As a child learns to talk, they learn how to produce different speech sounds over time. Some sounds - like /p/, /b/, and /m/ - develop early. Other sounds - like /th/ and /r/ - often develop much later. A child with a speech sound disorder makes errors in the way they produce speech sounds past the age that we'd expect them to grow out of it. Rather than figuring out certain sounds on their own, they need the support of a speech-language pathologist. Below you will find resources to help your child continue to improve his or her speech articulation skills at home.
Speech sound scavenger hunt - Look around your home and outside in your neighborhood for things that contain your child's target speech sound(s). You can even take a picture of each item with your cell phone and keep them in a folder to use as your child's personal picture word list.
I Spy - Choose an object in the room that starts with your child's target sound (e.g. "couch" if the child's target sound is /k/) and give a clue: "I spy with my little eye something..." The child must guess the object.
Read Together - Even if your child cannot yet read, books are a terrific way to practice speech sounds. As you read to your child, point out words that contain his or her target sound and have them repeat them after you. Point out the spelling of the word. Seeing the connection between the letters and correct speech sounds will support both their speech sound development and reading skills. If your child can read, go through the book first to find any words that contain the target sound. Have your child say them, then go back and read the book aloud to you.
Board Games - Any board game can be used. Before the child's turn, they must say words from their practice list. For games that contain dice, the number they roll can be both the number of spaces they move and the number of words they have to say before moving.
Sound Collage - Using magazines or catalogues, have the child cut out several pictures that have their sound. You can talk about whether the sound is at the beginning, middle, or end of the word. As the child says the word, they glue the picture to a large piece of construction paper to make a collage.
Any of the activities above would also be appropriate for grades 3-5. Here are some more activities that work well for older children:
Reading - Your child may no longer read aloud to you often at this age, but this is a good way to help them carry over their speech sound progress into their everyday speech. Give them a limit, such as two pages of a chapter book or 5 minutes of reading. Have them read aloud to you, and make sure to tell them to focus on producing their target sound correctly in any words they find.
Nat Geo Kids Funny Fill-Ins - This is a fun way to get kids thinking about speech sounds and practicing them in reading. These are like free online Mad Libs. Choose a story to do, then work with your child to think of words that contain their target sound. Select "Read!" Then have your child read the story, focusing on his/her target sound. Find the website here: Funny Fill-Ins
Pictionary - Write out words that contain the target sound on strips of paper. They must be things that can be drawn. Put the paper strips in a bowl and take turns being the drawer and the guesser. You can still make this work with just two players! Set a timer on your phone and work together to see how many you can draw/guess in a certain amount of time.
Charades - Just like for Pictionary, write out words that contain the target sound on strops of paper. They must be things that can be acted out. Take turns being the actor and the guesser!
Mommy Speech Therapy - FREE picture word, phrase, and sentence lists for all speech sounds.
Word Vault Essential (free) - As far as free articulation apps go, this is about the most comprehensive out there. The free version does not include pictures though, so if you are using it with non-readers you'll need to model each word for them.
Articulation Station (free for the /p/ sound; in-app purchases for each other sound, between $1.99 - $7.99) - This is the app that we use at school. The kids are used to it, and it's terrific. It includes real photographs of each word, and prompts for the word, phrase, sentence, and story level. See the developer website for more information on the pricing for each speech sound: Little Bee Speech.
Articulation Hunt ($5.99) - This app is great. Kids really feel like they are playing a game, and you get A LOT of repetitions out of them (if they do it right). You'll want to be within earshot to make sure your child keeps saying the words instead of just popping the bubbles!