I still remember my first client in graduate school working on the /s/ sound. I spent hours preparing S Sound activities for our sessions. It’s genuinely wild to think about how long I’d spend planning for these sessions compared to the time I spend planning sessions now! Looking back at it now, this was just the start of my SLP Toolbox, and it will never stop growing. I’ve compiled a speech therapy S Sound activity list from my toolkit in this blog post!
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Speech Therapy S Sound Resources for Elicitation
The goal of the very first treatment session? Elicit the /s/ sound in isolation. I spent so much time preparing activities and lists of cues to help him produce it! I still use the cue “lock your tongue up behind your teeth!” when helping my current students. Here are even more ideas.
- You can find tips for elicitation and picture cards for the S Sound on Speech & Language at Home.
- Check out the The Marshalla Guide for loads of tips for producing many sounds including the S sound.
- If you need visuals, word lists and tips for eliciting the S sound, check out this Speech Sound Handbook from Peachie Speechie
- Watch this video to show your students how to say S from Peachie Speechie.
- When working with lateral lisps, watch this video from Peachie Speechie and read this blog post from Amy Graham.
- Another favorite of mine for /s/ sound in isolation is super simple-yarn and space! Hold the spool of yarn while your students hold the end of it. As students make and hold the /s/ sound, walk and un-roll the spool of yarn. See how long your student can make the /s/ sound by cutting the yarn when they finish and measure the length of the yarn.
S Syllable and Word Speech Therapy Activities
Once established in isolation, it’s time to think about S words for speech therapy. Here are some ideas to help you with sessions with your students.
- Check out this post for a FREE S sound syllable practice sheet and therapy ideas for S sound syllable practice. Use dry-erase markers or post-it notes to practice S at the syllable level.
- Use these S word activities speech therapy digital folders to customize quick drill activities for in-person and teletherapy sessions. Keep everything in one place between links to websites, YouTube videos, Google Slides, progress monitoring tools, and PDFs.
- There are also stopping and cluster reduction digital folders for SLPs using a minimal pairs approach for the S sound.
- Try these S and Z Words activities flipbook and the NO print version with your students.
- Speech and Language at Home have S word lists, and Mommy Speech Therapy has free picture cards for S words.
- Use these S speech word picture cards for I spy games, drills, sensory bins, and more.
- For kids who need movement or games that are sound-loaded, Home Speech Home has a few great suggestions.
- Make an I Spy sensory bin with S mini trinkets and other sounds to pair with the free S sound mat printables.
S Words for Speech Therapy
Here are even more activities for S words articulation practice.
- Home Speech Home has a word list for S for words to use during your sessions.
- Another activity is to make sound-loaded phrases with your students on paper that you can practice in the session and then take home for the weekly homework.
- For example, you can use the phrase “I see ______.” Then, students think of different words. They don’t have to have an S because the word your student will be working on is “see.” When using mixed groups, give them a category group to name items.
- If you’re doing a theme-based approach, you can do this activity but use the theme’s vocabulary. See this IG for more details.
- Here are more examples for sound loaded phrases:
- Sam wants ________
- _____ is in the recipe.
- Pass _____ to _____.
- Put ____ on your face.
- Harre SLP has a free Fun zoo articulation map. Students can talk about what they see and like at the Zoo. You can pair this with fun toys to make it more interactive!
S Articulation Sentence Worksheets and Activities
- Compare and contrast similar nouns that contain the S sound. For example, soccer, baseball, popsicle, and ice cream would be great S words to compare. Check out the S and Z articulation carryover set if you need pre-selected compare-and-contrast flashcards.
- Play a sentence articulation challenge game that keeps the student motivated to practice high trials in a short amount of time.
- Have your students create tongue twisters with your word lists that they can practice. You can even have them illustrate their tongue twister to make a fun speech sound book. For example, you could use “The snake slithered silently through the grass” or “Sam’s silly socks are stylish.”
- Make alliteration S poems, and then students can draw their poems.
- Play guessing games for secret words that only have the S sound. Add in carrier phrases for students to use, like “My best guess is…” or “Listen carefully before you answer.”
Speech Therapy Crafts for the S Sound
Crafts are a great way to keep kids engaged during sessions, get repetition of their sounds, and a great way to show their caregivers what they’re working on in speech! Here are some craft ideas for S sound articulation.
- Make speech sound wallets they can store in their speech folders or practice at home.
- This paper plate challenge craft is a low prep S sound speech therapy craft you can do!
- Create some popsicle stick snack crafts to use as a prop for visual cueing by Glued to My Crafts.
Articulation Games with the S Sound
“Are we going to play a game today?” is a phrase every pediatric SLP hears quite often. Here are some ideas for you when your students ask this golden question.
- See if your students can decode your secret message on ABC Ya.
- Play Snakes and Ladders on Toy Theater. Talk about the pieces, slides, snakes, and dice.
- Make a house or treehouse on ABC Ya to work on /s/ in the final position. Talk about the house, outside, inside, scenery, their choice and more.
- Use games with opportunities for S and S-blend words like Rattlesnake Jake or Soggy Doggy.
S Sound Conversation Activities
At last, it’s time to work on the /s/ sound in conversation. The /s/ sound occurs so frequently in our language so ideas for this level are endless! Here are some more ideas for speech therapy s sound.
- Try these S and Z Sound conversation activities to save yourself prep time and provide your students with a fun way to practice the /s/ sound.
- Use sound-loaded non-fiction articles to read aloud and discuss.
- You can find some non-fiction passages in the S carryover activities.
- Read about who invented the Super Soaker on Wonderopolis .
- Learn about Hawaii wildlife on Readworks with passages about the Albatross, Seals and Sea Turtles.
- Make sound loaded questions or play “Would You Rather?”
- Have students answer questions “Would you try…” and they can answer “Yes” or “pass.”
- Have students read the directions of a game, or read the cards while playing a game like Bubble Talk.
- Create a list of words that start with the S sound (city, sand, race, messy, whistle, mouse, sick) then have students make silly sentences or create a story trying to get the sound-loaded words in the story.
It’s safe to say my toolbox s sound activities has expanded since my first client in graduate school, and of course it just keeps growing! What are some of your favorite activities when working on the /s/ sound? Leave a comment or tag us on social media!