Articulation Games
Looking for ways to jazz up articulation games? Do you work with students, or groups of students, who have articulation goals in addition to language or vocabulary? Articulation cards are a versatile and effective tool that Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) can use to help children work on multiple goals at once. These cards, which typically feature pictures or pictures of objects, animals, or people, can be used in a variety of ways to target specific goals and make therapy sessions more engaging and effective.
1. Using Articulation Cards to Address Speech Sounds
Articulation cards can be used to help children practice specific speech sounds in the initial, medial, and final positions of words and save the SLP a lot of time. For example, if a child is having difficulty with the /s/ sound, the therapist can provide the child with cards that depict objects that begin with the /s/ sound (such as a snake, sock, or sun) and have the child practice saying the word associated with the card. Once that word position is mastered, the SLP can move on to the next word position.
2. Using Articulation Cards to Build Vocabulary
Articulation cards can also be used to help children build their vocabulary. The therapist can provide the child with cards that depict a variety of objects, animals, or people and have the child name the object, animal, or person depicted on the card. The therapist can also have the child describe the object, animal, or person using descriptive words and phrases (e.g. “the snake is long and green”). To change it up, the SLP can describe the object, animal, or person and have the child guess. For example, what is long, green, and slithers?
3. Using Articulation Cards to Practice Questions
Articulation cards can also be used to help children practice asking and answering questions. The SLP can use cards to prompt the child to ask questions about the object, animal, or person depicted on the card (e.g. “What color is the banana?” or “Where does the dog live?”). They can play games to get the child to ask questions such as Go Fish or 20 Questions.
4. Using Articulation Cards for Sentence Construction
Articulation cards can also be used for sentence construction. Take a set of cards and have the child form a sentence using the target words. This helps with word order and sentence structure.
Therapy sessions should be fun and engaging. Encourage the child to be creative and have fun with articulation games to make the therapy sessions more enjoyable. Stuck on a tricky word? Check out my post Articulation Therapy Techniques for Tricky Words.