Syllable counting worksheet for children to practice identifying syllables in words.

Let’s go through each word one by one and count how many syllables it has. Remember: each syllable has a vowel sound, and you can clap once for each syllable.

We’ll break down each word:

1. monster → mon-ster → 2 claps → 2
2. butterfly → but-ter-fly → 3 claps → 3
3. cat → cat → 1 clap → 1
4. basket → bas-ket → 2 claps → 2
5. strawberry → straw-berr-y → 3 claps → 3
6. rabbit → rab-bit → 2 claps → 2
7. basketball → bas-ket-ball → 3 claps → 3
8. sister → sis-ter → 2 claps → 2
9. winter → win-ter → 2 claps → 2
10. family → fam-i-ly → 3 claps → 3

Now the second column:

11. candy → can-dy → 2 claps → 2
12. understand → un-der-stand → 3 claps → 3
13. popcorn → pop-corn → 2 claps → 2
14. jump → jump → 1 clap → 1
15. football → foot-ball → 2 claps → 2
16. reading → read-ing → 2 claps → 2
17. math → math → 1 clap → 1
18. playground → play-ground → 2 claps → 2
19. elephant → el-e-phant → 3 claps → 3
20. fan → fan → 1 clap → 1

Double-checking tricky ones:
- “Strawberry” – some might think 2, but it’s straw-berr-y (3)
- “Family” – fam-i-ly (3), not 2
- “Elephant” – el-e-phant (3), yes!
- “Understand” – un-der-stand (3)

All counts look correct.

Final Answer:
1. 2
2. 3
3. 1
4. 2
5. 3
6. 2
7. 3
8. 2
9. 2
10. 3
11. 2
12. 3
13. 2
14. 1
15. 2
16. 2
17. 1
18. 2
19. 3
20. 1