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Getting those 100+ trials during articulation therapy can feel impossible some days. You are juggling behaviors, mixed groups, and limited time while still trying to keep kids engaged. That is why having a stash of articulation activities for speech therapy can make all the difference.
It is not just your students who need fresh, motivating ideas. You want to enjoy therapy too. I have rounded up low-prep, high-impact activities that make drill practice fun while helping you get the repetitions your students need. Keep reading if you are ready to bring more energy (and less stress) into your articulation sessions.
One of my favorite free articulation activities for speech therapy is the DIY Zap It game. It is simple to set up and gets high repetitions while keeping students engaged the entire session.
To play, write different numbers on popsicle sticks. Be sure to include some higher numbers like 10 and 15. Then add special sticks such as Zap a Friend or Zap 2. Place the sticks in a bucket and have students take turns pulling one. If a student pulls a “15,” they say their target sound 15 times and earn 15 points. The person with the most points at the end wins.
You can grab the Zap It game rules and free printable [PDF link].
Another favorite is my Race to 100 game. This articulation activity helps you hit 100 productions in a session while keeping the energy up. Place the game card in a plastic sleeve or laminate it for repeated use. Then roll a die (or make your own with a wooden block and add high numbers like 8, 10, 12, and 15). Students roll, say their target sound that many times, and color or mark their way toward 100.
Grab the free Race to 100 articulation game printable below. If you are looking for even more free games for older students, playing The Points Game and High Trial Uno are great for those older ages.
For those busy days when you need a quick drill for everyone in your mixed groups, one of my go-to articulation therapy activities is using articulation flipbooks. These flipbooks include word-level, carrier phrase, and sentence-level practice that you can use during direct instruction or as an articulation station for independent work.
Within five minutes or less, my students can easily get 100 trials, and they love using the dry-erase marker (check out my favorite dry-erase markers on Amazon). You can try my free /l/ articulation flipbook to see how it works, or grab the (No Print flipbook version) to use on an iPad for teletherapy.
Sometimes the best way to keep students engaged in drill is to give their hands something to do while they practice. This not only motivates them but also provides a visual way to track productions.
DIY Abacus
Using a DIY abacus is one way to motivate your students to practice their speech sounds. You can help your students to see how many productions they got as well, visually! If you don’t want to make your own, grab one on Amazon.
Bingo Chips or Tokens Move one chip per trial. Stack them, line them up, or play “cover the board.”
Clothespins: Clip clothespins on a container or string after each production. Great for fine motor, too. You can find them at Dollar Tree or Amazon.
Linking Cubes: Snap cubes together as they practice to make a colorful chain.
Mini Erasers: Move seasonal erasers from one container to another until the pile is gone.
Pom-Pom Activities: Use tongs or spoons to feed pom-poms into a cup or container. You can theme it seasonally (feed the snowman, scoop pumpkins into a tractor, etc.). There are lots of fun fall articulation ideas and winter activities for articulation practice that help you do a theme! We provide themed articulation flashcards, speech sound word lists, and open-ended games in the Themed Therapy SLP membership.
Pipe Cleaners and Beads: Students add a bead to a pipe cleaner after each word. By the end, they have a bracelet or counting stick to show their productions. You can use the pipe cleaner articulation task cards for drill! There are LOTS of fun pipe cleaner activities on Pinterest that you can use to motivate your students.
Hole Punch Cards: Make simple drill sheets with a hole to punch after each production. They love using the puncher, and it’s a clear visual tracker.
Look around your room for materials you already have and turn them into hands-on speech sound drill activities. Here are a few articulation activities you can do with any speech sound:
Jenga or Block Stack – Add a block for every trial. When the tower is finished, knock it down by driving toy cars or pushing objects into it.
LEGO Towers – Stack LEGO bricks after each production. See how tall it gets by the end of the session.
Sticker Charts – Add stickers after every set of trials (also great for home carryover).
Magnetic Wands – Collect paper clips or tokens with a wand after each word. I love to put different amounts of magnetic chips under the articulation flashcards. Students pick the card they want and keep the amount of magnetic chips they got. Whoever has the most at the end wins!
Ball Poppers – Clip flashcards in binder clips and line them up like bowling pins. Students use ball poppers to knock them down, saying their words each time.
Bowling Pins – Write speech words on bowling pins (or tape them on). Each time a pin is knocked over, students say the word. Or, you can put the flashcards under the pins. Whatever pins get knocked over, that’s the word they practice!
Beanbag Toss – Toss beanbags onto mats or into bins labeled with articulation words or numbers. You can also use the Toss Across tic-tac-toe game with any speech sound.
I Spy Sensory Bin – Fill a bin with rice, dried beans, cut up jumbo straws, or filler and add sound-loaded mini trinkets (I love using the ones from Speech and Smile). Students dig and find an item, then practice their target word as they “spy” it. Use my free speech sound printable mats with the bin for an articulation station activity or mixed group lesson.
Hidden Flashcards – Bury flashcards in shredded paper or pom-poms. Students dig out and say each card as they uncover it.
If you want a low-prep way to keep sessions engaging, digital materials are another great option. The digital Race to 100 game from my Digital Speech Folder activities is an easy way to hit high trials, whether you are in person or doing teletherapy.
When you set up a digital speech folder, you can add Google Slides task cards with articulation practice activities for quick drills. These digital folders make it simple to pull up what you need during mixed groups, centers, or teletherapy.
Some ideas to include in your digital speech folder are:
Having a digital folder ready saves time and helps students know exactly what to expect each session. Plus, they include speech therapy progress monitoring tools and Google Forms for easy data collection.
Articulation Craft Wallets are a fun way to keep hands busy during the session while still getting high trials. Each foldable wallet book includes words students can practice five times, totaling over 100 productions in one craft.
I love this activity because it is interactive during therapy and can also be sent home for additional practice. You can try my free Final S-Blends or L-Blends Wallet Crafts to see how they work.
If you are looking for even more high-trial articulation crafts, check out my [Gumball Craft] and [Paper Plate Paddle Craft]. These are low-prep options that keep students motivated while helping you target repetitions.
For a low-prep articulation therapy craft activity that you can use for any sound, is this fun flip flap paper plate craft. The beautiful thing is that once the craft is complete, it can be used as a speech therapy activity or warm-up every session.
If you are looking for speech therapy activities using articulation games, then I have a lot of great suggestions for you. Games are a great low-prep articulation activity that yields lots of practice trials if you are strategic. Look for games that have sound-loaded practice embedded in the game, or easily come up with words or phrases with your students’ target speech sound. Here are some great articulation games for different sounds:
With these 25+ articulation activities for speech therapy, you’ll never run out of ways to keep your students motivated while getting the high trials they need. Whether you are using quick games, hands-on tools, crafts, or digital resources, the key is having a variety of low-prep ideas ready to go.
Don’t forget to grab your free Race to 100 game printable and articulation I Spy printable mats to get started. If you are looking for ready-to-use resources, my Articulation Flipbook and Digital Speech Folders make it simple to target sounds with high repetitions.
You’ve got this, SLP friend. Here’s to making articulation therapy more engaging and effective for both you and your students.
