Articulation and Phonology

10 Effortless L Articulation Activities For High Trials That Keep Kids Motivated to Practice

L Articulation Activities That Get High Trials & Are Motivating For Kids

As a speech therapist in the school setting, it can be time-consuming to find L articulation activities that will get high trials with articulation drill practice. There are several key players in getting these repetitions in— target sounds and words, cues and feedback, an engaging activity, and, most importantly, student motivation. Students can quickly lose focus or become tired without a motivating activity to keep them engaged. We really do have a challenging job where we constantly have to pull out new speech therapy tools and tricks from our toolkit! Today, I wanted to share 10 L articulation activities I use that will help keep your kids motivated while getting a high number of trials in.

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Fun and Engaging L Articulation Activities for Speech Therapy

Looking for creative ways to target the L sound in speech therapy sessions? These activities are designed to keep students engaged while maximizing practice opportunities. From printable games to sensory bins, these ideas are perfect for individual or group therapy settings.

Race to 100: A Free Printable Game

One of my favorite L articulation activities is Race to 100. Students roll a die to determine how many times they’ll practice their /L/ word, then color in or cross out the boxes as they go. The first student to fill 100 boxes wins! This activity is excellent for groups with mixed articulation targets, including L words in initial, medial, and final positions. Don’t forget to grab the free printable in this blog post!

L Articulation Craft Wallets

Craft wallets are a fantastic way to keep students engaged while practicing their /L/ words. Each wallet includes 21 /L/ words for initial, medial, and final positions. Students can decorate their wallets and take them home for extra practice with caregivers. This hands-on activity is not only fun but also encourages carryover practice outside the therapy session.

L Articulation Practice with Lids N’ Lizards W/ Free Printable

Super Duper’s, Lids and Lizards game, is a straightforward game in which students have to search for hidden lizards under magnetic lids. You can turn this game into a high-trial L articulation activity in no time:
- Place L articulation words under the lid. Not to mention, the L sound is embedded in the title of the game! Sneak in extra trials by practicing phrases like “I picked this lid,” “I found the lizard,” or “No lizard here!”
- Use this game throughout the season, but hide different themed items under the lids. You could hide a ladybug during the spring, a pumpkin during the fall, snowflakes in the winter, and so much more. Make sure to get my free L articulation printables to pair with this game.

L Articulation Worksheets for Quick Drill Practice

These no prep L articulation worksheets include specific book related activities with homework. There are 500 pages related to seasonal themed books for all positions of many sounds. You can easily use these worksheets in a group with mixed goals!

I Spy L Articulation Activity

For your speech students who need to move in the sessions, plan this fun L articulation I Spy game.

- Hide picture sound cards throughout your room and students will go on a hunt to find them all. Practice the L sound in sentences before they start by saying “I’m looking for a …” and again when they find the picture by practice “I found….” I’ve found students also like hiding them for me to find. I’ll ask them to give me directions “Look for the…” and “Did you find the …” This is the perfect activity to keep students moving and engaged!

L Sound Speech Therapy Sensory Bins

The possibilities for L articulation practice with sensory bins are endless, and I love that they keep students’ hands busy! In the fall, make a leaf bin with leaves, put a page of L picture words at the bottom of the bin and students have to “lift the leaves” to see their words underneath. In the winter time, make a snowplow bin. In the Spring and Summer, make a “Under the long grass” sensory bin or a sound-loaded ladybug sensory bin!

L Articulation Challenge Game for Increased Motivation to Practice

This L speech therapy activity works really well with your elementary and middle school students because what kid doesn’t love a little competition:

Set the timer for one minute and challenge students to see how many productions they can get during that time.
Set the timer again and see if they can beat their score.
Some of my students love using clicker counters to keep score
Use these L articulation word lists or picture words from my flipbook.

Fun interactive L Articulation Practice with Simon’s Says

For those times when you need to do switch from doing drill practice, but want to make sure your students are working on their L sound, play Simon’s Says with L articulation practice in mind:

- Instead of “Simon says…,” students will have to say “Listen to me” or “I want you to ____.” Before playing, make a list of words, items or actions that include L. Challenge students to use these words in their directions.
- Some words to get the list started include: clap, floor, leap, lift, ball, wall, light, belly, leg, and elbow.

Using Mini Trinkets For L Sound Speech Therapy Practice

For whatever reason, kids dig mini trinkets! So, if you use them in your speech therapy sessions for L articulation practice, they will be super excited to do however many reps you want:

Put mini trinkets in Easter eggs, under solo cups or other paper cups.
Play “Look under the cup/in the egg” to see what word they have to practice.
I love to hide these around the room too for students to find!
Some mini trinkets to use: letters, leaf, ladybug, lion, lamb, love (heart), something yellow, elephant, ball, seal, shell, owl, something blue, something black, glove, flower, something that flies, plant, or a plane.

L Articulation Games With Sound-Loaded Phrases

Pick L articulation games and use sound-loaded phrases at every turn:

- Chutes and Ladders: Start each turn by saying “Let me go.” Then, they have to practice a target word the same number of times as they move on the board. Practice “I hope I land on a ladder” or “I landed on a slide!”
- Candyland: Start each turn with “Let me pick.”If they get a certain color or character, have a “code” for how many times they need to practice. For example, if you land on purple, you have to practice 10 times and if you land on orange 5 times, etc. Incorporate the words “land,” “lose,” “delicious” into the game, too!

What L Articulation Activities Do You Plan to Keep Kids Motivated to Practice?

There are so many L articulation activities to use during sessions to help your students get a high number of trials in. What helps keep your students engaged and working hard during sessions? Share with us on social media! It’s always great to have some articulation activities up your sleeve to keep therapy fresh and fun.