Fun with Vowels?

It seems like the short vowel sounds have been a real stumbling block in reading and language for Josh and Jameson. We have been working on sight words and phonics all along, and their reading has improved several grade levels already, but I noticed that because of their accents, it's hard for them to figure out which vowel sounds they are trying to hear and say because they sound so much alike. I hope to give them some strategies to sound out words better. I pulled out a book that I had specifically for reluctant readers, and I've been getting some ideas!
If any of you have older kids coming home... tuck this away, it might come in handy later.

Today we played a game to learn the vowels. It was so much fun!
First round, I showed them a card with a word on it. All the cards have words with 2 consonants and a single vowel in the middle, such as dad, mom, pop, mop, etc. We have cards with about 100 different words.
If the word has an a - they have to put their hands face up "at" their desk.
If the word has an e - they have to put their hands on the "edge" of their desk.
If the word has an i - they have to put their hands "in" front their desk.
If the word has an o - they have to put their fingertips "on" the desk.
If the word has a u - they have to put their hands "up" from their desk.

The next round, I just said the words, and they had to figure it out. It was a little competition and they absolutely loved it!
Josh told Jameson, "You're going down..."
And Jameson replied, "No, I'm going up." HA HA Funny!
BTW - she won!