When it comes to articulation practice, children need a lot of repetition to get the sounds generalised to natural spontaneous conversation. This can get monotonous since it has to be done on a daily bases. This plus children's short attention span is not quite ideal so here are 7 ideas how you can get more repetitions in a fun way in your home today.
Before starting out any of these activities, it is a good idea to have a list of words targeting the sound required. The list should include words starting with the sound, words ending with the sound and words having the sound in the middle. Next, also prepare a set of flashcards using the same word lists. You will find these handy both for the activities provided as well as for other common games you can play such as memory game and treasure hunts.
1. Sound boxes
Fill a box with toys and household items having your child’s target sound. Most of the time, children respond better to objects than to pictures. Use these for treasure hunts where you hide the toys around the room and your child has to name each toy he finds. Want to make it more exciting? Do this game at night where your child needs to locate the toys with a torch light😊 Not in a very cooperative mood today? Just let your child play with these toys freely. Sit beside him to guide, prompt and model words said.
2. Use Blocks
Make smaller copies of the pictures and stick them on blocks. Your child has to ask you for the picture he wants and he gets the block as a reinforcer. He can build anything he likes. I have yet to meet a child who does not like to build:)
3. Random toys
I have a bag filled with random toys (toys found in Easter eggs, party bag toys etc) If you look around the house I am sure that you will find such toys too and these are often not used on a daily basis. Place them in a bag and hey presto they have become the most interesting toys they have😊 When using flashcards, the child can pick a toy out of the bag every time he pronounces the word correctly. This toy is placed on the card as a reinforcer. They love seeing what would come out of the bag next.
4. Tally
Place a chart next to the fridge. Feel free to find any other spot you and your child visit on a frequent basis but if you are like us, it is hard to beat the fridge😊 This chart should include a number of your chosen flashcards (maybe 10 of them) and a space for you to write. Every time your child wants something from the fridge, ask him to name the flashcards and keep a tally record. You can also reward him after he gets a tally score of 15 or 20.
5. Feed the monster
Grab a shoebox and cut a hole in the middle. This would be the ‘mouth’. Draw a face of your choice around the mouth. Examples include a monster, a rabbit or a bear. Anything your child really loves. The articulation flashcards are the ‘food’ so your child needs to ‘feed’ the monster by posting the flashcards after naming the picture.
6. Create a story
If your child is at ‘sentence level’ you can practice building stories with your flashcards. Place the pictures upside down and take turns taking one and building a sentence around it. Children love this as since the cards are very often unrelated you end up with quite interesting and funny stories😊 You can also play this game using your sound box toys where the objects are used instead of pictures.
7. Choose toys that have the target sound for free play
Select toys having the target sound for free play. These toys are the ones that do not fit in the ‘sound box’. If you use toy rotations, it is a good idea to include some of these toys in your weekly rotation. If you do not have much toys starting with your target sound do not worry! You can prepare easy activities with the same toy to change things a bit. For example if you are working on /sh/ you can grab your toy sheep and wash him today, make paint prints using the sheep’s feet tomorrow and make a tea party with the sheep on the third day😊 Just take a look at your child’s toys and the sky is the limit! I hope that you found this article useful and that it inspires you to keep getting the needed articulation practice done on a daily basis in a fun manner. Remember to always consult your speech and language pathologist and get professional advice when needed.
Unitil next time!😊
Christina
How I wish you could do these with sam. Thanks for all these tips. I will try them out. You are awesome. Well done and keep it up.