Sh Words for Kids: Digraph sh Lists With Pictures + Free PDF

Sh words are words with the digraph sh. That’s two letters that make one sound, as in ship. You’ll hear it at the start of ship, in the middle of mushroom and at the end of fish. These lists are for kindergarten and 1st grade, easiest words first. sh is a digraph, not a blend. You hear one sound, not two.

ship, shop, shell, fish, dish, wish, brush, sheep, shark, shoe, trash, splash, mushroom, flashlight, jellyfish, sunshine

You’ll find 20 picture cards on our free sh words flash cards, easiest first, plus the full list, sentences and a sh or ch sort on page 2. You don’t need to sign up or leave an email. For all the digraphs side by side, start with our digraph words list.

This series follows UFLI (sh, th, ch), so sh comes first. Short vowel words with sh (ship, fish) come first on our lists, because our order teaches digraphs before blends. You’ll see words with blends marked.

The sh sound

sh is a quiet, long sound you can hold. Think “shhh”, like telling someone to be quiet. Put a finger to your lips and hush. One cue that helps is to push your lips forward a little and let the hush out. There’s no voice in it, and your child can feel the air on their hand.

When your child reads, have them put one finger under both letters. That’s two letters, one finger, one sound. If they say “s-h”, show them the pair again and hush it together.

Sh words list: beginning, middle and end

sh can sit anywhere in a word. The start and end lists open with short vowel words your child can sound out now. Words with a blend come next. Longer picture words are for hearing the sh. Your child can read them later.

Sh words at the beginning (initial)

• Short vowel words: ship, shop, shed, shell, shut, shin, shock
• With a blend: shelf
• Other vowels: sheep, shark, shirt, shoe, shape, shine, shovel

Sheep has a vowel team, shark and shirt have bossy r, and shape and shine need magic e. Hear the sh in them now. Wait to read them until those patterns are taught.

Sh words in the middle (medial)

mushroom, fishing, washer, pushing, flashlight, sunshine, cushion

Most are a sh word plus an ending or a second word: fish + ing, flash + light, sun + shine. Cover one part, read the other, then put them together.

Sh words at the end (final)

• Short vowel words: fish, dish, wish, cash, rush, hush, mash
• With a blend: brush, crush, trash, fresh, flash, splash
• Longer words: jellyfish, goldfish, paintbrush

You’ll hear sh at the end easily, so these are good for “what’s the last sound?” games. Ask: does fish end in a hiss or a hush?

Easy sh words for kindergarten

These are the ones to start with. Each word has four letters but only three sounds, so it blends like any word your child already reads. Teachers call these sh CVC words.

ship, shop, shed, shut, shin, fish, dish, wish, cash, rush

They come from families your child knows: -ish in our short i words, cash and dash in our short a words, and -ush in our short u words.

Sh words with pictures

These sh words are easy to draw. You can use them for picture cards, a word wall or a matching game.

The sh words flash cards start with the easiest words. Your child can read row 1 (ship, shop, shell, shed, fish) now. Rows 2 to 4 are picture words for hearing the sh at the start, at the end and in longer words.

You’ll also find sh next to the other digraphs on one page of our free Digraph Sound Mat.

Sh or ch? (and sh or s)

Kids mix sh and ch words up, because both are made with the lips pushed forward. What sets them apart is time. sh can be held: shhhh. ch is one quick burst: ch, like a small sneeze. You can’t stretch it. Try it with pairs:

sh	ch
ship	chip
shop	chop
shin	chin
sheep	cheap
shoe	chew

Ask your child to hold the first sound. If it keeps going, it’s sh. If it stops, it’s ch. Page 2 of the PDF has a sh or ch sort to use once ch is taught. The full ch list is in our ch words post.

s or sh? s is a hiss, like a snake, with the lips in a smile. sh is a hush, with the lips pushed forward. Try sip and ship, sell and shell, sock and shock.

shr (shrimp, shrub, shrug) is a digraph plus r. That’s two sounds, so it goes with the three-letter blends. Wait until sh is steady, then teach it.

Sentences to read aloud

These use short vowel words with sh and a few common words. The and to are heart words.

1. The fish is in a dish.
2. I wish I had a red ship.
3. The shop is shut.
4. Rush to the shed.
5. Sam has cash.
6. Shh, the cat is on the mat.

Once these are easy, add blends: Grab the brush. The trash is in the bin.

How to practice sh

You only need five minutes a day.

1. Hush and hold. Stretch the sh in a word, “shhhhip”, then say it fast. Your child copies you.
2. Swap the first sound. Build sip with our letter tiles. Swap the s for the sh tile: ship. Do sell to shell, sock to shock, hop to shop.
3. Start or end? Say a word. Your child holds up one finger if the sh comes first (ship) and two if it comes last (fish).
4. Read and write. Our one-page sh worksheets have a decodable sentence to read, trace and write: a red ship, a big fish and fish in a dish.
5. Build silly sentences. Our digraphs sentence builder and a second set have WHO, DID WHAT and WHERE picture cards to cut out, build into a silly sentence, and write.

You’ll find more sh worksheets and the other digraphs in our printables library. The flash cards are created to align with lesson 45 of UFLI Foundations. See our worksheets in UFLI order.

Hearing sh and s side by side is where our reading games help. Luvinci sounds out each word cleanly, so sip and ship never blur. It’s our kindergarten & 1st grade app for ages 3 to 8, with no ads, and it plays offline.

Questions parents ask

What are easy sh words for kids? Short vowel words with sh at the start or the end: ship, shop, shed, shut, shin, fish, dish, wish, cash and rush. Each has just three sounds.

What is the difference between sh and ch? Both are digraphs made with the lips pushed forward. sh is a long, quiet hush you can hold. ch is one quick burst that stops. Practice with ship and chip, shop and chop.

What words have sh in the middle? Mushroom, fishing, washer, pushing, flashlight, sunshine and cushion. Split them into parts to read: fish + ing, sun + shine.

How do I help my child say sh? Push your lips forward and make a long, quiet hush together in a mirror. Saying “sip” for ship is a speech sound, not a reading problem. If it still comes out as s, a speech-language pathologist can check it.

When do kids learn sh? Usually in kindergarten or early 1st grade, once short vowel words are easy. Most programs teach sh first of sh, th and ch.

The takeaways

• sh is one sound written with two letters, as in ship, mushroom and fish. It’s a digraph, not a blend.
• Hold it: a long, quiet hush with the lips pushed forward.
• Start with short vowel words: ship, shop, shed, fish, dish, wish, cash. Blends (brush, trash) come next.
• Sort sh from ch and s: sh holds, ch stops, s hisses.
• Print the free sh words flash cards: 20 picture cards, easiest first, plus the full list, sentences and a sh or ch sort.

Lesson numbers are cited for alignment only. This post and its PDF are our own original work, not created by nor endorsed by UFLI or the University of Florida.