What are Consonant Blends?

Consonant blends are 2 or more letter sounds in a row. Some examples include sp as in spot, nd as in land and sn as in snow.

Kids typically learn consonant blends in kindergarten. Educators often introduce phonics sounds in the following order:

1. letter sounds
2. short vowels ( a_ as in hat, e_ as in hen, i_ as in big, o_ as in hop and u_ as in cup)
3. consonant digraphs (sh as in ship, th as in math, th as in then, ch as in chop, _tch as in match, _ck as in back, _ng as in long, _ing as in king, _ang as in sang, wh_ as in when, _ink as in pink, _ank as in tank, qu as in quick)
4. consonant blends

Consonant blends samples

Some consonant blends at the beginning of a word:

cr as in crack, craft, crane, cram

br as in brim, brisk, bright, brick

sp as in spot, spam split, spine, spray

bl as in black, blimp, blast, blurry, blend, blue

st as in stop, store, story, still, step

gr as in grin, grip, grill, gray

Some consonant blends at the end of a word:

nd as in land, sand, send, trend, find, blind, hand, pond

ld as in told, gold, bold, fold

lt as in melt, felt, tilt

st as in must, rust, list, mist, wrist, fist

sk as in brisk, risk, disk

mp as in cramp, lamp, gramp, stamp

Consonant blends for beginning readers

The following consonant blends words are appropriate for beginning readers and kindergartners. The words only include short vowels. That way, if a beginner has not learn long vowels yet, he can still practice reading consonant blends.

clan, camp, scan, cast, clam, clap, class, ant, ask, band, black, brass, calf, crab, crack, crash, damp, drag, fact, act, fast, flag, flap, flat, gasp, glad, glass, grab, gram, hand, lack, lamp, land, last, mask, pack, pact, past, plan, slab, brat, blab, raft, ramp, ranch, rasp, scab, slag, slam, slap, scam, snap, stab, track, crack, snack, staff, spat, stag, Stan, swam, gnat, swan, tact, tank, taps, task, track, trap, blast, clasp, spam, craft, cramp, draft, gland, tram, gramp, grand, grasp, plant, stack, thrash, scalp, stamp, stand, strap, cram

slid, clip, list, crip, flip, brim, mist, grip, trim, lift, drum, trip, grin, drip, skid, skin, still, snip, swim, strip, twin, Swiss, spill, twig, silk, wind, skill, fist, milk, gift, twist, split, crisp, swift, slit, spit, grim, skim, trim, slim, skip, slip, brick, click, flick, slick, stick, trick, swish, spin, crib

plop, fond, smog, lost, flop, trot, clop, frog, drop, cost, spot, frost, stop, pond, cross, plot, blot, clog, blog, snob, slob, knob, knot, slot, blob, glob, block, clock, flock, smock, stock

club, rust, plum, plug, drum, spun, lump, just, scrub, dust, jump, bump, stuff, slump, crust, stump, clump, crust, stunt, trust, stub, grub, snub, drug, slug, snug, slum, scum, glum, stun, stud, truck, cluck, pluck, stuck, blush, crush, flush, brush

end, lent, sled, felt, dress, press, bent, nest, bend, dent, wept, rest, step, sent, lend, rent, send, smell, best, spell, stem, mend, swell, test, grill, bled, yelp, sped, melt, desk, held, help, belt left, kept, speck, swept, crept, slept, spent, blend, bred, fled, pled, sled, fret, dwell, smell, fleck, speck, wreck

For a complete list of beginning reader words, check out our cvc word list.

Reading Elephant offers printable consonant blends phonics stories in our shop.

Our printable books are decodable. That means, beginners can read words sound-by-sound and build a strong decoding foundation. Our books gently introduce one phonics sound at a time. That way, kids can gain mastery over each phonics sound before they learn another.

For a complete set of our printable 120+ learn to read decodable books, check out our bundle.