4 Easy Articulation Activities at Home
Articulation Activities at Home Image source: Pinterest.com
Articulation. What exactly does that mean? Articulation is the movement of the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs (the articulators) in order to make speech sounds. It is considered an articulation disorder when there are problems making the sounds. Sounds can be substituted, left off, added, or even changed. Often, it is young children who make speech sound errors. They may say “wabbit” instead of “rabbit”, or leave out certain parts of a word such as “nana” for banana. If these errors continue past a certain age without improvement, your child may have an articulation disorder. Are articulation disorders treatable? Absolutely. And you can work on improving articulation skills at home. Here are four easy articulation activities that you can do at home.
Research has shown that nearly 7.5% of all school-age children have an articulation disorder. Beside the obvious delay in achieving their normal language development milestones, articulation disorders in children often lead to a negative effect on how teachers and peers perceive kids with this disorder. Children with articulation disorder may not participate in classroom discussions or may have trouble interacting in conversations so he or she does not draw attention to his speech. Summer is an excellent time to work on improving articulation skills at home. Ordinary household items and activities present opportunities to develop pronunciation skills, vocabulary, and proper sentence structure — while getting a couple chores done too!
4 Easy Articulation Activities at Home
Some of these may sound simple or obvious, but mixed into the regular routine of the day, you can enhance your activities AND encourage articulation skills. Here are four easy activities to consider:
Take a walk: Work on specific articulation issues with a fun walk around the block. As you walk with your child through the neighborhood, a park, or a shopping center, ask your child to look for things with your target sound. You look too, and see who can spot the most objects. For example, if your child needs help working in the sound of “r”, look for a “tree” or “bird” or “red car”.
I Spy: Remember this game? Take turns with your child describing an object that you see around you. Choose an object with the target sound without actually saying it out loud. Have your child guess the object by asking you questions. Have your child pose questions to you in complete sentences for added practice.
Plan and Prepare a Meal: Start by brainstorming ideas for dinner. Ask your child to participate by naming foods and drinks that you may serve. He or she can classify each food as you go, is it a fruit? Is it a vegetable? As you prepare the food, get your child involved in the cooking process by naming what you are doing…chopping, slicing apples, twirling noodles, whatever the activity may be. While he may seem like he’s helping you in the kitchen, he will actually be improving his speech and articulation skills at the same time.
Road Trip: Use a long car ride as a “classroom” to perfect articulation skills. As you’re packing your bags, ask your child to add something to the suitcase by describing it’s function. For example, “find something that you wear when swimming in a pool”? Or, “find something that makes a “shhhhhh” sound when sprayed?” (Sunscreen), or “something that makes a flip-flop sound”. Have your child help label each clothing item that he places in the suitcase. As you begin your roadtrip, ask you child to help identify street signs or landmarks. Not only will this activity help fill the time on the road, it will help increase his articulation skills and improve his communication.
