Stretchy vs. Bouncy Sounds: A Simple Phonics Trick to Boost Blending and Reading Confidence

Learning how to read using phonics can be an absolute minefield of misinformation, jargon, milestones, pitfalls. For parents who have never had a child learn phonics before, it is slightly mind blowing. Blending? Segmenting? Digraphs? Lol, what?

But, understanding how sounds work (and how they feel) is one of the simplest ways to support your child’s blending skills and build reading confidence at home.

If you’ve ever thought, “My child can blend some words, but not others even though they know the single sounds.”— it can feel like you're missing a piece of the puzzle, but you’re not alone. This simple sliver of knowledge is a total game-changer.

What Are Stretchy (Sustained) and Bouncy (Plosive) Sounds?

All sounds in spoken language fall into two simple categories:

Stretchy Sounds (Sustained Sounds)

These are sounds you can hold and stretch out in one continuous sound, like a piece of elastic.
Think of:

• /ssss/ (like in sun)

• /mmmm/ (like in mat)

• /nnnn/ (like in net)

• /ffff/ (like in fish)

Action for littles: Use a hand-stretching motion or pretend to pull a stretchy band.

Bouncy Sounds (Plosives)

These are quick, short, sharp sounds you can’t stretch out - think jumping from one stepping stone to another.
Think of:

• /b/ (like in bat)

• /d/ (like in dog)

• /t/ (like in tap)

• /p/ (like in pen)

Action for littles: Tap your fingers or bounce your hand like a ball.

Knowing which sounds bounce and which stretch helps your child blend sounds easier and with fewer frustrations.  

Quick tip: to boost your child's phonemic awareness and segmenting skills use the above actions next time they come across a word they are struggling to blend. Adding movement to phonics is crucial! I have a whole blog post on that here.

Why It Matters: The Blending Trap of Plosive-Only Words

Stretchy sounds are much easier to blend. You can hear them flow together: r-ai-n becomes 'rain' quite naturally.

But what happens when you try to blend only plosive (bouncy) sounds?

Try this:
Imagine you are first learning how to sound out and blend, and you sound out /d/ /o/ /g/ → Can you hear “dog”? It’s tricky, right?

Here’s why: Plosives stop the air in your mouth. You can’t stretch them out—so children have fewer sound “clues” to hang onto. Even trickier, if they’re saying the sounds with a schwa (/duh/ /oh/ /guh/), it distorts the word completely.

That’s where the frustration kicks in—not because your child can’t do it, but because they need a few tricks up their sleeve to hear those sounds more clearly.

5 Fun Blending Games to Help with Bouncy Sounds

These games are perfect for building confidence with those tricky plosive sounds—and best of all, they’re quick and no/low resource! My favourite kind!

1. Body-Tap Blend

Tap a different body part for each sound (e.g., shoulder, elbow, hand). Then slide your hand down your arm to blend the word together.

2. Robot Voice Challenge

Say each sound in a funny robot voice: /d/ /o/ /g/ and then blend it with a swoop: “dog!”

3. Sound Switch

Give your child two similar words like dog and log. Say the sounds aloud and have them spot the sound that changed. This helps them isolate tricky plosives.

4. Stretch and Squash Playdough

Stretch out the stretchy sounds and squash the bouncy ones. It builds awareness that not all sounds behave the same!

5. Guess My Word (Plosive Edition)

Choose short CVC words with plosive sounds (e.g., cat, bat, cup). Say the sounds aloud: “/c/ /u/ /p/—what’s my word?” Challenge your child to blend and guess.

These games double up as brilliant phonemic awareness activities—and sneak in essential blending practice.

A Common Pitfall: Why Adding 'Uh' to Sounds Confuses Children

One of the biggest blending barriers is a tiny sound we don’t even realise we’re adding: “uh” - the dreaded schwa. A schwa sound is actually useful in later advanced phase 5 phonics, but early on it's not what we want!

If you’re saying:

• /buh/ instead of /b/

• /tuh/ instead of /t/

• /guh/ instead of /g/

...you’re not alone. It’s a super common habit—but it makes blending nearly impossible. Try blending /buh/ /e/ /duh/—you won’t get “bed.”

💡 Quick tip: Try whispering the sound. You’ll naturally drop the “uh” and keep the sound clean.

How Phonics at Home Curriculum Tackles This (and So Much More)

In the Phonics at Home Curriculum, I take the guesswork out of teaching your child to read. You’ll learn:

✔️ How to pronounce each sound clearly (without the “uh”)
✔️ How to make phonics fun and multisensory
✔️ How to support blending—even with tricky words

Everything is explained in a calm, confidence-boosting way—designed especially for parents, not teachers.

Because with the right tools and a little guidance, you are the best person to help your child learn to read.

Learn more about the Phonics at Home Curriculum here.

Want to know which sounds are bouncy and which are stretchy?

👉 Click here to download your free copy of the Bouncy vs. Stretchy Sounds Chart and start building your child’s reading foundation—with confidence and simplicity.

On a reading roll? Check out other blogs here.