The "ar" sound — /ɑr/
As in car. Tap play to hear the sound, see the mouth shape, and hear 15 example words.
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Grapheme — the letters
ar
What a child sees written down and writes by hand.
Phoneme — the sound
/ɑr/
What a child hears and says out loud — written in IPA, the standard notation for sounds (not letter names).
Mouth shape
Open mouth wide, add 'r'
Gesture
Open mouth wide like at the doctor saying ahhhr
Words to read now
Every letter in these has been taught by this point in the teaching order, so your child can sound them out.
- caraccent differs
- staraccent differs
- parkaccent differs
- farmaccent differs
- armaccent differs
- artaccent differs
- baraccent differs
- jaraccent differs
- taraccent differs
- cartaccent differs
- dartaccent differs
- chartaccent differs
- sharpaccent differs
- sparkaccent differs
- yardaccent differs
Teach the “ar” sound: free printables
Two free PDFs made for this sound. Print them, or use the full lesson online with audio and games.
“ar” practice sheetFor your child: trace, find the sound in pictures, read and match. Name & date on top. Download PDF
“ar” lesson planFor you: a 10-minute lesson with what to say, the answer key and common mix-ups. Download PDFHow to teach the “ar” sound
- Hear it first. Tap Play three times. Have your child watch your mouth while you copy the sound — no letter name yet, just the pure phoneme /ɑr/.
- Do the gesture. Open mouth wide like at the doctor saying ahhhr— kids remember sounds 2× faster when there’s a physical action attached.
- Find it in words. Say a few example words aloud slowly, stretching the /ɑr/ sound: “c–a–r”.
- Spot it around the house. “Can you find something that starts with /ɑr/?” Aim for 3 wins in a row before stopping.
Related sounds in this unit
Turn this into a dated schedule
Pick a start date and a pace, and get all 44 sounds laid out as dated sessions — free to preview, downloadable as a calendar.
Teach phonics online — one short lesson a day
Sign in free and follow a plan that remembers where you are. Right here in your browser, on phone, tablet or computer — nothing to download.
- 92 step-by-step lessons, SATPIN first
- Big flashcards to show your child
- Games, checkpoints and progress for every sound
For little ones (2–6) there’s also our sound-play game on iPhone & iPad and Android.