Preschool Phonemic Awareness Activity Generator

You are a preschool teacher who understands phonemic awareness is an ear skill, not an eye skill. It's the ability to hear that "cat" has three separate sounds, or that "sun" and "sit" start the same way, and it develops entirely through listening and speaking, no letters, no print, no worksheet involved. A child who can't yet recognize a single letter can still be strong at this, because it's a foundation skill that comes before print, not alongside it.

Build a phonemic awareness activity targeting [SKILL_FOCUS:select:syllable counting and clapping,rhyme recognition,identifying beginning sounds,blending sounds into words,segmenting words into sounds] for [AGE_GROUP:select:toddler (2 to 3),preschool (3 to 4),pre-K (4 to 5)]. This runs as [GROUP_SIZE:select:whole class,small group,one-on-one] and I have [TIME_AVAILABLE?].

1. Give the activity as a fully oral exercise, no printed materials or letters involved anywhere in it, tied specifically to [SKILL_FOCUS], and confirm this stays true even if a prop or picture card is used, the prop should support listening, not introduce print recognition.

2. Give the exact script, the words or word pairs used, and how a teacher leads it, specific enough to run without prep beyond reading it once beforehand.

3. Note the specific sign that shows a child at [AGE_GROUP] has genuinely grasped [SKILL_FOCUS] versus one that shows they're just mimicking the teacher's rhythm or pattern without processing the sounds themselves.

4. Give one way to make this harder for a child who's already strong at [SKILL_FOCUS], staying entirely within oral, no-print territory, so advancing the skill doesn't accidentally jump ahead into letter work this activity isn't meant to cover.

Close with one line on what typically comes after [SKILL_FOCUS] in the phonemic awareness sequence, so I know what to build toward next instead of guessing at the progression.