CVC 'ut' Family Worksheet: Read, Cut, and Match!
Younger children ages 3-5 get an especially playful entry into word families here, since the 'ut' pattern (cut, nut, but, hut) is paired with a cut-and-fold reveal that turns reading practice into a mini guessing game. Reading a word before seeing its picture forces genuine sound-by-sound decoding rather than picture-based guessing, which is a more advanced (and more valuable) reading skill than it might look like. The scissor work involved also gives this age group meaningful fine motor practice alongside the phonics content.
Curriculum
How to use this worksheet
Read the 'ut' word together first, sounding out each letter slowly before blending them into the whole word. Ask your child to guess what the hidden picture might show based on the word they just read. Help them cut carefully along the dotted lines to free the flap, then fold it back to reveal the picture and check their prediction. Repeat this process for each word, letting your child read independently more as they get used to the pattern.
Materials needed
- Pencil
- Scissors
Extension activities
- •Invent new 'ut' family words together and draw simple pictures to match.
- •Search the house for objects that rhyme with 'ut' words, like a nut from the kitchen.
- •Build the 'ut' words with magnetic letters, changing only the first letter to form each one.
- •Have your child write the words from memory on a fresh sheet of paper.
- •Turn the reveal-a-flap format into a game, taking turns reading words to each other.
Tips for parents and teachers
Support scissor control by holding the paper steady while your child does the actual cutting motion, especially on the tighter dotted-line turns. Sound out each letter in the CVC word together rather than rushing to the reveal, since the reading practice is the real goal here. Celebrate every bit of progress — successful cuts, correct guesses, or clean blending — to keep this feeling like a fun discovery activity rather than a task.
Written by
Hemsweta Jain · Teacher Cheena
MBA and Early Childhood Educator, teaching since 2014 · Founder of RaisoActive, Mumbai
Every RaisoActive worksheet is designed and checked by the founder before publishing.
Published · Last reviewed
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