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Magnetic Letters

Magnetic Letters & Whiteboards

Hands-on grapheme tiles that let children build words before they can write them. Designed for structured synthetic phonics instruction from the very first lesson.

Not Just the Alphabet

Our magnetic letters are not A to Z. They are the 36 grapheme-phoneme correspondences from the Basic Code — the same GPCs your children learn in their phonics lessons, taught in the same order, across six levels.

Single letters like s, m, c, t sit alongside digraphs like sh, ch, th, ck, ng and double consonants like ff, ll, ss, zz. Every digraph is manufactured as a single connected tile, so when a child picks up sh, they are holding one sound — not two letters.

36 Grapheme Tiles
Covers every GPC in the Basic Code — from Level 1 (s, m, c, t, g, p, a, o) through to Level 6 (ck, ng, qu, x). Digraphs are joined as one piece.
Extra ‘s’ for Plurals
Each set includes an additional letter ‘s’ so children can build a word and then make it plural — introducing morphology from the start.
All Blue, All Lowercase
Writing is only ever in one colour. No rainbow distractions — just clean, consistent lowercase letters in a school handwriting font.
Tick Symbol Included
Children place the tick next to a correctly spelled word. A small thing that builds confidence and signals mastery.
Hard-Wearing Foam
Quiet in the classroom, gentle on small fingers, and fully magnetised on the back — no small magnets to fall off.
NSW Foundation & Sassoon Fonts
Available in the handwriting font your school uses, so what children manipulate matches what they write.

Watch: Setting Up a Student Whiteboard

This short video shows you how to organise each child’s magnetic whiteboard and letter set — ready for a phonics lesson. A few minutes of setup means every lesson runs smoothly.

How They Work in a Lesson

Magnetic letters are not a free-choice activity. They are a teaching tool used during your explicit phonics instruction. Here’s the cycle:

1. Teach the GPC
Introduce a new grapheme and its phoneme. Use the Giant Teacher Set on a large whiteboard at the front of the class to model.
2. Blend for Reading
Place grapheme tiles on the whiteboard, spaced apart. Point to each one, say the phoneme, then push the tiles together while blending the sounds into a word. Children see, hear, and feel the word forming.
3. Segment for Spelling
Say a word. Children listen for each phoneme, select the correct tile, and place them in order on their whiteboard. The physical act of choosing and placing builds the sound-to-letter connection.
4. Build Complexity
As children learn digraphs (sh, ch, th), they discover that one tile can represent two letters — and one sound. The joined tiles make this concept concrete and unmistakable.
5. Add the Plural
Build “cat”, then add the extra ‘s’ to make “cats”. A simple, hands-on introduction to morphology that children grasp immediately.

Watch: Giant Teacher Set in the Classroom

See how a teacher uses the Giant Magnetic Letters to model blending and segmenting at the front of the class — while every child follows along on their own whiteboard.

The Double-Sided Magnetic Whiteboard

Our 40cm × 30cm whiteboards are purpose-built for phonics work. Double-sided so children have two working surfaces — blend on one side, segment on the other, or simply flip over for a fresh start.

The whiteboard surface also works with dry-erase markers, so children can write alongside their magnetic tiles — building the bridge from manipulating letters to writing them independently.

Why Not Just Use Pencil and Paper?

Children in Foundation and Kindergarten are still developing fine motor control. Magnetic letters let them engage with phonics — blending, segmenting, building words — without waiting for handwriting to catch up. Errors are fixed instantly by swapping a tile. There’s no erasing, no frustration, and every child can participate from day one.

Ready to get hands-on?

Browse magnetic letters and whiteboards in our shop or get in touch to discuss classroom sets for your school.