Creative ways to practice speech sounds!

Practising speech sounds doesn’t have to feel like homework! As Speech and Language Therapists, we’re often thinking of different ways to motivate children to practise their sounds and have fun at the same time.

When children enjoy what they’re doing, they’re much more motivated to practise and make progress. Repetition is important when working on speech sounds, however, repetition doesn’t have to be one activity over and over again. With a little creativity, you can build speech practice into play, conversation, and everyday activities.

We’ve put together our favourite ways to make speech sound practice engaging, playful and accessible for when you’re at home.

Turn games into sound practice:

Play is a natural way to learn, and games are a brilliant way to keep speech sound practice fun. Try these ideas:

• Jenga or Connect 4: Say a target word 5 times before removing a block from the stack.

• Hide and seek: Hide your child's target pictures around the house. Each time your child finds one, they say their target word 5 times before then having a go at hiding it for you.

• Pop-up Pirate: Spread the target words onto the table and put a sword on each of the words. Whenever someone picks a sword up, they say the word 5 times, then put the sword in. Who will make the pirate pop!?

Crafty activities to help with sounds:

These can be a great way to get lots of quick practices of the target words. Sometimes, the more simple the activity the better!

• Play dough speed slice: Roll a ball of play dough into a long sausage. When your child says their sound 5 times, they can cut a small piece of play dough; repeat this to see how long it takes them to cut all the sausage up. Add some competition by timing them and seeing if they can beat their last time.

• Sound painting: Use finger paints to make a splat on a piece of paper whenever your child says one of their target words. See if they can take the challenge to fill the whole page!

Movement and outdoor play:

Taking the activities outside can be a great way to add variety to your practice.

• Bubble pop: Take turns blowing bubbles, every time you or your child pops a bubble say a target word.

• Ball games: Say a target word 5 times, then try to throw a ball into a bucket or box. Who can score the most goals!?

Keeping it positive and fun:

Remember, short and regular practice works best. This can be 5 minutes a day using different activities. It is also important for you to have a turn too, as your child hearing you practice your sounds will help them feel confident to have a try.

Speech practice doesn’t need to be perfect every time. What matters most is building motivation, awareness, and enjoyment along the way.