Let’s talk about some easy at-home strategies parents can use to help support their child with a speech sound disorder and will refer to the child with a functional speech sound disorder only.
One of my first suggestions is to pick a routine within your day that you want to incorporate practicing your child’s speech sound targets. This could be mealtime, bath time, car rides, or playtime. After you have selected the routine, I want you to commit to practicing your child’s target sounds at least three times a week during the routine. Setting aside time to incorporate extra speech homework into your daily routine can be difficult. Life is busy, and my goal is to use the routines you already have in place and teach you how to incorporate practice effectively with your child. I want you to try and focus on practicing your child’s sounds for 15-minutes. Keep the duration short, but practice multiple times a week.
How can you incorporate speech sound practice into your routines? Here are some fun games that you can work into any routine.
1. I Spy. Look around the room, or look out the window if you are riding in a car, and find different objects with your child’s target sound. Once you find an object, have your child say the word five times.
2. Books. You will quickly find that I recommend books to target almost every objective. They are versatile, and you can easily adapt your focus to target different skills. Find a book with your child’s target sounds and read it twice. You can even have your child describe the pictures to incorporate more trials and practice!
3. Brain Freeze! This is one of my favorite games to play. You and your child will take turns thinking of a word that starts with the target sound. The first one to have a brain freeze (when you can’t think of another word) loses!
4. Hide and Seek. Hide picture cards or objects with your child’s target sound around the room and take turns finding them. Each time you find a picture/object, have your child say the name five times.
5. Take a walk outside and hunt for your speech sounds! Each time you find something outside that has your target sound, say it five times.
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