Are you a busy speech-language pathologist who is growing tired of the same ol’ articulation cards and worksheets? Are traditional board games taking up too much time and your students struggle getting 100 trials of their target words? I have been in your shoes many times! That’s why I created independent articulation games for speech therapy!
What Are Independent Articulation Games for Speech Therapy?
Independent articulation games for speech therapy are games that can be played completely solo and are individualized according to the students’ goals! I love independent games so much, because there is zero time wasted between turns and students remain focus on their own articulation practice. This maximizes time and helps ensure that your students achieve 100+ trials during their speech therapy sessions. While repetitive drills can be tedious, they are necessary for retraining the brain, so incorporating games into drilling is a great way to add in some fun! Let’s check out ten great articulation games!
1. No Prep Articulation Game Boards
These articulation game boards are completely no prep, which will make lesson planning and prepping a breeze! Just print n’ go! I love these game boards, because they truly keep little hands busy and minds engaged! They’re completely black and white, so they’re perfect for coloring! First, students color their game boards and then they can play them! They’re set up like a traditional game board, but students can decorate them and they’re completely unique to the student! They’ll love having a game board that is geared towards their own articulation goals.
These games can be found in The Speech is Sweet Club, along with all of my articulation games! They also come in a year long bundle (888 completely different boards) or they’re available in 12 monthly packets! Each monthly packet features 3-4 different themes. My students loved collecting these game boards and they were some of their favorite activities!
I have recently started developing apraxia game boards and will be starting a second edition of these game boards – I’m so excited for the brand new designs! Stay tuned! They’ll all be added in my membership for pediatric speech-language pathologists – The Speech is Sweet Club!
Read more about these games on my blog – Articulation Game Boards article!
2. Spin-Go Articulation Games
Spin-Go is a twist on the classic game Bingo! In this game, students spin a homemade spinner (created using a paperclip and a pencil) and then color in the word that they land on! When they color five in a row, they get Spin-Go! After students achieve Spin-Go, encourage them to keep playing until their entire board is covered. This will maximize articulation drills!
This is such a fun articulation game and students will love the novelty of it! Instead of coloring in the words, students can also cover them with mini-erasers or use dot markers! These games are great for group therapy, because everyone can play the exact same game but have their own personalized game board. These articulation games address speech sounds in the initial and final word positions!
Check out my blog post all about these Spin-Go Games! If you’re a Club member, you already have access to these! They’re also listed on TPT – there are 15 individual packets too!
3. Roll a Maze Articulation Games
This is hands-down one of my favorite articulation games, because it’s completely unique. I love creating games that do not exist. There is just something so special about a brand new articulation activity! As with all of my games, this one is also no prep! Hey, I love time-saving and ready-to-go materials! haha
This is a great game, because it appeals to younger children and older students alike! Your speech therapy students will absolutely love that the mazes are actually shaped like target words! You don’t even want to know how long this resource took me to create haha! It was well worth it though! In this game, students roll a die and then that determines which column they’ll use. Then students pick a maze, practice the target word, and then will solve the maze as they wait for their turn to engage in repetitive drills again! This will also help sharpen their cognitive abilities and fine motor skills!
These games address all speech sounds in the initial, medial, and final positions! These are available inside my membership and also in my TPT Store!
4. Roll and Trace Articulation Games
These unique games are a fun way to work on fine motor skills and articulation skills! Students roll a die to determine which column they’re going to use and then they can choose a word from that column to practice! After they practice, they can then trace the outline and color if they would like! Each piece of tracing clip art is shaped like the target word! These games are sure to make articulation therapy fun!
Grab these resources in my membership or through my TPT store! These are also part of a money-saving tracing bundle!
5. Dice Drills Articulation Games
I love these Articulation Dice Drills Games, because each game board comes with a whopping 24 different target words! Students roll a die to determine which row they’re going to use and then choose a word to practice from that row. After they practice the word, they can then color it in! These address all speech sounds in the initial, medial, and final positions and all consonant blends (s blends, r blends, and l blends)!
I also love using these pages for speech therapy crafts! The word grid can easily be cut into strips or in square word pieces to add onto crafts! You can even cut the word grids into various shapes – they’re such a simple way to get crafty! Here is an example:
These games can also carry over into multiple sessions, so less planning time for you! In one session, students can play the game and color the word pieces according to the craft that is going to be made (for instance orange if they’re going to be creating a basketball). In the second session, students can cut out the word pieces to glue onto their craft!
Find these in my membership or in my TPT Shop!
6. Color, Cut, and Match Articulation Games
I love a good ol’ fashioned memory game! Years ago, I created color, cut, and match stuttering games for my Fluency in a Snap series and now I’ve finally almost finished the articulation versions! In this game, students color their word cards, then cut them out, and then they can play memory!
After the session is over, students can place their cards in a sandwich baggie to take home! I love make-and-take activities! They’re so great for home practice and promote carryover!
When these games are 100% complete, I’ll update this blog post and will put the games in The Speech is Sweet Club!
7. Spin and Trace Articulation Games
I love tracing activities! They’re engaging and a little out of the ordinary, since there really aren’t many tracing speech therapy resources out there! I also love to incorporate fine motor skills as much as possible! In this game, students create a spinner using a paperclip and their pencils. They spin the spinner and whatever word they land on, they have to find it in the grid and trace it! These games feature all target sounds in all positions!
Little details make me so happy haha, so I made sure every spinner also was shaped like the target sound (examples: the initial r spinner is shaped like a raccoon!). Gain access to these in The Speech is Sweet Club or snag them from my TPT shop! They can also be found in a Mega Tracing Bundle!
8. Roll and Color Articulation Games
Dice and crayons are the ultimate combination to me! They’re some of my favorite things! haha! Students roll a die and then color a word in that column! These easy articulation activities are a fun little twist on the traditional coloring sheet!
These games address all the different sounds in all positions! Also, after students practice at the word level they can then practice at the sentence level! Just have your students put the target words into phrases or sentences to work through the hierarchy of speech. These are highly adaptable to your student’s needs. You can download these from The Speech is Sweet Club or my TPT store – whichever works best for you!
9. Spin and Dab Articulation Games
My Spin and Dab games are actually part of a larger resource, my A Dab of Speech and Language series! These monthly packets are designed to be used with bingo daubers and each monthly packet features a few spin and dab games! The Dab series is perfect for mixed groups, because they address articulation, stuttering, and language skills!
All of my Dab resources can be found inside my membership or you can check them out on TPT! I’m linking to the bundle, because it links to all 12 monthly packets!
10. No Print Articulation Games
The digital library inside The Speech is Sweet Club is a treasure trove of digital games! There are literally hundreds of different games included! These digital games are designed to be used on a computer or tablet, so very ideal if you’re a teletherapist or like to switch things up and use an iPad during in-person therapy!
There are 9 total themes and each theme has a game for every speech sound (k, g, f, v, p, b, t, d, m, n, h, w, s, z, th, sh, ch, j, l, r, s-blends, r-blends, and l-blends)! Themes include Bubbles, Ocean Bubbles, Bubble Gum, Piggy Bank, Fireflies, Pirates, Bees, Witch’s, and Snowballs!
These games come in the form of interactive PDFs! The digital library is such a valuable tool and they can be found in my TPT Store too!
Why Use Independent Articulation Games for Speech Therapy?
Independent articulation games make speech therapy fun! There are so many reasons why you should use them in your practice, including:
- They’re easy prep!
- individualized for your students’ needs
- perfect for speech therapy homework and will make home practice fun
- They encourage 100 trials! Read my blog post 100 Trials in Speech Therapy for more ideas!
- They save therapy time, because there is no waiting for others between turns.
- encourage on-task behavior, there is always something to do
- add novelty to your articulation sessions
- They incorporate fine motor skills! If you do co-treatment with an occupational therapist, these fun activities are ideal!
- They save major ink!
Tips and Tricks for Using Articulation Games for Speech Therapy
I’m all about novelty and minimizing distractions! I absolutely love dice, but sometimes you may have a rambunctious group that can’t seem to keep the dice on the table! haha! Here are some alternative ideas for you:
- Use dice poppers! These keep dice or die contained so that they don’t fall onto the floor or in another student’s work area. Seriously, they’re great! I have the ocean themed poppers and you can find non-thematic poppers!
- Foam Dice – If you get overstimulated by the sound of dice, I highly recommend foam versions! I found mine at the Target Dollar Spot several years ago! They’re also a great way to change things up!
- Paper Dice – These are also soft-landing! There are a variety of free templates on TPT!
- Spinners – You can find sturdy spinners on amazon for 1-3 and 1-6! These are a way to switch things up or you can even have students make their own spinners! Just draw a circle on a piece of paper and split it into sections and label it with numbers. Then add a paperclip and voila!
- Electronic Spinners – I had the electronic spinners for Super Duper and my students were obsessed with them!
- Flip a Coin – Using coins is a simple way to switch things up! When using a game board, heads can represent moving 1 space and tails can represent moving 2 spaces! Also, a coin replace a die (heads can represent 1-3 and tails can represent 4-6).
- Set clear expectations – No dice on the floor or in a classmate’s space. If this boundary is crossed, then just make the student draw their own spinner! lol.. This is the last tip, but the most important one!
Articulation Games for Speech Therapy Freebies
I have quite a few freebies available so that you can try these articulation games firsthand! Here are some quick links for you:
Free Digital Samples
Find two free samples of my no print games in my exclusive newsletter resource library, along with lots of other goodies! You can sign-up for that HERE!
Free Spin-Go Games
Your students will love these free spin-go games! Check out the blog post to snag a copy!
Free Articulation Game Boards
This free edition of my articulation game boards features a school theme and can be used year around!
I hope your students love these activities!
Articulation Games for Speech Therapy Conclusion
As speech therapists, we’re always on the hunt for fun and easy ways to engage our students! Independent articulation games are a great way for students to hone their articulation skills, as they’re motivating and memorable! They’re easy to prepare and a great addition to your lesson plans!
All of the games mentioned in this article (plus all my future games) can be found in my membership for pediatric speech-language pathologists – The Speech is Sweet Club! Wave goodbye to hours of lesson planning – the club is home to over 700 high-quality, easy-to-use, and ready-to-go speech therapy materials! I’d love to see you inside!
Thank you for stopping by my blog and have a wonderful day!
