ABOUT KIWIABC
Decodable whodunit reading activities for tamariki aged 5–10 — built on the same Phonics Plus sequence used in New Zealand schools.
🔎Kia ora! KiwiABC is a New Zealand website of decodable literacy mysteries for tamariki aged 5–10. Every mystery is a whodunit reading activity: children read the clues, crack the sounds and spelling patterns, rule out suspects one by one, and catch the culprit. The reading practice is the detective work.
Learning to read takes a lot of practice — and practice sticks when children want to do it. A mystery gives every clue a purpose. Your child isn't just sounding out ship because a worksheet asked them to; they're sounding it out because it's evidence, and there's a culprit to catch. Five correct clues rule out a suspect. Solve them all and the case is closed — ka pai, detective!
🥝 Made in Aotearoa
KiwiABC is built in New Zealand by Kiwiland Education, for New Zealand classrooms and whānau. The stories are set here — maraes and beaches, kūmara gardens and kea — and the teaching sequence is the one used in NZ schools.
Everything on KiwiABC follows the Ministry of Education's Ready to Read Phonics Plus scope and sequence — the order in which New Zealand schools teach sounds and spelling patterns. It has four phases, each named for a stage of a growing plant:
First sounds, short vowels, CVC words and the first digraphs. About Year 0.
🌿Double letters, blends, and the split digraphs (magic e). About Year 1.
🪴Vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, and first suffixes. About Years 1–2.
🌳Prefixes, suffixes, silent letters and multisyllable words. About Years 2–3.
Every mystery targets one focus sound or pattern from this sequence, and its clue sentences are decodable — built almost entirely from sounds a child at that point has already been taught. That means children can genuinely read them, rather than guess. You can see the whole sequence on our curriculum page.
The first mysteries in every phase are free, so you can see exactly how it works. A subscription unlocks every mystery, plus accounts, student logins, saved progress and stars, and a teacher dashboard. There are two plans — Family and Classroom — billed per year or per NZ school term. See plans and pricing.
We'd love to hear from you — what's working, what's missing, and which sounds your tamariki need next. Email us at [email protected].
Every KiwiABC mystery is a decodable reading activity — read the clues, crack the code, catch the culprit. The first ones in every phase are free.
Try a free mystery →