

This Grade KG phonics worksheet on Hard vs Soft Sound Sorting introduces young learners to the difference between hard and soft sounds of the letters C and G. Understanding how the same letter can make different sounds is an important early phonics skill that strengthens reading accuracy.
Specially designed for Kindergarten students, this worksheet includes matching, sorting, fill-in-the-blanks, and multiple choice questions. Through words like circle, city, goat, gem, giant, cake, cup, car, cereal, and game, children practise identifying whether the starting sound is hard (like in cat or goat) or soft (like in city or gem).
Recognising hard and soft sounds helps children because:
1. It improves pronunciation and clarity.
2. It strengthens decoding skills while reading.
3. It prevents common sound confusion.
4. It builds a strong foundation for spelling patterns.
This worksheet includes four structured phonics activities:
🧠 Exercise 1 – Match the Following
Students match words (circle, city, goat, gem, giant, cake, cup, car, cereal, game) to either hard or soft beginning sounds.
✏️ Exercise 2 – Sort the Words
Learners sort words such as circle, game, giraffe, cup, gentle, cat, city, goat, gem, cake, car, cereal, gate, giant, and corn into Hard and Soft categories.
📋 Exercise 3 – Fill in the Blanks
Students complete sentences like “The c in cat is a ______ sound” using hard or soft.
📝 Exercise 4 – Multiple Choice Questions
Children choose whether words such as Circle, Cone, Goat, Gem, Cake, Car, Giant, Cab, Cup, and Giraffe begin with a hard or soft sound.
Exercise 1 – Match the Following
circle – soft
city – soft
goat – hard
gem – soft
giant – soft
cake – hard
cup – hard
car – hard
cereal – soft
game – hard
Exercise 2 – Sort the Words
Hard: goat, cup, cat, cake, car, gate, corn
Soft: circle, game, giraffe, gentle, city, gem, cereal, giant
Exercise 3 – Fill in the Blanks
1. The c in cat – hard
2. The c in city – soft
3. The g in gem – soft
4. The g in gate – hard
5. The c in cake – hard
6. The c in cup – hard
7. The c in circle – soft
8. The g in giant – soft
9. The c in come – hard
10. The g in giraffe – soft
Exercise 4 – Multiple Choice Questions
1. Circle – soft
2. Cone – hard
3. Goat – hard
4. Gem – soft
5. Cake – hard
6. Car – hard
7. Giant – soft
8. Cab – hard
9. Cup – hard
10. Giraffe – soft
This worksheet strengthens phonics awareness and helps children confidently identify sound patterns in early reading.
Give your child a strong start in advanced phonics concepts with expert-designed hard and soft sound practice.
Hard and soft sounds show how the same letter can make different sounds in words.
It builds flexibility in sound recognition needed for future reading.
It introduces sound variation using simple and age-appropriate examples.