
Articulation cards are a staple in Speech Therapy rooms. Articulation Flash Cards can be used in so many ways with preschoolers and elementary students... buuuttt sometimes they can get boring and repetitive. Check out these articulation card ideas to bring some new and exciting speech therapy activities into your therapy room! You can use these ideas in group therapy or in one-on-one sessions or even send them home for easy articulation homework ideas!
WHAT’S THERE?: Place 5 cards around the room. Ask the child to find and label the card in a particular place. For example, “What is beside the lamp?” -> “ Bee!”
MAKE A ROAD: Place target cards on the floor around the room. Drive cards over the cards. If you have a toy tractor, you can load the cards into the tractor.
FEED THE PUPPET: Feed a puppet the target cards.

FLASHLIGHT HUNT: Pin the cards around a room. Turn the lights off and give the child a flashlight to find the cards.
IS IT A ___?: Ask the child if a card is an item. For example, “Is it a cat?”. You can use the carrier phrases, “No! It’s a ____” or “Yes! It’s a ___.” Have the child complete the blank.
MUSICAL CHAIRS: Place cards on the floor. Play music and when it stops, have the child find a card to sit on.
TAKE PICTURES: Use a camera/phone to take pictures of the cards. Kids find this incredibly motivating!
BOWLING: Put the cards in paper bags. Take turns rolling a ball to knock over the ‘pins’. Say the word when you knock over a bag.
(Video) 4 Easy Speech Therapy Activities | Articulation | Movement ActivitiesOBSTACLE COURSE: Make an obstacle course out of items that you have. Make sure to go under, over, and between objects! Place cards throughout the obstacle to practice along the way.
‘BUY’ THE CARDS: Play store! Use pretend money and have the child ‘buy’ the cards.
BEAN BAG TOSS: Place cards on the floor. Have the child throw a bean bag on the cards. For more trials, the child can also tell you which card they are aiming at.
BALL POPPER: Stand the cards up using binder clips, or stick them to a wall. Use a ball popper (or bubbles) to aim for the cards.
HOPSCOTCH: Make a hopscotch board out of tape on the floor. Place a card in each square. Say the word when you land on it.
SENSORY BIN: Place the cards in a bin filled with cotton balls, pom poms, and cut up straws - or anything you can think of! Have the child find the items using tongs or tweezers.

JENGA: Place cards between the layers of blocks.
FLY SWATTER: Place the cards around the room. Give the child a fly swatter and have the child ‘swat’ each card. Kids love running between the cards!
TELL SOMEONE: Bring the cards to show the child’s teacher/friend. Ask the student to label each card.
WHAT AM I DRAWING?: Place the cards face up, in front of you and the child. Take turns drawing one of the items. See if you can guess what it is!
HIDE UNDER CUPS: Hide the cards under plastic cups.
SNOWBALL FIGHT: Place the cards upright using binder clips. Use scrunched up paper balls to knock the cards over.
HIDE IN BOOKS: Hide cards in books. You can use Sticky Tack (or hide under flaps!) to stick the cards to the pages. Say the word when you flip to the page the card is on.

HANG AND CATCH: This activity takes a little more prep but it is so fun! Hang string with paper clips from the ceiling. Attach cards and have your students pull the cards off the string.
PLAYDOUGH: Smoosh play dough on the card each time you say the word (make sure your cards are laminated!).
TIC TAC TOE: Print a few copies of your articulation cards and play tic tac toe! Give each player 6 copies of a card.
MAKE A SHAPE: Make different shapes with your cards (square, circle, triangle).
HOPPING: Place the cards around the room on the ground. Hop from one card to another.
SIMPLE DRILL: Pair your card with a drill card and cover each number with a token or a mini object.

ROLL AND SAY: Roll a dice. Say the word the number of times indicated on the dice.
MEMORY: Print two sets of cards and play memory.
GO FISH: Use two sets of cards to play Go Fish.
MEMORY GAME: Place several cards face up on the table. Have the child study the cards. Flip them face down and see how many card the child can remember.
FISHING: Use a magnet and paper clips to create a fishing game.
(Video) SLP CFY Tips and Must Haves for Articulation TherapyWHAT’S MISSING: Put 2 or 3 cards on table, face up. Let the child take a quick peek and then close their eyes. Take one card away or turns one card over. Ask the child to guess which one is missing.
MAIL CARDS: Make a mailbox out of a tissue box. “Mail” the cards to family and friends.

EGG CARTON TOSS: Place one card in each section of the carton. Have the child toss a coin into the carton. Say the word on the card where the coin landed.
TELL A STORY: Use several cards to create a story. (This is best for conversation level).
SILLY SENTENCES: Make a silly sentence with each card.
POP IT: Use a Pop it fidget toy and have the child push one section each time they say the word.
USE CLOTHESPINS: Have the child place a clothespin on the card each time they say the word.
COLOR AND CREATE: Use black and white Articulation Cards. Allow the child to color and create their own set that they can use and take home! (My Articulation cards come in black and white and color for this purpose!)
BURY AND FIND: Bury cards under pom poms, cotton balls, or sand. Have the student use a shovel or tongs to find the cards/
BUCKET TOSS: Place cards in buckets. Throw crumbled paper or a ball in to the bucket.
MINI OBJECTS: Lay your cards on the table and cover them with mini objects. Simple but effective!

BUBBLE BLOW: Place cards on the wall using sticky tack or Painter’s Tape. Blow bubbles onto the cards. Say the word when the bubble lands on it.
MICROPHONE/TELEPHONE: Say your words into a telephone or toy microphone. You could also use paper towel rolls.
HOLE PUCH: Print Black and White Cards and hole punch the cards each time you say the word.
MAGNET WAND: Use a magnet wand and magnetic chips. Place a chip on each card the you say the word. Use the wand to pick up all the chips when you are done!
BLOCKS & CARDS: Place a block ad then lay a card on top. Continue until the tower tumbles. See how high you can build the tower before it falls!
SPOON RACE: Place the card on a spoon and see how fast you can make it across the room. Say the word when you place the card on the spoon.
FEED ANIMALS: Use toy animals and have them ‘eat’ the cards. Kids think this is hilarious!
I hope you find these articulation therapy ideas helpful. I know I am always looking for ways to mix it up and keep my students engaged.

The key to all sessions (in my opinion) is to allow a LOT of choices. If you want an Articulation Activity Choice Board (it includes 30 of the no-prep activities listed here), sign up for my email list (link below) and you’ll get instant access!
If you're looking for some bright and colourful (and black and white) articulation cards, make sure to check out my Articulation Cards for Speech Therapy!

FAQs
How do you make articulation drills fun? ›
- Charades. Act out your target word.
- 2. “ I Spy” ...
- Color in a picture of target words.
- Draw a picture of target words.
- Turn taking game. Puzzle, Legos, trains, board game, toss balloon/ball. ...
- Stack cups. ...
- Mystery box. ...
- Articulation bingo with words containing your target sound.
- Get up and get moving. A simple way to introduce some excitement into speech therapy practice is to pair it with movement activities. ...
- Try out new crafts. ...
- Turn on the music. ...
- Take practice outside. ...
- Pick relatable topics. ...
- Play games. ...
- Make it a competition. ...
- Use reward charts.
- Visual models: when you say a specific word, have your child watch your face as you produce the word. ...
- Verbal models: Describe how the sound is made. ...
- Tactile models: if possible, tap on the face/in the mouth where the sound is made to help the child “feel” the sound.
- Yoga hum. Take a deep breath in, then hum while slowly releasing your breath. ...
- Dragon's breath. Stand with your hands on your stomach and take a deep breath in. ...
- Tongue twisters. ...
- Practice vowels and consonants. ...
- Warm up your mouth.
To play, give each player a Bingo game board and the set of target cards that they are working on. On their turn, they choose a card and put a token on the corresponding picture. You can have students say their word X number of times, make a sentence with the word, or describe the word.
What is drill play speech therapy? ›These approaches include traditional drill play. This is when the child practices the speech sounds for a certain number of times and then gets to take a turn at a game or other preferred activity. These approaches also include modeling correct speech production by the SLP.
What is drill work speech therapy? ›The speech and language therapist will use a drilling method when practising speech sounds i.e. practising the sound in repetitions. The speech and language therapist will do this using different activities to suit the specific age and interest of the individual.
How do you work with articulation for kids? ›- Practice revision daily. Revision is a technique in which you repeat what your child has just said, but with the correct pronunciation. ...
- Avoid imitating your child's errors. ...
- Read, read, read to your child. ...
- Incorporate Modeling into Play. ...
- Narrate daily routines. ...
- Practice successful words.
What activities are used in speech therapy?
What activities encourage speech? ›What activities encourage speech?
How do I make my speech class fun? ›
How do I make my speech class fun?
What is an example of articulation therapy? ›What is an example of articulation therapy?
How do you help students who struggle with articulation? ›How do you help students who struggle with articulation?
How to teach a child to say the R sound in 15 easy lessons? ›How to teach a child to say the R sound in 15 easy lessons?
What are the 9 steps to improve articulation? ›What are the 9 steps to improve articulation?
What are the 4 types of articulation? ›What are the 4 types of articulation?
What are the 7 places of articulation? ›What are the 7 places of articulation?
How do you play Bullseye bingo? ›The player gently removes the scratch-off material covering the BULLSEYE NUMBER area to reveal a BULLSEYE NUMBER. The player then scratches the numbers on the four (4) Bingo Cards that exactly match the BULLSEYE NUMBER.
How is Bongo bingo played? ›The rules are pretty simple: the first to win a horizontal line shouts 'BINGO', and then it's the first to win two lines and, finally, a full house.
What is articulation play? ›Articulations primarily structure an event's start and end, determining the length of its sound and the shape of its attack and decay. They can also modify an event's timbre, dynamics, and pitch.
What are the examples of drill and practice activities? ›
Drill and practice is used to master basic skills and improve speed or accuracy. For example, using flashcards to help a student master basic multiplication facts. A predominant use of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) has been with drill and practice activities.
How do Speech therapists use barrier Games? ›Give each person/group playing a matching scene and set of pieces. Set up a barrier between the players (e.g. file folder). One person arranges all of their pieces on the scene and then gives directions to another player on where to place the items. The purpose of the game is to have matching scenes at the end.
What is focused stimulation in speech therapy? ›Focused stimulation is a child speech therapy approach to repeat a word or phrase multiple times in a conversation to facilitate comprehension and possible language production. The caregiver chooses a target word and tries to incorporate the word in normal conversation.
What are some examples of drills? ›- Repetition or imitation drills. Basically, a teacher says a model and the students repeat it. ...
- Substitution drills. Teachers use substitution drills to practice structures or vocabulary items. ...
- Question and answer drills. ...
- Transformation drills. ...
- Chorus drills.
A communicative drill is one in which the type of response is controlled but the student provides his or her own content or information. Teacher. Student completes cues. What time did you get up on Sunday?
What are substitution drill activities? ›A substitution drill is a classroom technique used to practise new language. It involves the teacher first modelling a word or a sentence and the learners repeating it. The teacher then substitutes one or more key words, or changes the prompt, and the learners say the new structure.
How do you promote articulation? ›- Add Syllables. You can practice the target sounds by adding syllables to them. ...
- Practice Words. You can select a list of words. ...
- Construct Sentences. Make speech therapy for articulation disorder fun for your child. ...
- Tell Stories. ...
- Hold a Conversation.
Listening to you read allows them to occupy their mind with a story while you model correct articulation, making for a speech lesson in disguise. This strategy for helping your child with articulation problems is especially effective if you read one of many books for articulation skills.
How long does it take to correct an articulation disorder? ›How Long Does Articulation Therapy Take? The amount of time to correct these types of speech disorders is usually between 15-20 hours, with the average frequency for articulation treatment being two times weekly for half an hour sessions each time.
How do you help someone with articulation disorder? ›- Identify the sounds they can't make.
- Correct the way they create sounds.
- Re-learn ways to control the motor parts of speech (for example, moving their tongue, shaping their lips).
- Strengthen the muscles involved in speech.
- Practice sound formation at home.
What are examples of articulation? ›
Sounds are made by a combination of the movement of the articulators (the lips, teeth, tongue, and soft palate) and the vibration, or lack of vibration, of the vocal cords. For example, /p/, /b/, and /m/ are said to be made at the lips, because you have the upper and lower lip together in order to make the sound.
When should I start speech therapy for articulation? ›3 years old: At this point, your child's vocabulary should contain a lot of words. If your child cannot understand and pronounce many words at 3 years old, take them to a speech therapist.
What is one way to support students with articulation? ›What is one way to support students with articulation?
What are 2 ways teachers can help students articulate their ideas? ›What are 2 ways teachers can help students articulate their ideas?
What are two common articulation problems? ›What are two common articulation problems?
What causes poor articulation? ›What causes poor articulation?
Will a child with speech delay catch up? ›Will a child with speech delay catch up?
What are the four types of articulation disorders? ›What are the four types of articulation disorders?
Does speech therapy work on articulation? ›Does speech therapy work on articulation?
What is an example of an articulation problem? ›What is an example of an articulation problem?
What are articulation treatment approaches? ›
What are articulation treatment approaches?