /s/.

🎨 Three astronauts giving a thumbs up

Action cardM02

👩‍🚀

Moon-walk slowly and say one sound per step: /m/ /a/ /p/.

🎨 An astronaut taking big slow steps on the moon

Task cardM03

🔍

Find every picture card on the table that starts with /p/.

🎨 A magnifying glass over picture cards

Task cardM04

🤖

Robot Pip speaks in pieces: /t/ /i/ /n/. Which word is it?

🎨 A cute round robot with a speech bubble

Action cardM05

🎵

Crew song: sing the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n!

🎨 Musical notes floating around a rocket

Task cardM06

✍️

Sky-write a and t with your finger, then say their sounds.

🎨 A child's finger tracing a letter in the air with sparkles

Reward cardF01

⚡

Sound power +1

🎨 A glowing lightning-bolt battery

Reward cardF02

⚡

Sound power +1

🎨 A glowing lightning-bolt battery

Reward cardF03

🌟

Team star: cheer for the crewmate who helped!

🎨 A big smiling star

Reward cardF04

💡

Base light: place on the Moon Base to switch on a light

🎨 A light bulb glowing on a moon base

Teacher guide

Opening demonstration

Astronauts, helmets on! (Mime putting on a helmet.) The Moon Base needs sound power. Look, I turned over a letter card—this is s. Its sound is /sss/, like a little snake. Let's say it together: /sss/! Brilliant—the rocket gets 1 bar of power. Now it's your turn to fly the rocket!

Questions & prompts

💬What sound does this letter make?
💬Listen: m-a-p. What's the word?
💬What sound do you hear at the start of "sun"?
💬Can you find another card that starts with the same sound?
💬How can we help our crewmate? Let's say it slowly together.
💬How many fuel cards do we have now? How many more do we need?

Levels

Starter

Use only s, a, t, p letter cards and first-sound tasks. Saying the letter sound or pointing to a picture that starts with it earns fuel.

Standard

Use all 8 letter cards. At word satellites say the first sound; use all mission cards.

Challenge

At word satellites blend the whole word (/m/ /a/ /p/ → map) and build it with letter cards on the table. A child can play Robot Pip and set the puzzle.

Bilingual prompts

这个字母怎么发音？ · What sound does it make?我们一起慢慢说。 · Let's say it slowly together.把声音连起来！ · Blend the sounds!轮到你驾驶火箭了！ · Your turn to fly the rocket!燃料加一！ · Power up!3、2、1，点亮！ · 3, 2, 1, lights on!

🏠 Home extension · 家里的声音寻宝 / Sound Hunt at Home

Pick one sound from today, such as /m/.
Find 3 things at home that start with that sound (mug, mat, milk).
Speak "robot talk": /m/ /a/ /t/, and let your child guess the word.
Let your child be the robot and give you a sound puzzle.

⚠️ Safety & age fit

Use a large block or card for the rocket token—no small parts.
Before moon-walk actions, check the floor is clear and safe.
One shared rocket means no winners or losers; help from a crewmate still earns fuel.
Model pure sounds (/m/, not "muh") so children hear them correctly.

✂️ Print & make

Print the board on A4 card. Laminate the fuel gauge and colour it with a whiteboard marker so it can be reused.
Keep letter (L), word (W), mission (M) and fuel (F) cards in separate piles; write the letter on the back to help sorting.
Print fuel cards F01–F02 four times each, for 8 fuel cards in total.
In the low-ink version, children can colour the rocket and planets as a warm-up.

Observation checklist

Space Sound Mission

Child：

Date：

Observer：

Indicator	Not yet	With support	Independent
Says sounds for s, a, t, p English (letter sounds)	○	○	○
Says sounds for i, n, m, d English (letter sounds)	○	○	○
Identifies the first sound of a word English (phonemic awareness)	○	○	○
Blends three sounds orally into a word English (blending)	○	○	○
Takes turns and helps crewmates Social-emotional	○	○	○

Notes：