Trying to get those 100+ trials during articulation therapy can be challenging! Student motivation and mixed therapy groups can make it tough to get high repetitions. I wrote this blog post to introduce new articulation activities for speech therapy sessions. It’s not just your kids that need new ways to practice speech sounds; you want to have FUN too. Keep reading if you need articulation ideas that will get high reps in a session!
Articulation Activities Speech Therapy Ideas
This DIY ZAP IT game is perfect for getting high repetitions. My students stayed motivated the entire session. Write different numbers on popsicle sticks (make sure you put some high numbers like 10 and 15). Then, write zap a friend, zap 1, zap 2, etc. Stick the popsicle sticks in a bucket and have students pick a stick. If they pick a 15, they get 15 points and must say their speech sound 15 times. The person with the most points wins the game! HERE is a rule guide that you can print and reference during therapy.
For those days when you need to get a quick drill done for everyone in your mixed groups, the articulation therapy activities I turn to are my articulation flipbooks. You will have word, carrier phrase, and sentence-level activities that you can use during direct instruction or create an articulation station for independent work. Within 5 minutes or less, my students have gotten at least 100 trials and they LOVE the dry-erase marker (Amazon affiliate link.) Try my /l/ flipbook for FREE or consider using the No Print version to pull up on your iPad or for teletherapy.
Keep Hands Busy During Speech Sound Production Practice
One way to keep your students motivated to practice their speech sounds is using a DIY abacus. You can help your students to visually see how many productions they got as well! Check out this blog post for more information on how to make for your students.
Adapting Games for Articulation Practice
The Race To 100 game is a great way to get 100 productions and keep the session energy up! Put my Race to 100 game card on a plastic protective sheet or laminate. Grab a die (make your own with a wooden block to add high numbers like 8, 10, 12, 15) and start rolling!
Grab the free articulation game printable by clicking the pink button below!
You can also use the digital Race to 100 games from the digital speech folder activities to get those high trials in person or through teletherapy. When you create a digital speech folder, you can add various articulation activities for quick drills.
Find games like Uno to use during articulation therapy. Play the game as the rules intended, but whatever card the student lays down, that is how many times they have to practice their speech sound. If the student gets a draw 4, make them practice 20 productions! Get creative with your “speech rules” for practicing during this game.
You can use a Toss Across Game (amazon affiliate link included) to get high articulation repetitions. Use post-it notes to write numbers on the Xs and Os. When the student throws the bean bag and hits an X or O, they have to say their articulation sound that many times.
Articulation Therapy Crafts for High Trials
Articulation Foldable Wallet Books craftivity are a fun way to keep hands busy during the session. Students can practice each word 5x, which makes 105 productions with this craftivity. I love this activity because it can also be sent home for additional practice! Try my final s-blends & l-blends wallet books for FREE. If you are looking for more high-trial articulation therapy crafts, check out this gumball craft and this paper plate paddle craft.
These are awesome! thank you so much 🙂 I am wondering what you use when doing some of the first activities as far as words.. do you use word lists and tell the student a word each time? Picture cards? etc.. I am getting stuck on how to choose the words they say for these more fun/fast paced activities.
thanks!!
Yes, I just use my flashcard word lists. Or if a student is really great with a particular set of words, I may only drill those words to get accurate productions.
Such great ideas! I like the check mark boxes and instead have them write the letter that corresponds to the sound!
How do the ZAP cards work? Do they lose points for each ZAP? Love these ideas!
The zap a friend popsicle stick would allow them to stick a stick from a friend and gain their points. zap 1 would mean they lose a stick and those points!
I work with 5th and 6th graders and a lot of my students are at the sentence level or higher. Do you still practice the sound 100+ times in just words? this is a question I have wondered about for a while now.
Hey April, I will plan something prior to planning the game at is at the sentence level or higher. The game would then be a reinforcer and they can practice at the word level, or I would adapt the game to have them create sentences.