Hunting for reading sounds

Since September, we have been learning to identify different reading sounds/blends. Now that we have gone over the most common ones, my students like the challenge of seeing how many of the different blends they can find. 

We used the French jolly phonics actions that go with each sound. I LOVE this program. When a student asks me how to spell a word, I can do the action as a reminder and they can sound it our on their own. 

Some of my students are having a hard time applying the sounds they know in their own writing. Have you tried anything that worked well?