How to Improve Articulation Skills

Children develop articulation skills at different rates, so mispronunciations are common. However, if a child is at least 8 years old and develops unusual speech pronunciation patterns, he or she may have an articulation delay or disorder. Articulation disorders include lisps, substituting ̶0;w̶1; for ̶0;r,̶1; dysarthria (weak oral muscles), ankyloglossia (also known as ̶0;tongue-tie̶1;) and dyspraxia (a motor-coordination disorder affecting speech). Kids with these conditions may benefit from exercises that reinforce good articulation habits. For that matter, even adults can profit from a few articulation workouts.

Things You'll Need

  • Notecards and markers
  • Bubble-blowing solution and wand
  • Classic board games
  • Books
  • Tongue twisters
  • Poems

Instructions

    • 1

      Determine which sounds are hardest for your child (or you) to pronounce. Brainstorm a list of words that have these sounds, and practice reciting the words correctly. To make this activity more creative, use notecards and markers to make flashcards with images of each word on the front.

    • 2

      Exercise your mouth. Blowing bubbles is a good way to strengthen the muscles required for articulation. You and your child can also make funny faces, contorting your mouth and nose into amusing positions to strengthen facial muscles.

    • 3

      Play board games such as ̶0;Candy Land,̶1; ̶0;Clue,̶1; ̶0;Monopoly̶1; or other games with lots of names to pronounce. Each player must correctly pronounce a name from the game (such as Princess Lolly in ̶0;Candy Land̶1; or Professor Plum in ̶0;Clue̶1;) before taking his turn. If a player mispronounces the name, he loses his turn in the game.

    • 4

      Read stories together. Allow your child to pick a favorite book to read aloud to you. If she hasn̵7;t learned to read yet, ask her to pick a favorite picture book and name the objects in each picture. If she misarticulates a word, say the word correctly while emphasizing the sound she has trouble with. This activity is good for speech improvement as well as literacy development.

    • 5

      Say funny tongue twisters. One classic tongue twister is Peter Piper: ̶0;Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.̶1; Another to try is, ̶0;She sells seashells by the seashore.̶1; For another challenge, try saying ̶0;unique New York̶1; three times fast. Even if you don̵7;t struggle with articulation, your tongue might end up in knots.

    • 6

      Recite poems together. Recite funny limericks to each other, or read children̵7;s classics by Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss. Like the tongue twisters, these can be entertaining as well as challenging to say out loud.

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