The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of reading activities using physical games
on the phonological awareness and word recognition of young children. The subjects were 30
young children aged of 5, and equally divided into the experimental group attending O kindergarten
annexed elementary school located in S city, Gyeonggi-do, and the control group attending S
kindergarten annexed to elementary school located in the same city as O kindergarten. The
experimental group performed reading activities using physical games 1 to 2 times a week, on the
other hand, the control group performed reading activities related to life themes. The results of the
study indicated that the phonological awareness and word recognition of the experimental group
experienced reading activities using physical games more improved than the control group
experienced reading activities related to life themes. In conclusion, the results indicate that reading
activities using physical games influence the enhancement of phonological awareness and word
recognition of young children, which suggests that reading activities using physical games can be
effective teaching-learning method for improving the phonological awareness and word recognition
of young children.