The very first Montessori activity I made when I began my homeschooling journey with my toddlers was these Montessori Phonetic Sound Tubs (also known as alphabet sounds teaching tubs). These were a lot of fun to make and my children (currently ages 4, 3, and 1) are always reaching for them! The small items are so fun for kids, and the variety of phonetic lessons you can do with them help children form a great foundation for reading and literacy. They help them learn the sounds in the English language.

I am writing this post nearly 2 years after making these tubs and they are still in pretty good shape considering all 3 of my kids have had regular access to them. I am fully aware that using the containers I have chosen does not fall in line with the natural material guidelines for Montessori learning. However, when you are a homeschooling Montessori mom on a budget, you have to compromise in some areas! Follow the tutorial below to complete your very own set.

Alphabet Sounds Teaching Tubs

Step 1: Gather Materials

• Plastic Deli Tubs With Lids (found at US Chef stores or restaurant supply stores, or here:( Amazon Deli Containers with Lids 32 ct )
• Vinyl Letters (or make your own using a Cricut machine, as I did)
• Sound tub items (more ideas on how to gather these below): Small animals, small resin food and dollhouse props, game pieces, beads, party favors, stickers, small figurines/characters, keychains, mini-brands, etc.).
  
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Step 2: Apply Vinyl Letters

When I made these sound tubs, I used my Cricut machine (see 8 Must-Have Tools and Materials for Montessori HomeSchool Moms) to cut black permanent vinyl lowercase letters. If you do not have a Cricut machine, you can find lowercase vinyl letter stickers at craft stores or on Etsy. Try to find a set of stickers that are at least 1″ to 1 1/2″ tall, so they are visible enough for the child to read on the outside of the tub. If you haven’t caught on to this already…. use lowercase letters to fall in line with authentic Montessori phonetic learning.

Apply each sticker to the outside of each deli tub. Out of convenience, I mixed both long and short phonetic sounds for each letter.

Step 3: Fill Your Tubs with Phonetic Items

This third step is by far the most challenging part of creating the phonetic sound tubs, but it doesn’t have to be too expensive or difficult. You can make successful sound tubs with just 5-6 items per tub. Some tubs will have less, and some will have more because some phonetic sounds are harder to find items for (for example, /x/, /z/, /q/). We have a few tubs that only have 2 items in them, and that’s okay. If a letter has long and short sounds, you can include both in the tub, just keep in mind that traditional Montessori teaching focuses on the short sounds first. For instance, a q-tip uses the long sound and a queen uses the short sound of /q/.

Where do you find items?

I started by ordering two bags of mini trinkets from an online Etsy shop. Don’t be worried about what items are coming, or what tubs you will be able to fill, you will get a variety of items and they will ALL work… trust me!

From there, I started scavenging the house for household items that I could add to the tubs that I was missing items for. Here is a great list:

What are the 26 letter sounds?

• /a/ – acorn, applesauce pouch (emptied)
• /b/ – button, bell
• /c/ – crayon, cotton ball, cardboard, card (from deck of cards), candle (birthday candle)
• /d/ – dime, dice
• /e/ – egg (easter egg), eraser
• /f/ – floss, foil
• /g/ – glue stick (old, emptied)
• /h/ – hairband, handkerchief
• /i/ – ink pad (ink removed), ID card (old or make your own for the child!)
• /j/ – jewelry, jelly bean
• /k/ – key, keychain
• /l/ – lid (such as a screw top lid to milk or soda pop), Lego
• /m/ – marble, magnet
• /n/ – nickel, nail file, needle (plastic yarn needle)
• /o/ – origami (fold something small)
• /p/ – penny, paperclip, pasta (penne or other large variety, dried)
• /q/ – quarter, Q-Tip
• /r/ – rubber band, rock, ring, ribbon
• /s/ – screw, sticker, string, straw, sock
• /t/ – toothpick, tire (from Lego set), teaspoon
• /u/ – USB
• /v/ – velvet, Vaseline (mini jar & emptied)
• /w/ – walnut (in it’s full shell), wood (small piece)
• /y/ – yarn (make a small yarn ball with a piece)
• /z/ – zipper

As time goes on, you will inevitably end up with small items or toys that are great for the sound tubs (small animals, game pieces, beads, party favors, stickers, small figurines/characters, keychains, mini-brands, etc.).

If all else fails and you still need some items for a handful of tubs, as a last resort I’ve printed out small images onto cardstock of things that match the phonetic sound (for /o/ we printed an image of an Olive, /x/ we printed an X-ray and a Xylophone, /u/ we printed an umbrella).

Step 4: Play & Learn with Phonetic Sound Tubs

Start using your phonetic sound tubs right away. Here is a list of activities we enjoy:

1. Simply choose one phonetic sound tub at a time and repeat the phonetic sound. For example, The child chooses the sound tub /p/. With each item, they take out of the tub, have them repeat the sound twice and then say the item’s name. (/p/, /p/, pasta). Then have them move on to the next item.
2. Mystery bag game. Fill the mystery bag with various items from sound tubs they have learned. Have them pull out an item and name the item as well as the sound that it is associated with.
3. I-spy game. Unroll a Montessori mat and place various objects from sound tubs they have learned on the mat. Next, play I-spy using the sound that belongs to the item.

What is your favorite sound tub activity to do with your child? Please leave a comment below and share your experience!

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