Many children that attend speech therapy at our San Francisco practice have trouble making speech sounds and receive therapy services for articulation delays or disorders. Articulation refers to using the mouth, tongue, teeth, and lips to make sounds.

For parents whose kids are receiving speech therapy for articulation, it might be a good idea to practice some of the sounds in a natural way. Some fun ways to support what your child’s articulation therapy include:

Reading books that have your child’s target sound. For example, if a child was having trouble with the “f” sound in the beginning of a word, parents can choose books that use “f” a lot, such as One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to read before bed.

Mealtimes – This is a great time to incorporate the “k” sound. You can talk about the “cup”, “fork” and all the foods you “cut”.

“I Spy”  – This game works for any sound!

Bath Time – This is great for the “sh” sound because you can talk about all the body parts that we “wash”.

Getting Dressed – This is another activity that happens daily. Can you find your child’s sound in this daily task? Perhaps, “sh” for “shoes” or “shirt”, “j” for “jacket”, or “s” for “pants”.

Driving in the Car – Practice the “g” sound saying “go” after leaving a stop sign. Say “red light” to practice the “r” or “l” sounds.

As you can see from the above activities, sounds are everywhere! I challenge you to find three words that have your child’s sound and think about how to embed those sounds into your day.

Parents should talk to their child’s speech therapist about recommendations for home practice using creative and natural ways to make articulation fun!

You can find more about our articulation services here.