A Cambridge Early Years practice app for the very first stage of reading
For a 4 to 5 year old just starting out, Word Safari begins at the very first rung of its phonics ladder, the same stage named Cambridge Early Years B.
Word Safari covers ages 4 to 11 overall; this page is about the youngest end, where a first reader is just meeting their first letter sounds. Aligned to, not an official product of, Cambridge.
What Early Years B looks like inside Word Safari
Cambridge Early Years B sits right at the start of the whole Cambridge Primary pathway, before a child is expected to blend more than the simplest sounds. Word Safari's own ladder starts at exactly that point too.
Tier one of Word Safari's seven phonics tiers is built from the very first of its 73 letter sounds, the ones a brand-new reader meets first. Every decodable story at this level is built only from sounds a child has already been taught inside the app, so a five-year-old is never asked to guess at a letter they have not met yet. That is a deliberate design rule, not an accident: a story that sneaks in an untaught sound stops being decodable and starts being a guessing game.
Word Safari's full library holds 1,347 English words and 36 decodable stories across all seven tiers, but a beginner at Early Years B is only working with the earliest, smallest slice of that: the words and stories built from the first sounds taught. There is no need to touch anything beyond that slice until your child is ready for it.
The full library, and where a beginner starts in it
These are the app's total counts. A first reader at Early Years B starts right at the beginning of all of them.
Single letters first, introduced in a proven phonics order from the very start.
The earliest ones use only the handful of sounds a Reception-age child meets first.
Several rotate through even a first session, so practice never feels like a drill.
Your child's first session
The 2-minute placement play finds a child's actual starting point in moments, useful even if you already know your child is brand new to reading, since it also checks whether they already know a few sounds from nursery rhymes, picture books or an older sibling. From there, several of the 12 game modes rotate through a session, so a five-year-old is not doing the identical drill over and over.
See it before you commit to anything
No card, no sign-up wall. Play a real round right now.
Extra care for the youngest players
Parents of a very young child are, understandably, the most careful about where their data goes. Word Safari's answer is to collect as little as possible: a kid profile is a nickname you type in yourself, never your child's real name pulled from anywhere else, and it stays on the device rather than being sent off to be profiled.
Questions parents ask
Is this the same as CambriLearn's Early Years course?
No. Word Safari is an independent app. It is aligned to the public Cambridge Early Years stage names, but it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a partner product of CambriLearn or Cambridge.
Is my child too young if they are not in school yet?
No. Early Years B is a stage name, not a school requirement. If your child recognises a few letters and is curious about sounding out simple words, the placement play will find a sensible starting point regardless of whether they are formally enrolled anywhere.
What does the free tier cover?
Word Safari has a free tier with no card required to start. Play free now and see how far your child gets before deciding whether to do anything more.