Crazy A's is a phonics game played similarly to the card game, Crazy 8's. Players match vowels and consonant sounds from the cards in their hand to the card on the play pile to develop important reading skills, while having fun. The first player to play all of the cards in their hand wins the game!
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Level 1 Short vowel consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words ("a" in "cat").
Level 2 Combine consonant sounds for beginning blends (“sp” on “spit”) with short vowels.
Level 3 Combine consonant sounds for ending blends (“nd” on “mend”) with short vowels.
Level 4 Combine letters to make single sounds, called digraphs (“th” on “that”).
Level 5 Long vowel sounds (“a-e” in “game”) with “silent-e”words.
Level 6 Vowel brothers ( "oa" in “soap”) and the “Y” as an “I” sound (“sky ”).
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There are fun action cards that include leap frog, change the vowel, draw one and turn around to keep the play exciting.
WORD CARDS
Word cards have a word on them with a highlighted consonant or vowel sound. To play a word card you must match the beginning sound of the card from your hand to the beginning sound of the card on the play pile, or the middle sound of your card to the middle sound on the play pile, or the ending sound of your card to the ending sound on the play pile.
To successfully play a word card you must say the word on the card, the sound that you are matching and the location of the sound (beginning, middle or end). For example, if the card that is face up on the play pile is “hat” and you lay down “cat”, you say: “the ‘a’ (short a vowel sound) in the middle of ‘cat’ matches the ‘a’ (short a vowel sound) in the middle of ‘hat.’”
How to become the smartest player in the room:
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When learning consonant sounds, it is important to say the pure consonant sound without adding an “uh” after the sound. For example, say “b,” not “b-uh”.
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When Farmer Freddy is on a card, he is usually trying to make you laugh, and always trying to teach you something. His witty phrases are there to help you understand what the word on the card means.
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Early learners: use the color-coding on the cards to learn to associate letter sounds (for example all ‘a’ vowel cards are red). An alternative way for our newest learners to play along is by allowing them to match the color without saying the sound. By doing so they begin to learn the letters and sounds from other players in the game.
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Why is it beneficial?
In our game, we put emphasis on saying the sound of the letter/letters that you are matching while playing, in order to create a deeper understanding of how the letters function together. Recognition of sounds in words allows children to build a foundation for reading and spelling. It is important for children to know what letters "say" in addition to what they look like. Letter recognition is important early on, but how the letters work together to create sounds is more important in learning to read. When children can recognize the role of sounds in words, they are then able to quickly decode words, recognize words, and build reading fluency. We believe that motivation drives learning and most children are highly motivated when the word "game" is involved!
Alternative Play Ideas For Crazy A's
Don’t have someone to play with today? Play a solitary matching game!
Match Vowels:
Take all of the action cards out of the deck.
Start with one of each vowel card placed in front of you. Take from the top of the deck and match the vowels to your pile. See how fast you can match like vowels.
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Match Sounds:
Start with any five of the word cards in front of you. Draw from the top of the deck and match any like sounds to the cards placed in front of you! If the card you draw does not match your cards, place that card at the bottom of the deck. See how fast you can get rid of the deck! After you have tried five word cards, make it more challenging by starting with four cards in front of you, then try three, two, then one.
Instructional Videos
Fun Facts
Crazy A's was originally created by our dad and perfected by Matthew Rivaldi and a team of teachers. Our latest edition, released in 2019, includes updated artwork by Arne Ratermanis and reconfiguration of the levels to be consistent with current teaching standards. Previous editions were Crazy A's and Whizizzle Phonics, produced by Wiggity Bang Games. There are six levels that teach a different phonics concept.