Sun — a step-by-step lesson for grown-up and child
This lesson teaches Ss and its hiss with the sun card: your child traces the letter, rocks a toy snake to sleep with the world’s longest hiss, and lands the sound on a whole family of s-words.
What is this?
Ss is the letter that stands for the first sound in sun — teeth nearly closed, air hissing through, no voice: a sound that stretches as long as the breath does.
What does it mean?
S is the sound children already own: every "ssss" for quiet, every snake impression, every sparkler. This lesson just attaches the letter to a sound the mouth has practiced for years.
What does the child need to know?
Your child needs the teeth-nearly-closed hiss, the long hold, and a sunshine of s-words: sun, sock, six, snake.
Why this matters
/s/ starts see, so, stop, sorry — words that steer a whole day. It is also the whisper twin of /z/, and the throat-check learned here keeps sun and zoo in their own letters.
What it teaches
Sustained air control (the longest sound in the set), teeth-to-tongue-channel shaping, and voice-off awareness with a familiar favourite.
Words to learn
ssunsocksixsnakesoap
Say this to your child
“"Make your teeth almost touch and hiss like a snake: ssss. That is s! S says ssss, like sun. Hiss it long: ssss… sun."”
Step by step
- Show the card: "Ss. Teeth almost together, air hissing out — ssss! The sun sound."
- Finger-trace the Ss on the canvas — the curvy snake letter, drawn while hissing gently.
- Play the sleepy-snake game below; the hiss becomes a lullaby.
- Hiss three s-things: sun, sock, soap. Long hiss, short word.
- Finish with the hiss contest: the longest hiss picks the next s-word.
How to say it
Teeth nearly closed, tongue close behind them, air pushed through the gap, voice off: "ssss". It holds as long as breath allows — the set’s marathon sound.
Look closer at the picture
On this card the big navy pair Ss sits beside a smiling yellow sun with rounded rays, and the word "sun" is printed below — the morning friend that starts every sunny day with its sound.
Ask your child
"Is your throat quiet for s?" "How long can you hiss?" "What hisses in real life — a snake, a tyre, a sparkler?"
What your child can say or do
Your child might say: "ssssun!" with a five-second hold, or organise the household hiss contest themselves — s brings out the competitor.
Out in the real world
Socks, soap, sandwiches and stairs; sun at wake-up, stars at bed-time. Snakes (real or toy) hiss on demand, and every "ssshh" for quiet is an s already in use.
Try it together
Sleepy-snake game: wrap a toy snake (or a scarf) in a blanket and rock it to sleep with the softest, longest hiss — "ssssss". But the moment the snake wakes, it must say an s-word before settling again: ssss-sock, ssss-sun, ssss-six. Rock, hiss, wake, word — until the snake finally sleeps for a full five-second hiss.
Understanding check
Ask for the sound and listen for the hold: a clean long hiss, throat silent. Then try z — same hiss, voice buzzing. If your child can switch the buzz on and off, both twins are handled.
Parent tips
If sun becomes "zun", the throat woke early — hand on the throat, restart the hiss. And use the hold as a game timer: hiss-length contests do the repetition for you.
This lesson pairs with the Sun flashcard in the library — print it, show it, keep it on the fridge. Back to Phonics & Beginning Sounds (Class 28).