PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Are your kids getting bored with practicing articulation sounds at home?

Get everyone on board with a DIY Articulation Board Game! Our expert speech therapist Katie Ouellete explains how to make your own!

• Use word lists/images provided by your therapist or search for some online. Many can be found by googling. Search for your child’s articulation sound in the position in the word where they are practicing it. For example: initial L word list.

• Find great word/picture lists of articulation practice words here:

  • Testy Yet Trying

  • Speech Team Mate

  • Mommy Speech Therapy

  • Learning Fundamentals

• Print  your child’s target sounds. Some lists come with pictures or you can draw your own!

• PROTIP: I recommend using at least 30 pictures/words. If you use fewer, the game could end before you get as much practice in as desired. 

• Practice:

  • Say each word as you color the worksheet or draw the pictures.

  • Say each word as you cut out each picture

  • If your child is succeeding when saying the word alone, try it in a sentence “I like _____" or "I see ____". (lemons, lists, lips, etc)

• Get a few sheets of blank paper. You may need to staple or tape them together to make a long rectangle. 

• Let your child map out a path using the pictures. It may be a wiggly line, like the path in Candyland, a spiral shape, or it may be as simple as rows on the paper. There is no right or wrong but allowing your child to design what they want to it key!

• Find some items to use as place markers for each player and a dice. 

• PROTIP: Borrow place markers from other board games. Students also love to use sports figures, such as TeenyMates, or other small figures that they already have. 

• Play the game! Every time you make a move, practice saying the word. If your child has mastered the words, make it harder but having him/her put them in sentences.