Articulation Activities To Do At Home

*Create a "challenge list" with your child. This list should contain 10 words with your child’s sound in them that he wants to work on. The words can be anything that he feels motivated to say better, (friend’s names, a favorite TV show or book, words that he says frequently, etc.) Have your child say them alone at first and then in sentences as he improves.

*Play a board game or card game with your child. She should say a word with her sound in it for each turn she takes. You can say words on your turn as well to provide a good model. The game is just something fun to do while you’re working on articulation. (Again, you can move to sentences as your child’s articulation improves.)

*Play "Concentration" and think of words with your child’s sound in them. This is an old game in which you slap your knees, then clap, then snap right fingers, and then left fingers in a steady rhythm. You pick a category (words with your child’s sound in them), and think of something in that category by the time you’ve snapped your left fingers. Each player does the movements in the same rhythm.

*While driving in the car, have a contest to see who can find the most things that have your child’s sound in them. As you find them, have your child put them in a sentence. You can also look for words on road signs, billboards, etc.

*Have your child read aloud to you for 10-15 minutes a day and remind her to think about her sound. You can have her look at the page before she reads it and underline the words with her sound in them. Increase the reading time as her articulation improves. This activity is for children whose articulation has improved beyond the sentence level.

*Designate a 10-15 minute period during the day when you ask your child to concentrate on making his sound while he tells you about his day, a favorite movie, book, etc. You can increase this time as your child improves. This activity is for children who need work at the conversational level.