Articulation Cards & Activities

Articulation therapy focuses on helping individuals improve their ability to produce speech sounds accurately and intelligibly. It is commonly used to treat Speech Sound Disorders such as Articulation Disorders (sound errors - such as distortions, omissions, substitutions), Phonological Disorders (process errors - such as fronting, stopping, final consonant deletion), Childhood Apraxia of Speech (difficulty with motor planning, vowel distortions, groping, inconsistent voicing errors, stress errors) and Dysarthria (muscle weakness/coodination). Specific therapy/treatment plans and materials vary depending on the type and severity of disorder and these disorders often co-exist.

LessonPix provides powerful tools to help you create custom articulation therapy materials.. 

The SLP uses a variety of techniques and activities to target the client's speech goals. Games are often used in articulation therapy to make the sessions engaging, motivating, and effective for their clients, particularly children. Check out these articulation activities: 

1. Picture Cards of Words that contain the target sound. Try the SoundFinder tool to find words with target sounds or combination of sounds in the target positions. To get a wider variety of images, when using the CVC syllable filter, we recommend checking both a consonant and a vowel combination to search. 

Depending on the ability of the student, the SLP can provide various levels of support including visual, auditory and/or tactile cues.   SLPs often start by modeling the correct production of target sounds/words, and the client imitates the model.  The SLP can then fade the verbal model and elicit productions by providing the image with cues as needed for success.

2. Auditory Discrimination Activities: Help clients learn to differentiate between correct and incorrect productions of speech sounds using picture cards. Try using the Minimal Pairs tool to contrast words that differ by only one sound to help the client distinguish between similar sounds.

Try sorting on a sorting mat. 

3. Articulation Drills: Practicing the production of specific speech sounds in isolation, syllables, words, phrases, and sentences. Try using Artic Trials template to easily take data. Make it fun my adding interest themes. 

You can also practice drills using dice, graphing and daubers.

4. Customize Board Games: Create a board game using target sounds to practice in a fun and engaing way. The client might have to say a target word or sound correctly before they can move their game piece.

Traditional board games like "Guess Who," "Headbandz," "Cariboo," or "Zingo!" can be adapted to include speech practice targets using the adapted board game templates. 

5. Memory Games: Therapists might use memory card games where each card has a picture of a word with the target sound. The client has to match the cards while saying the words correctly. Print 2 copies to lay face down and match.

Use interest or holiday themes with Themed Picture Cards or Themed Pairs for added fun.

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6. Play Cards Games with custom cards that contain target sounds. Create Uno style playing cards or  "Go Fish" type games when a student is working on phrases and sentences. "Do you have "key"?  I do/do not have "key". " Do you have something you use to unlock a door?" I do / do not have "key".

You can also create traditional playing cards with images in LessonPix. 

7. Play I Spy games using Bingo Dauber Template. Mark with a bingo dauber or smash playdough as you say the target words. You can also use the "Find a Picture Template". Cover the target images and play "I spy" to locate the target images.  You can also incorporate positional words for extra language practice (It's between the hamburger and the turtle).

8. Incorporating Technology: Try using the LessonPix Play Tools to make the therapy experience even more interactive and engaging. You can create spinners or hat draws for turn taking, artic drilling, and bingo games.  You can use the Word/PPT and Google slides add-ons to play interactive board games, checkers, four in a row and you can also use the one page picture template to easily create an online slide deck. 

Using games in articulation therapy can help keep clients motivated and engaged while providing opportunities for targeted practice of speech sounds in a fun and enjoyable way. Overall, articulation therapy aims to help individuals improve their speech sound production skills, increase their intelligibility, and enhance their overall communication abilities. The ultimate goal is to support the individual in achieving clear and effective communication in various social and academic settings.

Here are some more examples of awesome materials shared by our users.....

• CH checkers using the Picture Cards template (by Amy Gledhill).

• Dots and boxes final -at practice (by Lori)

• These SK- Words make a good coloring sheet while practicing the sounds. (Made byAstrid Soriano) 

• Say each R blend and mark off with tallies. (Made by Katie Millican)

Did you Know?

Lessonpix has a wealth of articulation therapy materials created by users in the Sharing Center.  Here is how you can find ready made materials: 

1. ​Click the Blue Tab at the top for the Sharing Center.
2. Look to the Left side for Communication. 
3. You can even fliter by specific materials on the left - scroll to Picture Cards. 

If you want ready-made materials for specific sounds, use the search box in the Sharing Center. Type "final K" or "r". You'll be amazed at what you can find!