speech therapy exercises for fronting

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Fronting and Speech Therapy

I am going to teach you everything you need to know about fronting and speech therapy. I will give a quick overview of the phonological process, how to treat it, and give away some free materials.

Keep scrolling to get started!

What is fronting and speech therapy?

Let's start with the basics! What is fronting?

Fronting is a phonological process where sounds that are suppose to be produced in the back of the mouth are produced in the front of the mouth. 

To get a bit more technical, there are two types of fronting.

• Velar Fronting: Velar sounds (k and g) are replaced with alveolar sounds (t and d)
• Palatal Fronting: Palatal sounds (sh and zh) are replaced with alveolar sounds (s and z)

Is fronting normal?

Fronting is a normal part of development! Many children will demonstrate the process as language develops. 

However, by the age of 3 years, 6 months (Bowen, C. (1998)), the process should disappear. If a child is still fronting past the age of 3 years, 6 months, an evaluation and/or treatment is recommended. 

How do I treat fronting?

There are many evidence-based treatment approaches to treat a phonological disorder. 

Please refer to my Phonological Disorder Overview page to review treatment options and grab a free handout!

Fronting Materials

We have made it to the good stuff! Treatment materials!

Minimal Pairs

No matter which approach I use, I almost always use minimal pairs during treatment. 

Minimal pairs are two words that differ by one one phoneme. I use minimal pairs to target sound perception (can they hear the difference?) and production/awareness (say the correct sound and error sound together to hear and feel the difference).

For my membership site, I have print and no-print materials that target minimal pairs in a variety of ways! Some include fun games and some are simple flashcards. 

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness plays a key role is articulation and phonology treatment! However, I wasn't able to find many materials that targeted phonological awareness and specific processes , such as fronting. 

Therefore, per usual, I made some!

For my membership site, I have print (worksheets) and no-print (Google presentations) that work on fronting while:

• filling in missing sounds
• matching phonemes to pictures
• identifying initial/final phonemes

I find this targeted practice with thoughtful stimuli can make all the difference!

Sentence Level Practice

Creating sentences with the error sound and target sound in ONE sentence is challenging but necessary.

I created a worksheet and no-print Google presentation to target just this!

I am EXCITED about this new section on the membership site.

Today, I added the following materials:

Velar Fronting: K/T - No Print Materials Using Google Slides

• K/T sound-picture match
• K/T minimal pairs hidden picture game
• K/T fill in the missing sound
• K/T name initial/final phoneme
• K/T create a sentence using both targets

Velar Fronting: K/T - Print (worksheets)

Velar Fronting: G/D - No Print Materials Using Google Slides

• G/D sound-picture match
• G/D minimal pairs hidden picture game
• G/D fill in the missing sound
• G/D name initial/final phoneme
• G/D create a sentence using both targets

Non-Members

If you are not a member, don't worry! You can  join today! For a small monthly free, 3,000+ materials are yours instantly.

FREE Phonological Processes Chart By Age

If you would like a FREE phonological processes chart organized by age, just fill out the form below.

I love it! It organizes phonological processes by the age they should disappear. It is one page and color coded for easy reference.

Free Phonological Processes Chart

Sign up below to grab a free copy of my phonology chart

• Speech Disorders: What are they and how you can help
• Finally Learn What A Phonological Processing Disorder Is All About
• Fronting and Speech Therapy. Everything You Need To Know!

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Frontal Lisp: 6 Speech Therapy Exercises To Do At Home

23 out of 100 people lisp at some point in their lives. Although it is common, those who lisp often face problems during communication.

A lisp can distort sounds and make the individual difficult to understand.

What Is a Lisp?

Unlike apraxia or social communication disorder , lisping is easily noticeable in a child when they are learning to hold conversations. If your 5-year-old pronounces /s/ and /z/ with a /th/ sound, it may be time to enlist the help of a speech-language pathologist (SLP) for the correct diagnosis.

According to experts, there are four different types of lisps.

1. Interdental or frontal lisp

It is one of the more common forms of lisp. Your child may have a frontal lisp if they say, “thebra” or “thnake” instead of “zebra” or “snake.”

The incorrect placement of the tongue distorts the /s/ and /z/ sounds. You may notice a child’s tongue protruding between the front teeth. Frontal lisp can be corrected with the help of exercises.

2. Lateral lisp

It may be the second most common type of lisp seen in children and adults. A lateral lisp causes air to escape over the tongue through the sides while making a /s/ or /z/ sound.

It can cause words containing /s/ or /z/ to sound “wet.” You can help your child practice exercises for lateral lisp at home to enable them to make the right sound.

3. Palatal lisp

It is less common. Individuals with a palatal lisp touch their tongue to their soft palate while making /s/ and /z/ sounds.

4. Dental lisp

A dental lisp sounds similar to a frontal or interdental lisp. However, the individual pushes the tongue against their teeth instead of pushing it through.

Is Frontal Lisp Curable?

Speech-language pathologists can help with the diagnosis and treatment of frontal lisp. Irrespective of age, complete recovery can take between a couple of weeks to a few months after beginning speech therapy exercises for frontal lisp.

Since controlling the position of one's jaws and teeth can be learned through practice, a lisp is typically curable. However, the older the individual, the longer it may take to recover from a lisp. Speech therapy for lisp in adults can significantly speed up the recovery process.

How To Fix A Frontal Lisp?

A speech therapist teaches children to recognize the lisp sounds. The professionals also teach individuals speech therapy for frontal lisp to produce the correct sounds.

6 Speech therapy exercises for frontal lisp you can do at home to reduce frontal lisp –

Exercise #1 for Frontal Lisp: The Mirror Technique

It is an easy technique for both adults and children who want to cure frontal lisp. This exercise is particularly interesting for children struggling with a frontal lisp. The mirror technique involves mimicking the expressions, gestures, and mouth movements in front of a large mirror.

So here it goes –

• Stand in front of the mirror so that you and the child can see each other.
• Smile and request the child to smile as well. Keep your mouth open but your teeth closed.
• Next, make a prolonged “sssssss….” sound just like a snake!

Well done! Repeat this with your child at least ten times a day for a week until they can make the /s/ sound while keeping their tongue behind their teeth.

To make it more understandable for a child you can use the "snake in a cage" game. The tongue is the snake, and the teeth are the cage. Now tell your child that the snake can speak, but it can't come out of the cage.

Do let us know how that goes!

Exercise #2 for Frontal Lisp:  Elicitation Techniques

Some therapists call it the exploding /t/ sound. Others call it the popping tires game.

This technique for frontal lisp is  quite simple!

Tell your child that you are going to make the sound popping tires make.

Lead with four consecutive /t/ sounds followed by a /s/ sound.

It should come out like this “/t/ /t/ /t/ /t/ /sssssssssss/"

Try to extend to /s/ in the end. Make sure their tongue stays behind their teeth while making the /s/ sound.

Once they master the “popping tires game” they are ready to move to practicing words that end with a /ts/ sound like cats, bats, and hats.

Exercise #3 for Frontal Lisp: Making The Butterfly

It is a popular tongue exercise many therapists do with clients who lisp. To make it interesting for children, we refer to it as "making the butterfly".

You can do this exercise for lisp with your child after they can successfully say /s/ and /z/ with their tongue inside. Try it yourself!

• Raise the side of your tongue like the wings of a butterfly.
• Touch the back of your teeth with the tip of your tongue.
• Now say /sssssssssss/ and /zzzzzzzzzzz/ sounds for 30-seconds each.

Remember to repeat this three times daily before moving to the word level of practice.

Exercise #4 for Frontal Lisp:  Practice Words

The next step is practicing entire words that have an initial /s/, medial /s/, final /s/, initial /z/, medial /z/ and final /z/ sounds.

You can use the lists we have made for our readers –

Initial /s/

Initial /z/.

Choose to work on one word from a section per day. You can bookmark this page for easy reference.

Keep practicing it until your child can pronounce the respective /s/ or /z/ sounds correctly.

Exercise #5 for Frontal Lisp:  Form Sentences

Now it's time for your child to practice these words in sentences. You can pick a list of words and play fun games like "making silly sentences."

Encourage your child to make sentences like "The cats are wearing hats" or "Sally is sitting in the soup." These lisp practice sentences will tickle their creativity as well as help them practice the /s/, /z/, and /t/ sounds in a sentence.

Exercise #6 for Frontal Lisp: Jump to Conversations

If your child can make these sounds correctly, now it’s time to encourage conversations. Follow your child’s pronunciations closely. If their /s/ and /z/ s slip, don’t worry.

Do not stop your child mid-conversation if you notice a lisp.

They may be having a "bad speech" day!

You can practice steps 1 and 2 a couple of times again. Remember not to sound discouraging in case their lisp comes back!

Reducing a lisp takes considerable practice, patience, and time.

Beyond Home Practice

Young children have higher chances of recovering from lisps on their own. Therefore, several speech therapists recommend that the child be at least 4 years old before you can begin speech therapy!

Consult with an SLP before you begin speech exercises to cure your child’s lisp. If your child shows no improvement despite regular practice, you should consider speaking to a speech-language pathologist.

Sometimes, physiological problems may cause a child to lisp. It is important to remember that some, although few, have a tongue-tie or ankyloglossia, which makes it difficult to move the tongue around.

After careful examination, an SLP may recommend a simple in-clinic procedure or refer you to a specialist for the surgery. The procedure removes the excess tissue that ties the tongue down and restricts its motion.

The longer you leave it untreated, the longer it may take for your child to recover. Working with a pediatrician and speech-language pathologist can help you determine the cause and treatment of your child’s lisp.

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Speech Therapy: The phonological process of fronting

Learning language is a tough process for children and often involves small steps and substitutions as your child masters new sounds. For example, your child might have started out saying “wawa” but has since advanced to saying “water”. But what if your child has developed a pattern of speaking which involved the same substitutions? What if he always replaces the /g/ sound with the /d/ sound so that “game” becomes “dame”?

What Is Fronting in Speech?

This particular process is called fronting. Fronting is the term used when sounds that should be made at the back of the mouth, such as /g/ are made at the front, /d/. In practical terms, this means that a child might say ‘tea’ instead of ‘key’ or say ‘tar’ instead of ‘car.’

Types of Fronting

There are two types of fronting: velar fronting and palatal fronting. Velar fronting involves substituting the /k/ and /g/ sounds (which are normally articulated when the tongue makes contact with the velum, or soft palate at the back of the throat) with sounds that are made with the front of the tongue, namely the /t/ and /d/ sounds. An example would be saying “goose” as “doose.” Palatal fronting is very similar to velar fronting in terms of the process involved, but with palatal fronting, the sounds /sh, zh, ch, j/ are the sounds being substituted. An example of this would be pronouncing shoe as sue or cheer as seer.

It’s important to note that fronting is a very common process in children between the ages of 2-3 and it often corrects itself as the child grows older. However, if your child is experiencing fronting beyond the age of 4, it might be a good idea to contact a speech language pathologist for an evaluation.

What Can I Do To Help My Child?

Fronting is a normal process for children to go through as they are learning language. It falls into a category of phonological processes. Essentially, the phonology of language tells us how sounds fit together in words. Children who have phonology disorders, like fronting, have not learned the rules for how sounds fit together to make words or are using certain processes to simplify words.

Unlike other speech-language disorders, which can involve physical issues that complicate the process of making words, correcting phonological processes is simply a matter of re-teaching your child to make certain sounds in certain contexts.

While it is always strongly advisable that you employ the help of a speech-language pathologist for treatment, there are things you can do with your child to help correct fronting problems. For example, let’s assume your child is substituting /t/ for /k/ – one type of fronting. You might think about starting with helping your child isolate the /k/ sound. One technique would be to have your child hold the tip of his tongue down with (a clean) finger and then try to make the /k/ sound. When your child can successfully make this sound, try moving on to syllables like /k/. If this is successful, you can move on to short words, maybe printing out a set of cards with /k/ words on them and playing a game like Memory . Finally, you can move on to short phrases or rhymes that include the /k/ sound. The important thing is repetition and, of course, patience.

Are you concerned about your child’s progress in speech and language development?

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Fronting Overview

Tips and tricks on how to produce the perfect Fronting sounds!

Fronting Virtual Materials / Games

Virtual Flashcards, Tic-Tac-Toe, Spot It, Connect 4, Jeopardy!, Battleship, Candy Land, and more!

Fronting Videos

How to Teach the Fronting Sounds and Animated Articulation Videos

Fronting Filterable Flashcards

Sort and print Fronting flashcards by sound position, blends, syllables, word structure, and more!

Fronting Printables

Printable Fronting materials like Candy Land, Spot It, QR Code Scavenger Hunt, Progression Cards, Flipbooks, and more!

Fronting Artic Hierarchy Activities

Virtual materials to target Fronting from the isolation level all the way up to the conversational level!

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Substituting /d/ for /g/ and /t/ for /k/ : What is fronting?

One of the more severe phonological processes/ sound substitutions, which may often need the help of an SLP, is fronting. This is when sounds that are produced at the backof the mouth- "kuh" and "guh" - are substituted with sounds at the front of the mouth like"tuh" and "duh." For example, "cat" would become "tat" and "dog" would become "dod."

There is a complex process for correcting fronting. However, the most important steps are-

Realizing that there is actually a mistake in pronunciation. This is called minimal pair (LINK) practice. So, when you show a child a picture of a KEY vs. a picture of TEA, and say to point to KEY they should be able to point to the correct picture. Being aware of the difference between back and front sounds is one of the first ways to be able to fix issues.

Knowing how to make the /k/ and /g/ sounds. A child must know that both sounds are made at the back of the throat. The /k/ sound is made kind of like a soft cough, and a /g/ sound is made like a soft gurgle. A child should be able to produce the sounds accurately in this way.

Then going down the speech sound correction hierarchy - which was discussed in previous posts on this blog - part 1 can be found HERE. (link) The next steps would be mastering the sound level, the syllable level, the word level, the phrase level, the sentence level, and then the conversation level.

Steps 1 and 2 can be attempted at home - to see if there is a problem, and how severe it is. But after that, it is a good idea to see an SLP and correct the phonological process.

While you are setting up an appointment, or if you are getting support but also want to do additional practice at home - check out Smarter Speech's /k,g/ and fronting packet! This has great exercises -and guides you through several weeks of activities starting from the very beginning of correcting the sound, all the way to mastery.

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.

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I created these free speech and language worksheets so you can easily download and print them out to use as part of your speech therapy program.  Just scroll down the page to view the worksheets by topic.  You will find free speech therapy worksheets for articulation, vocabulary , grammar, holiday articulation and language games…and lots of other miscellaneous speech therapy creations that I love!  If you would like more information on what articulation therapy is you might like to read a post I have written called  Teaching Speech Sounds: The Process of Traditional Articulation Therapy

Parents:  If you are a mommy or a daddy (or grandma or grandpa) who wants to work with your child at home, you can use these speech therapy activity pages for extra practice.  Just choose the sound position to work on (initial, medial, or final) and click on the corresponding link to view and print the worksheets.  To help make practice more fun, you can print out two of the same page so you have pairs, cut them out, and use them to play a game of memory or go fish. You can also use them as flashcards.  You will find free speech therapy worksheets by sound and at a variety of levels; word level, phrase level and sentence levels!

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Fronting Speech Activities

Letter & Sound Recognition Activities

Fronting is an issue of speech development in which children learning to speak inadvertently move the point of articulation for some sounds forward in their mouths. Velar fronting occurs in words with consonants formed by contacting the middle of your tongue, such as "give" and "kiss," and results in the pronunciations "div" and "tiss." Palatal fronting occurs in words with fricative sounds such as "ship" and "measure," resulting in "sip" and "mezza." Speech therapy activities can help.

Word Collage

As with other articulation issues, correcting fronting issues require children to recognize not only the correct position of their tongue in pronouncing each word, but also what words will likely cause them problems. By searching through magazines, comics and other images, children can create a collage of words that challenge them. For example, if having issues with velar fronting, children might find images of seagulls, wings, running, kites, kangaroos or girls. If having issues with palatal fronting, they might find pictures of ships, shops, tape measures, treasure and something sharp. By identifying, highlighting and returning to problem words on a word collage, children can maintain an understanding of what enunciation issues they are working to correct.

Board Games

Games that rely upon the movement of a board piece to a finish line or goal such as Monopoly or Parcheesi, afford children the opportunity to enjoy themselves while practicing their pronunciation. As they move through the game, children can pronounce a trouble word prior to moving to the next position. Additional bonuses can be worked into the game such as a pronunciation prize that allows children to move forward a certain number of spaces equivalent to the number of trouble words they can correctly pronounce. For example, move forward three spaces in Parcheesi if you correctly pronounce three words that begin or include the letters "sh."

Active Games

Games that involved physical activity challenge children to employ their pronunciation skills while simultaneously moving and focusing on that movement. A simple game of catch in which a child pronounces a trouble word upon catching a ball allows the child to develop and employ their pronunciation skills in a natural way that eventually feels like second nature.

Conversation

Encourage children to incorporate trouble words into casual conversation. This can be done intentionally and obviously by asking students leading questions that force them to answer by using trouble words. One example would be "Are scissors sharp or dull?" It can be done more subtly by taking the child to a location at which some of the trouble words might be located. For example, in taking a child to the beach, they might see a gull, a sand castle, arcade games or a roller coaster.

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• "Helping Children to Improve Their Communication Skills: Therapeutic Activities for Teachers, Parents and Therapists"; Deborah M. Plummer and Alice Harper; 2011

Samuel Hamilton has been writing since 2002. His work has appeared in “The Penn,” “The Antithesis,” “New Growth Arts Review" and “Deek” magazine. Hamilton holds a Master of Arts in English education from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Arts in composition from the University of Florida.

Picture Practice Pages for Fronting

• October 30, 2022
• Activity Type , Fronting , Interactive , Materials , Phonological Processes , Speech , Worksheets

These are just what you were looking for… no prep, print-and-go pages for your students who are fronting their back sounds! Each page includes 4 minimal contrast word pairs with 10 pictures each to color or mark off. Practicing both words in a pair helps keep students from over-generalizing the correction. You can cut the pages apart or keep them whole. These also make great homework pages!

There are 16 minimal contrast pairs included.

Interactive Material: This material includes an interactive version that can be used in teletherapy. The file can be uploaded to Google Slides or opened in PowerPoint. Make sure to use this file in slide show/presentation mode. When used in PowerPoint, the pictures will color in as each one is clicked. When used in Google Slides, the pictures will color in when you click anywhere on the screen.

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What is Backing in Speech Therapy, and Example of Backing

How to teach p sound: articulation activities, and word lists for effective speech therapy, what is fronting in speech therapy, and example of fronting.

In speech therapy, “fronting” refers to a phonological process in which a child substitutes a sound that is produced in the back of the mouth (such as /k/ or /g/) with a sound that is produced in the front of the mouth (such as /t/ or /d/).

For example, a child might say “tup” instead of “cup” or “doe” instead of “go “. This can make their speech difficult to understand, especially for unfamiliar listeners.

Fronted sounds are typically easier to produce than back sounds, but their substitution can still interfere with a child’s ability to communicate effectively. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) can evaluate a child’s speech and provide targeted therapy to help them learn to produce sounds correctly and improve their overall communication abilities.

Here are Some Examples of Fronting

• “go” becomes “doe”
• “kite” becomes “tight”
• “give” becomes “dive”
• “cat” becomes “tat”
• “goose” becomes “doot”

These are all instances where a sound produced in the back of the mouth (such as /g/, /k/, and /g/) has been replaced with a sound produced in the front of the mouth (such as /d/, /t/, and /d/). Fronting can occur with various consonant sounds, and it can affect a child’s ability to communicate effectively.

How to Imrove Fronting in Speech Therapy?

To improve fronting in speech therapy, which is a speech sound disorder characterized by substituting sounds produced in the front of the mouth for sounds produced in the back, you can try the following strategies and exercises:

• Articulation therapy: Work with a speech therapist who can provide targeted exercises and activities to address the specific sound substitutions associated with fronting. The therapist will guide you through correct tongue and mouth placement for producing the correct sounds.
• Tongue and jaw exercises: Strengthening and coordinating the muscles involved in speech production can be helpful. Your speech therapist can provide exercises that target the tongue and jaw, such as tongue stretches, tongue twisters, tongue movement exercises, and jaw relaxation exercises.
• Visual and tactile cues: Visual and tactile cues can help improve awareness and placement of sounds. For example, using a mirror to observe your tongue and lip movements while producing sounds, or using touch cues (e.g., placing a finger on the appropriate spot in the mouth) to guide correct sound production.
• Minimal pair exercises: Minimal pair exercises involve contrasting two similar sounds, one of which is produced correctly and the other is the target sound affected by fronting. Practicing minimal pairs can help you discriminate between the correct and incorrect sound and gradually improve your ability to produce the target sound accurately.
• Auditory discrimination training: This involves listening exercises to help you differentiate between different sounds, including the back and front sounds affected by fronting. Your speech therapist can provide various auditory discrimination tasks to train your ear to identify the distinctions between sounds.
• Carryover activities: Practice the target sounds and words in everyday situations outside the therapy setting. Your therapist can guide you on how to incorporate these sounds into conversations, reading aloud, and other relevant activities to promote generalization and carryover of the correct sound production.
• Home practice: Consistency is key to progress. Ask your speech therapist for exercises and activities that you can practice at home between therapy sessions. Regular practice will reinforce the skills learned in therapy and accelerate progress.

Working with a qualified speech therapist is essential for personalized assessment, guidance, and support throughout your journey to improve fronting. They will tailor the therapy to your specific needs and provide feedback to help you make progress.

PHONOLOGY ESSENTIALS

Phonology Intervention Handouts: Open the communication with these parent and teacher friendly handouts. Each page focuses on a specific phonological intervention that speech-language pathologists use including minimal pairs, cycles, multiple oppositions and the articulation approach. This is a great way to inform and educate parents in your therapy sessions about WHAT you are doing. For more information on this resource, you can VIEW HERE . 

CLUSTER REDUCTION

Just Add ‘S’ Cluster Reduction:  This is a visual, auditory and tactile way to help children say their s-blends. TRY MY FREE SAMPLE NOW . The strips encourage students to add ‘s’ to the start of the word and blend together to make a new word. Both color and black & white strips are included, and extra visual cards of the “just add ‘s'” as a reminder. For more information on this resource, you can  VIEW HERE.

Teach Phonology ‘S’ Cluster Reduction Story and Minimal Pairs Cards:    Make phonology easier to understand and teach the idea that words have ‘twin sounds’. A fun story introduces the phonological rule that you will teach and this is something that you can continue use throughout therapy. This combines visual-auditory-tactile therapy ideas using a metalinguistic approach. Minimal pairs cards in colour and black & white included. For more information on this resource, you can  VIEW HERE.

FRONTING/BACKING

Fronting Phonology Fun Sheets: This is a full packet of black & white resources, that really focus on the contrasts for Fronting phonology therapy. It’s a great way to mix up traditional minimal pairs therapy and you might find it particularly useful to send for homework to transfer that practice into the home environment. There are four different fun craft-style activities with opportunities for high repetitions, so your student’s shouldn’t get bored.  For more information on this resource, you can  VIEW HERE.

Stopping Bingo Boards & Minimal Pairs:  Take a minimal pairs approach to the phonological process of Stopping with these bingo boards. There are four different boards per target sound and they can be useful for speech groups. Get a lot of practice in with eight minimal pairs to a board.  These boards come in colour only, so they are best to laminate and keep for durability.  For more information on this resource, you can  VIEW HERE.

FINAL CONSONANT DELETION

VOICING/DEVOICING

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Speech-Language Pathology SLP

| 1 December 2020

15 Speech Therapy Activities and Games for All Ages

Do you have a child, family member, or student who faces challenges with speaking or communicating? Speech therapists use fun activities, from vocabulary games to board games and beyond, to help their clients practice language production. As a layperson, you can try out the same activities with your loved one or student.

The speech therapy ideas in this post are geared toward parents, family members, and teachers who are looking for language games to play at home or in the classroom. Speech therapists, also known as speech-language pathologists , and speech-language pathology assistants may find these suggestions useful for planning therapy sessions. Whether the person in your life needs practice with pronunciation, sentence fluency, or speaking in turn, these activities may help them improve. You can tailor the games to be more or less challenging depending on the person’s age and abilities. Check out the link to printables for some free therapy materials!

Speech Therapy Games for Preschoolers

These fun preschool games are perfect language activities for younger kids.

1. Hopscotch Word Fun

Draw a hopscotch on the sidewalk or driveway and write target words in each box. Then have the player say the words out loud to practice speech sounds as they skip through the game.

Helps with: Pronunciation

One player chooses an item in the room that all players can see, then offers clues so that the other players can guess the item they are thinking of. The player who guesses correctly has to use the word in a sentence.

Helps with: Speaking in turn, sentence fluency

3. The Alphabet Game

While driving in the car or walking around your neighborhood, have the player try to find all the letters of the alphabet on signs. Older players can record each letter they find on a piece of paper. See how long it takes to get all 26! For an added challenge, have them say a word that starts with each letter they find.

4. Bury Objects or Picture Cards

Hide objects or speech cards in a sandbox at the playground or under a pile of leaves, and have the player find them. When they do, have them pronounce the object’s name or the word on the card. To add another element to this game, have them use the word in a sentence.

Helps with: Pronunciation, sentence fluency

5. Word Search

Find a word search that is appropriate for the player’s age, as there are many difficulty levels. When they find a word, have them say it aloud. Download our easy printable word search activity below. It’s perfect for ages 5 to 7.

6. Hide-and-Seek with Words

Have the player find word cards you place around the house. When they find a card, have them pronounce the word on the card. For those who can’t read, use cards with pictures.

7. Articulation Station App

The Articulation Station app by Little Bee Speech is designed for kids ages 4 and up. The app offers practice at the word, sentence, and story levels. It features six activities, including flashcards, matching, rotating sentences, unique sentences, and two levels of stories.

Helps with: Word finding, sentence fluency, pronunciation

Speech Therapy Games for Adults

8. Heads Up! Smartphone Game

Heads Up! is a smartphone app game that combines trivia and charades. (You can download it from the Apple App Store or from Google Play.) The player who will be guessing the word or phrase holds the smartphone on their forehead, revealing the word or phrase to others, who act out clues.

Helps with: Learning to speak in turn

9. Yoga Speech Therapy

Combining speech therapy with yoga can double the fun. Have the yogi practice different sounds and sentences while holding yoga poses.

Helps with: Wor d finding, sentence fluency, pronunciation

10. Opposites Attract

In this game, one player makes a list of words that have a clear opposite, such as “yes,” “down,” “happy,” etc. The player reads each word aloud and the other player states the opposite.

Helps with: Word finding, speaking in turn

11. Group Chat

Set a topic, such as a movie or current event, and create a safe space for players to discuss. This is a great way to practice more natural communication.

12. Name Game

This activity involves naming items within a certain category. The best way to play is with cards that have written directions on them, such as “Name five fruits.” In turn, each player picks a card and responds to the directions. Download our name game activity below.

Helps with: Word finding

13. Journaling

Because reading and language development are interconnected, writing in a journal can help people improve language production and comprehension. Provide a list of writing prompts that the player can choose from. Have them write without stopping for 5 or 10 minutes.

Helps with: Word finding, sentence fluency

14. Name Ten

Similar to the name game, the player is given a category and is asked to name ten things that fit within that category. For example, you can ask the player to name ten colors, fruits, animals, or sports.

15. Sound-Focused Game

Players choose a sound they want to target, such as an “S” or “T” sound. Then they take turns saying sentences aloud using as many words as possible that include that sound. For example, if players are targeting an “S” sound, one player might say, “My sister Sally sat sideways in the seat.”

Helps with: Pronunciation, word finding

Speech therapy activities are a fun way for people of all ages to develop the skills they need to communicate better and gain confidence. Check out our other resources for speech therapists as well.

For those who need more guidance, it may be helpful to work with a speech-language pathologist (SLP), who will create a custom treatment plan based on their client’s unique needs. SLPs earn their Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS-SLP) degree, in which they are trained in assessing and treating disorders of speech, language, and swallowing. At the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, our MS-SLP program features online coursework and hands-on clinical practice, preparing graduates to positively impact the lives of others.

The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) offers a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS-SLP). Designed for working students, the MS-SLP is an online program with four required on-campus residencies on either the USAHS Austin or Dallas campus. The program offers two intakes per year, in January and September. Prepare to make a difference in the lives of clients across the lifespan with a meaningful career in speech therapy!

Accreditation Status*

The Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology education program at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is a Candidate for Accreditation by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard, #310, Rockville, MD 20850, 800-498-2071 or 301-296-5700. Candidacy is a “preaccreditation” status with the CAA, awarded to developing or emerging programs for a maximum period of 5 years.

*The candidacy status includes the MS-SLP program offered at Austin, TX and Dallas, TX locations.

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More Speech-Language Pathology SLP Articles

What Is a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) & What Do They Do?

How To Become A Speech Pathologist: 6 Meaningful Career Steps

How To Study Effectively? 10 Best Study Techniques | USAHS

Upcoming speech-language pathology slp events.

Post Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) Webinar - July 9 | USAHS

Doctor of Education (EdD) Webinar - July 10 | USAHS

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Academic Webinar - July 15| USAHS

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Simple Minimal Pairs Speech Therapy Activities

Are you looking for easy minimal pairs speech therapy activities? If you’re a busy SLP working with students who have phonological disorders in speech therapy, you likely don’t have much time during the day to sort through hundreds of minimal pair cards to find what you need. You need a simple solution. I needed one too. I was trying to work with preschool phonology students – many times in a group- and trying to effectively use minimal pairs became too “messy”.

But fear not, I have a solution for you !

Minimal Pair Activities That Are Grab ‘N Go for Speech Therapy

The biggest problem I face during my busy day as an SLP is finding time to organize. My SLP workday is often so “on the go” that I just don’t have time to sort through minimal pair task cards. I needed simple, effective minimal pairs activities for speech therapy that would be ready on the fly.

It soon became clear that the easiest way to do this would be to have all of the needed minimal pair contrasts on one clean sheet. That’s why I decided to design a phonology activity sheet with a small set of 6 minimal pairs per page. I find that it’s better to not use too many targets when working with phonology students. I have usually stuck with 4-6 target minimal pairs per session.

How To Use These Minimal Pair Sheets in Speech Therapy

These minimal pairs activity sheets are so easy to use! You will simply print out the desired page. For example, if you are targeting cluster reduction of s-blends, you might print out the sm vs m minimal pairs page.

Step 1: Read the Auditory Bombardment Word List

To start your session, you could read the list of Auditory Bombardment words to the student. Your student would not repeat these words. This is a listening activity. Each Auditory Bombardment word list contains 10 words with your target for that session. So, if you are working on fronting ( t vs k initial position), then the Auditory Bombardment word list would contain 10 initial k words (key, kite, call, care, cane, cage, candy, cub, kiss, kangaroo).

Step 2: Complete an Auditory Sorting Minimal Pairs Activity

At the top of every page, I have included speech sound mouth visuals. These speech sound mouths represent the two contrasting sounds. Your student can point to the sound (or sounds) that he heard after you say a word. If you said the word “tall”, your student would point to the picture representing the t sound (“tapping sound”). When you say the word “call”, your student points to the picture representing the k sound.

Step 3: Practice Saying Minimal Pairs

Finally, your student would practice saying the minimal pairs on the page. The great part about using minimal pairs is they allow your student to understand their speech sound substitutions easier.

How to Organize Your Minimal Pairs Activity Sheets

You can easily organize your minimal pair activity sheets! This is the best part. You won’t need to sort through piles of minimal pair cards anymore! There are a few easy options for storage.

Speech Therapy Organization Tip 1 for Minimal Pairs

You could easily store your minimal pair activity sheets in a binder! Everything you need is on one sheet. That means you can print these out. Place them in sheet protectors. Use them over and over again! These minimal pair activities pair so nicely with dough. You could also use them with a magnetic wand and chips, or anything motivating!

Speech Therapy Organization Tip 2 for Minimal Pairs

Another great storage option? Try using a hanging file folder organizer ! I ended up buying two of them. I printed out and laminated each sheet. Then, I separated them by the phonological process. For example, all of my fronting minimal pairs are stored in one pocket. This makes things really easy in the middle of a busy day!

Mixed Groups and Minimal Pairs

It happens often. We don’t always get to work with our speech therapy students in individual sessions. If you are working with a group of students who have phonology goals, then here is your solution. Simply pass out one activity sheet to each student at the table. What I do is have one student smash dough on their minimal pair pictures while the other student practicing saying the target minimal pair.

How To Encourage Speech Therapy Carryover for Minimal Pairs

I also included parent-friendly handouts with explanations of each phonological process. These grab ‘n go parent sheets explain what the targeted phonological process is. They also provide some examples of what this might sound like. These parent handouts for phonology are really wonderful to send home. I like to staple these phonology information sheets to the minimal pairs activity sheet I am sending home that day.

What Minimal Pairs Are Included?

My Minimal Pairs Speech Therapy Bundle contains minimal pairs for a variety of phonological processes! It will make your life so much easier to have these simple, organized minimal pairs activities on hand!

Minimal Pairs for Fronting

Fronting is when sounds that should be said in the back of the mouth are said in the front . An example would be saying “tea” for “key”.

I have included minimal pairs that target fronting- both velar fronting and palatal fronting.

• k vs t initial
• k vs t final
• g vs d initial
• g vs d final
• sh vs s initial
• sh vs s final

Minimal Pairs for Final Consonant Deletion

Final consonant deletion is a process that involves omitting, or not saying, the final consonant sound in a word. An example would be saying “eye” for “ice”.

Are you targeting final consonant deletion (FCD)? Here are the targets included: p, t, k, m, n.

Minimal Pairs for Initial Consonant Deletion

A student who exhibits initial consonant deletion is leaving off the first sound in the word.

I have included minimal pairs for initial consonant deletion as well. The targets included are: p, b, m, w

Minimal Pairs for Cluster Reduction

Cluster reduction involves the omission of one consonant from a cluster. An example would be saying “nake” for “snake”.

My Cluster Reduction Minimal Pairs activity contains minimal pair targets for:

Minimal Pairs for Stopping

Some sounds require us to use continuous airflow, such as “s”. When we replaced these sounds with a “stop”, we “stop” the airflow. An example would be “toe” for “so”.

There are minimal pair activities included targeting the phonological process of stopping.

• f vs p initial
• f vs p final
• s vs t initial
• s vs t final
• sh vs t initial
• sh vs t final
• ch vs t initial
• ch vs t final
• voiceless th vs t initial, t final, and p final

Minimal Pairs for Gliding

Gliding occurs when liquid sounds (l and r) are replaced with “w” or “y”.

Yes, there are minimal pairs to target gliding as well! These activities target r vs w and l vs w.

Minimal Pairs for Voicing and Devoicing

I have also included minimal pairs for the phonological processes of voicing and devoicing.

The targeted included:

• p vs b initial
• b vs p final
• t vs d initial
• d vs t final
• k vs g initial
• g vs k final
• s vs z initial
• z vs s final
• f vs v initial
• v vs f final

Minimal Pairs for Backing

Yes, there are even minimal pairs activities included that address backing!

• t vs k initial
• d vs g initial
• s vs h initial
• f vs h initial
• sh vs h initial

Minimal Pairs are Effective for Speech Therapy

Using a minimal pairs approach in speech therapy can be very effective! You can easily SHOW your students how the pictures LOOK different. This makes it easier to explain to our students that the words should SOUND different, too.

The trickiest part for many SLPs is having the time to plan and organize sessions. This often involves many SLPs sorting through piles of minimal pair cards, trying to find the ones needed for the session. This is stressful for the SLP and can lose the attention of our younger students.

It is much easier to have a one-page minimal pairs solution. These activity sheets can be used in individual speech therapy sessions or small group speech therapy sessions. They will make phonology sessions much more effective and efficient.

If you are wanting to try using a minimal pairs approach in speech therapy today, make sure to check out my Minimal Pairs Bundle .

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50+ Best K and G Speech Therapy Activities (Free and Fun)

K and g speech therapy activities: effective techniques for articulation improvement.

If you are a speech therapist working on articulation therapy for the K & G sounds, then you are at the right place. In this blog post, we want to provide you with activities that specifically target the production of the ‘K’ and ‘G’ sounds. Articulation disorders and errors are common for these target sounds. These errors can affect a child’s speech, impacting their ability to communicate effectively. 

A great way to address these specific sounds in your speech practice, is to use a variety of techniques and tools. From one speech therapist to another, I wanted to make your therapy sessions easier, so in this blog post we will review how to correctly produce these speech sounds, give you a list of over 50 fun activities to do to practice correct sound production of ‘K’ and ‘G’ in your therapy sessions, as well as provide you with a great ‘K’ and ‘G’ articulation bundle freebie to start practicing these target sounds today!

K and G Sound Articulation Techniques

We’ll focus on effective speech therapy techniques that aid in the correct articulation of K and G sounds. Our approach is segmented into understanding tongue placement, engaging in activities to enhance back sound articulation, and utilizing the minimal pairs approach to distinguish between target sounds. 

First, let’s review some basics.

Speech Sound Fundamentals

Understanding and working with speech sound production is critical in speech therapy. Key components we attend to are:

• Tongue Placement : Crucial for accurate articulation. For example, for back of the mouth sounds, the back of the tongue rises towards the soft palate.
• Back of the Tongue : This is important for producing sounds like “k” and “g”, which are formed at the back of the mouth .
• Soft Palate : The soft part at the back of the roof of the mouth must be manipulated correctly for certain sounds.
• Vocal Folds : We ensure they function properly for voiced sounds.

We can use tools such as a tongue depressor to facilitate correct tongue placement and exercises that help strengthen the muscles involved in speech.

Tongue Positioning for K and G Sounds

Proper tongue placement is crucial for the correct production of K and G sounds, which are back sounds. For the K sound , the back of the tongue elevates to touch the soft palate, creating a burst of air when released. For the G sound , this placement is similar, but the vocal cords vibrate.

• Raise back of the tongue to the soft palate.
• Create tension before releasing a burst of air.
• Ensure vocal cord vibration for G sound.

Activities for Back Sound Articulation

Speech therapy activities geared towards K and G sounds involve exercises that encourage the correct placement of the tongue for back of the mouth sound articulation.

• Articulation Bundle : A sequence of targeted exercises that focus on sound production.
• Mirror Exercises : Practicing in front of a mirror helps visually confirm tongue placement.
• Blowing Activities : Use activities like blowing bubbles to strengthen muscles necessary for the burst of air required in these sounds.

Minimal Pairs Approach

The minimal pairs approach is a technique that contrasts words differing by only one sound to refine articulation. This method helps individuals distinguish between similar-sounding words, enforcing the correct placement and production of K and G sounds.

• “Come” vs. “Gum”
• “Card” vs. “Guard”
• “Back” vs. “Bag”

Using these pairs in practice drills aids in reinforcing the relative tongue placement and sound articulation for each word.

Specific Techniques for K and G Sounds

When addressing the pronunciation of K and G sounds, it’s crucial to incorporate techniques that engage multiple senses to solidify learning. We’ll explore tactile and kinesthetic strategies as well as methods for enhancing auditory discrimination.

Tactile and Kinesthetic Methods

Tactile and kinesthetic approaches involve physical touch and movement to teach the correct placement and motion for the K and G sounds, which are back sounds. Here are specific strategies:

• Place a finger on the throat : Children feel the vibration of their own voices, discerning between voiced (G sounds) and voiceless pairs of sounds (K sounds).
• Use a mirror : Watching their own tongues can help children understand where the back of the tongue needs to raise to make the K and G sounds.
• Quick movement exercises : Guide children to move their tongues quickly to the correct position, reinforcing the muscle memory required to produce these specific sounds.

Auditory Discrimination for K and G Sounds

Auditory discrimination is crucial for distinguishing between similar sounding phonemes. For K and G sounds, which are front sounds, we can employ the following activities:

• Minimal Pairs : Introduce pairs of words that only differ in the K or G sound (like “cold” and “gold”) to sharpen listening skills.
• Phoneme Isolation : Practice saying words that contain the target sounds, emphasizing the K or G sound so 

K & G Resources and Activities

Below you will find a comprehensive list of over 50 ‘K’ and ‘G’ Sound Articulation Activities and Resources! 

K & G Initial Sounds

• Initial g and k words speech “fishing” homework freebie by Saidi Marshal is a set of homework sheets with 12 words per page. This is a fun way to practice K and G at the word level!
• FREE Initial K & G Articulation Sound-Loaded Sentences Worksheet by the Speech Spot Creations is a speech therapy worksheet that has target words that start with K and G. Start practicing your students phonological process with this highly rated freebie!
• ARTICULATION CARDS Students can color & keep: Initial K & G FREE! By The Beachy Therapist is a resource with single words and a letter name on a card for students to practice their articulation skills with initial K & G!

BONUS: Our shop store has some amazing articulation bundles! Grab this bundle of over 20 sound decks of cards (Initial, Medial and Final K & G included) for $14. We love sending these home for students to color as homework, then using the deck of cards to play a ton of different articulation games in their speech therapy session. Or have them play those games with family at home!

K & G Final Position

• English & Spanish Articulation K & G Sound Spring Printable for Speech Therapy by Bilingial SLP LLC is a fun spring themed printable to practice final K & G. We recommend this resource for your elementary students. 
• Speech Therapy: Final /k/ and /g/ words “fishing” homework by Saidi Marshall is a great resource to have students practice k and g sounds at the end of the word.
• Frog and Pond Speech Therapy Game with Final G Articulation Cards by Speech Sprouts is an engaging final g drilling activity that students love!

Activities with Visual Cues

• Speech Sound Cue Cards – FREEBIE by Lauren Walters is a great resource to have that reminds children with visual cues what theirs mouth should look like as they say a letter sound.
• Final Consonant Deletion: Boat Theme by Speech With Miss Chelsea is an engaging articulation game with the sounds K & G included. Students are given multiple visual cues such as they boat and sentence strips as they practice K & G sounds and build in complexity level.
• Articulation and Speech Sounds visual support BUNDLE (FREE) by Free Speech Goodies is a pack of 11 pages with visual cues on how to pronounce multiple sounds including K and G.

Tactile Activities 

• Shape and Say Articulation: Winter Theme Free by Miss Gardenia’s Speech Room is an engaging activity that has students build pictures with shape tiles as they practice their language skills. This activity includes lots of letter sounds including K & G!
• Counting Bears Early Sounds Articulation Mats FREEBIE by Panda Speech is a bundle with multiple sounds that has students practice articulation as they cover mats with counting bears. This is a highly rated hands on activity!
• Dough Articulation: K, G, F, S by Jenna Rayburn Kirk is an activity that younger elementary students love! Print out these mats with the name of the letter K & G and have students use playdough or clay as they practice articulation. We also recommend having students make a play dough ball to build into the pictures on the mats starting with that target sound.
• Magnet Tiles Speech FREE Sample for /k/ and /g/: Articulation Toy Companion by Panda Speech is a favorite hands on activity! Students use magna-tile blocks to build letters and objects with their target sounds and words.

FOR YOU! We love hands on games, so we created a bundle of articulation fortune teller oragamis for students to practice their articulation skills! My students have loved cutting and folding these and then moving their hands around as they practice their target sounds. K & G are included in this bundle, but there are more than 20 sounds! Scroll to the bottom for a free sample of the origami fortune tellers for K and G!

Articulation Games

• ARTICULATION WHEELS: K, G, T, & D FREE! By The Beachy Therapist is such a fun and easy to play game to practice K & G! This is a low prep activity for many different years of age students!
• Go Gumballs Game! Articulation G Initial, Medial and Final! By Now We’re Talkin is a highly rated articulation game for younger elementary students that has a cute, gum ball themed gameboards!
• Ugly Sweater Laundry – Articulation Game by The Urban SLP is a fun articulation game that has students laughing and engaged.

PRO TIP! We love original and creative articulation games, but there is also something to be said about the classics! At our Speech Therapy Store Shop , you will find articulation bundles to go with classic games such as our  Articulation Apple to Apple Game , Articulation Connect Four , and Articulation Bingo! Check them out!

Articulation Cards

• HAM Articulation by Speech Me Maybe is a great articulation game with over 72 articulation cards to practice with! This deck focuses on K and G.
• Monkey Match Articulation – k & g by SLPfromCLE is a highly rated articulation cards game that engages students with silly monkeys and written symbols. 
• Animal Photo Articulation Flashcards by Busy Miss Lizzy Speech is a set of flashcards for K and G articulation with engaging animal photos on them!

SLPS LOVE IT! Our articulation Go Fish Deck Bundle is a favorite! This deck of articulation cards has something for everyone on your caseload!

Interactive Games

• Build a K and G Articulation Sentence Scene No Print Freebie by Beth Sies Creation for SLPs is a fully interactive game that has students build single words into a short sentence! This is great for students who are at sentence level articulation practice!
• Track The Turkey Articulation – K and G (Lite Version) by Thought Bubble Therapist is an engaging game that has students practice  Kand G articulation as they track a turkey in a picture search scene. 
• Speech Sounds: S, K, G, F, SH, CH, T, D, P, B by Kristen Leer is a great resource for younger elementary students that prompts them to drag and match single words to pictures.

SEE ALSO: 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy

• FREE SAMPLE Silly Sentences K and G Boom Cards™ Speech Therapy Articulation by Pinwheel Speech Source is a great resource that uses silly sentences to practice K and G at sentence level!
• Boom Digital Cards Articulation K,G Sounds by Badger State Speechie is an interactive boom card set to practice high frequency k and g words!
• Back to School K & G Sounds Boom Cards™ – Sticker Book – Articulation by Michelle’s Communication Corner is a highly rated boom card set that is interactive and fun for elementary students!

Minimal Pairs

• Final /k/ and /g/ Minimal Pairs by the Curious SLP is a great resource for speech students with different types of speech sound disorders. Practice final K and G minimal pairs with a visual cue in this freebie!
• Fronting & Backing Minimal Pairs (/k/ /t/ and /g/ /d/) by Rachel’s Speech Goodies is a 5 page set of minimal pairs flashcards that target the phonological process of k and g fronting.
• Articulation: Minimal Pairs K and G, T and D, CH and SH by Miss Gardnia’s Speech Room is a spring and butterfly themed minimal pairs articulation card set.
• /K/ and /G/ Sound Battleship Word List by Savvy Speech is a complete K and G wordlist that prompts a battle ship game.
• Initial K and G Word List FREE for Speech Therapy Practice by Karina Kurlz is a word lists for K and G with clear and engaging pictures.
• Father’s Day Word List: K & G by The Speech Spot Creations is a set of Initial and Final K and G Words with a Father’s Day theme.

BONUS: Visit our blog for an extensive list of articulation word lists and flashcards , as well as articulation freebies! Here are the highly rated K Word Blog Posts!

Younger Students

• K and G Speech Sound Articulation Homework by Speech Language Lady is a K and G homework bundle created for younger elementary students! 
• K and G Fall Trees Printable Articulation Activity Speech Therapy FREEBIE by Pinwheel Speech Resources is a hands on activity for younger students that has them color or dot leaves as they practice their articulation target words.
• No Prep K & G Articulation Fronting Game Boards by Britney Adams – SLP is a fun fall themed game boards for younger students to play on and practice the K and G sounds.

Sentences and Conversational Level

• Encanto Articulation K and G by Jacelyn Kieffner is an older elementary favorite! Students use the movie Encanto to practice K and G articulation at sentence level.
• Build a K and G Articulation Sentence Scene No Print Freebie by Beth Sies Creation for SLPS is a highly rated free resource to practice building sentences with K and G articulation.
• G Flashcards and K Flashcards at sentence/convo level by Speech Therapy Store are a great way to practice articulation at word/phrase/sentence level. Use the flashcards to practice the WH- Questions for conversational level articulation practice too!

High School Students

• Articulation Tower K/G Edition by Speech with Sharon is an engaging game similar to jenga that is great for older students to practice their K and G articulation in a fun way. 
• Fry Words Articulation Card Deck- VELARS (Freebie!) by Voices Ablaze is a great resource that helps incorporate more articulation words into literacy sessions for high school students.
• At Home Word Lists for Articulation and Phonology for SLPs – Freebie by Natalie Snyders is an organized word list to practice K and G articulation with your older students! Send this home to practice as homework. 

Ready to Go Worksheets

• Spring Themed Articulation K & G Sounds Coloring Work Sheets Print & Go! By Sparkly Speech Girl are no prep, print and go coloring worksheets to practice K and G with your speech students!
• FREEBIE! Valentine’s Day No Prep /K/ & /G/ Articulation by Speachin -n -teachin are fun valentines themed worksheets to practice K and G.
• FREEBIE Articulation Bones – initial /k/ and initial /g/ by a Spoonful of Speech is a no prep set of worksheets for you to use in your therapy room to practice K and G!

SEE ALSO: Free Articulation Games for Speech Therapy

Picture scenes.

• K & G Summer Articulation Folding Surprise Craft by Jeannie’s Speech room is a highly rated craft that opens into a picture scene for students to practice K and G articulation. This is great to send home as homework as well!
• FREE No Print Final Consonant Deletion Picture Scenes for Speech Therapy by Teach Speech 365 is a no print picture scene for your students to practice lots of articulation words including K and G!
• Christmas Search and Find Articulation Homework by Old Speech School is a highly rated free resource! Students search, find and color the target K and G articulation words in a picture scene.

Seasonal Activities

• Free Thanksgiving Baking Articulation Activity (K & G Sounds) by Lil Mae’s Speech is a great set of boom cards with a Fall and Thanksgiving theme!
• Spring Freebie: Articulation /k/ and /g/ by Tale of Two Speechies is a bundle of Spring themed K and G articulation worksheets. This is highly rated!
• Initial /K and G/ Fall Leaves – Articulation Craft FREEBIE by Let’s Get Speechie

Books and Short Stories

• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is perfect for articulation therapy goals on your caseload. The repetitive text with the “g” sounds helps children with speech disorders to anticipate what might come next in the story. 
• Articulation K and G: Pictured Silly Stories & Word Lists by Speech2u is a highly rated game that uses K and G silly words to make K and G short and silly sentences! 
• G Sound Mini Articulation Activity Book Initial Medial Final Words and Phrases by Pep Talk is an engaging mini book to build with your students to practice the G sound.

For You! Grab our Articulation Reading Passages to practice your articulation goals with your students! This is a bundle of 266 reading passages with 6 stories per sound, and 20 articulation words per passage. 

SEE ALSO: 279+ Free Speech Therapy Digital Materials

Reinforcement Games

• Free Sample! /k/ and /g/ Articulation Coloring pages by Easy Peasy Lemon Speechie is a great reinforcement game with high instances of hitting the target sound.
• K & G Articulation Dots FREEBIE! By Linden Speech is a great worksheet that is engaging and reinforcing for students practicing their K and G articulation.
• Hugs and Kisses: Articulation K and G by a Speechie World is a fun and silly game that students love to play! It has one game board and 2 mats.

We hope this list of resources to use when practicing K and G articulation is inspirational and helpful for you! There are so many ways to teach K and G, and making the speech therapy session engaging and fun for our students is a high priority! 

To help make your sessions fun, but also easy for you to plan, we compiled this bundle of a K and G preview of some of our most popular articulation games! Enter your info below to grab a preview of our Articulation Fortune Tellers and Articulation Tic Tac Toe for the K and G sounds. Find more of our Articulation Game Bundles on our Speech Therapy Store Shop! 

<< FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW TO DOWNLOAD A MINI BUNDLE OF K & G ARTICULATION ACTIVITIES! >>

Grab your mini bundle of k and g articulation activities, frequently asked questions.

In addressing these frequently asked questions, we aim to provide specific, evidence-based answers that will be useful for speech therapists, parents, and educators involved in helping children practice and improve their articulation of K and G sounds.

What activities can help children practice K and G sounds in speech therapy?

We often use engaging activities like blowing bubbles to encourage the production of the /k/ sound, as it closely resembles the mouth shape required to say “k.” For the /g/ sound, we might incorporate games involving animals, like gorillas or geese, as they naturally elicit the /g/ sound in a fun context.

How does using minimal pairs in therapy assist with correcting K and G sound errors?

Using minimal pairs, such as “coat” and “goat,” assists in enhancing phonological awareness. We find that this contrastive approach helps children discern the difference between sounds, thereby improving their articulation accuracy for K and G.

What are some age-appropriate K and G speech activities for preschoolers?

We use play-based activities such as “kitchen” stations for the /k/ sound or “garden” themes for the /g/ sound. These relevant, enjoyable activities help preschoolers practice the sounds without the drills feeling like work.

How effective are loaded sentences in the remediation of K and G sounds?

Loaded sentences, which are packed with target sounds, have proven very effective in our work. This repetitive and contextual practice encourages the child to use K and G sounds in a sentence-level format, fostering generalization to natural speech.

What types of ‘Would You Rather’ questions could be used to reinforce K and G sounds in therapy sessions?

We may use questions such as “Would you rather have a pet kitten or a pet kangaroo?” to practice the /k/ sound. For the /g/ sound, we might ask, “Would you rather grow grapes or play a game?” These choices invoke more natural speech and frequently repeat the targeted sounds.

At what age should a child typically be able to pronounce K and G sounds correctly?

Children typically master the K and G sounds by the age of three to four years. However, we observe variations in development, and we emphasize the value of early intervention if a child is showing signs of difficulty with these sounds.

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