CVC words with pictures
Here are some beautiful CVC words flashcards with photographs. For those who are unaware of the acronym CVC, it stands for consonant – vowel – consonant. Words that use this formula are perfect for teaching young ESL learners and for kindergarten and grade 1 children in native English-speaking countries.
CVC words are usually 3 letter words which makes them easy for kids who are just starting to learn to read and recognize new sounds. Note that some people consider 4 letter words like “chat”, “swim”, and “toss” as CVC words. This is because they only have 3 sounds or phonemes. Others may call these words CCVC or CVCC words.
In any case, the CVC words with pictures on this page are all 3 letter words. For each of the vowel sounds some interesting practice sentences have also been provided to help students develop further.
The first 3 printable PDF pages use the short a sound and contain these words –
Sheet 1 (above) – bag, bat, cab, can, cat, dad, dam, and fan.
Sheet 2 – gap, ham, hat, jam, lab, map, mat, and nap.
Sheet 3 – pan, rag, rat, sad, sap, sat, tap, and van.
Some fun practice sentences are –
She had a nap in the van
He put ham in the pan.
A sad bat in a bag.
Dad has a map.
A wet rag and a tap.
Ideas for using the CVC words with pictures flashcards
Here are some ideas for teaching CVC words with these resources –
- Matching. Once students have learned some of the words you can do a picture and word matching activity. The flashcards have been designed so that the words can easily be cut off from the bottom of the pictures to do this.
- Arranging. If you have several vowel sounds printed out you can get children to arrange the cards in a number of ways. For example, they can group together words that use the same vowel sound, or end or start with the same consonant sound.
- Fold the word part of the card behind the picture and reveal it once the word has been read and the sounds have been identified correctly. This is an engaging way to get students to start reading.
Short e CVC words with pictures
The next two sheets below use the short e sound. The words are –
Sheet 1 – bed, fed, gem, hen, jet, leg, men, and met.
Sheet 2 – net, peg, pen, pet, red, ten, vet, and wet.
Some practice sentences are –
Two men met a vet.
A red pen and a peg.
She fed her pet hen.
A leg on a bed.
Ten in a net.
Short i CVC words with pictures
The next set of CVC words with pictures contain words that use the short i vowel sound –
Sheet 1 – bib, big, bin, bit, dig, fig, fin, and hit.
Sheet 2 – lid, lip, pig, pin, rib, wig, win, and zip.
Practice sentences –
He can see a big fin.
The lip of a big pig.
A wig in the bin.
A fig on a bib.
She hit the lid.
Short o CVC words with pictures
The next printable use the short o vowel sound. The words on the CVC flashcards are –
Sheet 1 – box, cob, cot, dog, dot, fog, fox, and hop.
Sheet 2 – hot, log, mop, pod, pop, pot, rod, and top.
Practice sentences –
The fox can hop.
A hot dog on a box.
A dot on a mop.
The fog at the the top.
A cob and a pod in a cot.
Short u CVC words with pictures
The final set of CVC word cards use the short u sound. The words and pictures are of –
Sheet 1 – bug, bun, cub, cup, cut, hug, hut, and jug.
Sheet 2 – mud, nut, pug, rug, sum, sun, tub, and tug.
Some practice sentences are –
A pug in the mud.
The cub ate a bun.
A big bug in a hut.
The rug is in the sun.
He has a cup and a nut.
Further activities
If you enjoyed these resources and are looking for similar printables check out the CVC puzzles. These can also be used for coloring, once colored learners can also cut them out to further practice their fine motor skills.
For slightly more advanced learners check out the pronunciation section of ESL Vault. Here you will find flashcards with digraphs, long vowel sounds, and minimal pairs.