Digraphs for kids is the phonics step where children learn that two letters can work together to make one new sound. The s in "sun" and the h in "hat" sound nothing like the sh in "ship". This page shows your child six common consonant digraphs, sh, ch, th, wh, ph and ck, each with picture words they already know. Every word is spoken clearly in English, with its Hindi meaning, and the two letters of the digraph are highlighted so your child sees them as one team.
What is a digraph? (a simple answer for kids)
A digraph is two letters that make one sound. "Di" means two and "graph" means writing. You can tell your child: "These two letters hold hands and make a brand new sound together." The letters stay side by side in the word, and your child says one sound, not two.
Consonant digraphs are made of two consonants. The six on this page are the ones children meet first in most phonics programmes in India, the UK, the US and elsewhere:
| Digraph | How it sounds | Picture words in the game | Easy cue to say |
|---|---|---|---|
| sh | the "quiet please" sound | ship, shark, shorts, shower, sheep, shoe, shirt | Finger on lips: "shh" |
| ch | a short sneeze sound | chair, cherries, chick, cheese, chess | "ch-ch-ch" like a train |
| th | tongue peeks out between the teeth | thumb, tooth, feather, mouth, bath | "Show me your tongue" |
| wh | like w, with a puff of air | whale, white, wheel | Blow on your hand |
| ph | the same sound as f | phone, elephant, dolphin | "p and h say f" |
| ck | the same sound as k, at the end of a word | duck, sock, rock, clock, backpack | "Two letters, one k" |
Notice where the digraph sits. Sh, ch, wh and ph often come at the start (beginning digraphs), th appears at the start, middle and end (thumb, feather, bath), and ck almost always comes at the end of a short word (ending digraphs), straight after a short vowel: duck, sock, rock.
Digraph vs blend: what is the difference?
Parents often mix these up, and so do children. In a blend, you still hear both letters: the s and the t in "star", the c and the l in "clock". In a digraph, the two letters become one sound you cannot split: in "ship" there is no s and no h, only sh. A quick test: say the word slowly. If you can hear each letter, it is a blend. If the letters vanish into a new sound, it is a digraph. The word "clock" in the game has both: a cl blend at the start and a ck digraph at the end.
How to use this digraph game
The game has two tabs. Every instruction is spoken, so your child does not need to read yet.
Learn
Six big buttons show sh, ch, th, wh, ph and ck. Your child taps one and sees up to four picture words that use it, with the digraph highlighted and the Hindi meaning shown. Tap a picture to hear it again. This is the place to start, and a good place to come back to when a sound feels tricky.
Find it
A key strip at the top shows the digraph, a key picture and word with the letters highlighted, and a hint such as "shh like ship". The voice says "Find another picture with the letters s h, like ship." Your child chooses from two or three pictures, each labelled in English and Hindi with the digraph marked. After a right answer, the voice joins the two words, for example "ship, shoe. They share the same sound."
The game never says "wrong". A first mistake gets a gentle "hmm" and the name of the picture your child tapped, so they can hear that it does not have the sound. A second mistake makes the right picture glow, and a third brings Golu, our marble mascot, to point at it. After four to eight rounds (set by your child's age in the grown-up settings) an end card drops a marble into the Goli Jar. Tap the jar and count the marbles together.
The अ+A button in the header changes the order of the languages. For this page, English first works best, because the sounds only make sense in English words. Hindi meanings help your child understand the words, not the sounds.
When should children learn digraphs?
| Age and class | What is realistic | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 3-4 years (nursery) | Hears and copies single letter sounds; plays with rhymes | Stay with phonics sounds and rhyming words. Digraphs can wait. |
| 4-5 years (LKG) | Knows most letter sounds, starts blending three-letter words | Practise CVC word blending. Play "shh" games for fun. |
| 5-6 years (UKG, kindergarten, class 1) | Ready for sh, ch, th first, then wh, ph and ck | Use Learn, then Find it. Read short words like shop, chip, bath, duck. |
| 6-7 years (class 1-2) | Reads digraphs inside longer words and moves on to vowel teams | Try magic e words next. |
A good sign that your child is ready: they can sound out and read three letter words like cat, sun and pig without much help. Digraphs build on that skill.
How to teach digraphs to kids at home
Five to ten minutes a day is plenty. Teach one digraph at a time, in this order: sh, ch, th, then ck, wh and ph.
- Say it with your body. Put a finger on your lips for sh, chug your arms like a train for ch, stick your tongue out a little for th. A movement gives the sound a hook in your child's memory.
- Sound hunt at home. Look for sh things: shoe, shirt, shelf, shampoo. In the kitchen, find ch things: chapati, chai, chilli, chips. The words do not need to be perfect spellings for a sound hunt; listening is the goal.
- Card flip. Write sh, ch and th on three cards. Say a word ("chair") and let your child hold up the right card.
- Build a word. With magnetic letters or paper squares, keep the two digraph letters stuck together (tape them side by side) so your child sees them as one unit: sh + i + p.
- Market game. At the vegetable market or a shop, whisper a digraph and ask your child to spot something with that sound: cherries, fish, cheese.
You can print this page from the browser if you want a digraphs chart for the fridge: the table above and the word list print cleanly. There is no separate PDF worksheet; writing your own sh words list with your child is a good worksheet in itself.
Tricky bits and Indian English
The two th sounds. English has an unvoiced th (thumb, tooth, bath) and a voiced th (this, that, feather). Many Indian speakers say th closer to थ or द, and that is fine at home. For phonics, teach your child to put the tongue lightly between the teeth. Do not correct every word; model it gently and move on.
ph says f. Children are often surprised that p and h together say f. Tell them it is a "sneaky pair". Phone, elephant and dolphin are good first examples because children love the pictures.
wh and w. In most modern English, wh and w sound almost the same (whale, wet). Teach wh mainly as a spelling to remember, with a small puff of air for fun.
Hindi does not need digraphs in the same way, because each Devanagari letter mostly stands for one sound: श is sh and च is ch. Bilingual children sometimes find it helpful to see this link: "sh is like श in शेर."
Keep it gentle: tips for every child
Praise the listening, not just the answer: "You heard the sh at the start!" If your child gets stuck on Find it, go back to Learn and just tap the pictures for a while. Children with speech delay may find th and sh hard to say; that is common, and hearing the sound matters more than producing it perfectly. Autistic children often enjoy the predictable pattern of Learn mode and the repeated phrase "They share the same sound." If you have concerns about speech sounds, talk to your paediatrician or a speech therapist.
Keep screen time short, around 5 to 10 minutes, and sit with your child. Say the words out loud together; that is where most of the learning happens. When digraphs feel easy, move on to magic e words or revisit vowels for kids to strengthen the short vowel sounds that sit between the letters.
