Speech at the Beach

Speech Sound Practice doesn't have to take place in a stereotypical setting or at your dining room table. In fact, practicing in natural environments helps generalize learned skills across a variety of settings. You can target a variety of speech/language goals at the beach, but the focus of this post will be on articulation.

Articulation: Pick some target vocabulary to focus on with your child's sounds throughout the day. Focus on these words during your everyday activities. Ideas include:

1. "Tic Tac Toe" in the sand. Each time it's your child's turn, they can practice using their word in a phrase, sentence, etc.

2. "I Spy" at the beach: Try and play "I Spy" but the child can only "spy" things that have their target sound included. For example, if your child is working on /k/, they might say "I spy a kite.". This is a great game if your kid is working on /s/ blends, as it targets the /s/ blend in "spy", as well as an additional target. Playing this also targets phonological awareness skills which are vital for early reading success.

3. Frisbee Fun: Choose an item to throw back and forth. This could be a frisbee, football, beachball, etc. Whoever is holding the ball has to name a word with their target sound and then pass to the next person. When a person cannot think of a word, they are out of the game. Last person standing is the winner.

4. Finding Shells: Challenge your child to find as many shells as they can within a five minute period. Count up the number of shells they found. They have to say their target word that many times. For example, if they find 25 shells, they need to practice saying their word 25x.

5. Bubbles: This one is super easy! Bring some bubbles to the beach. See how many they can pop. If they pop five bubbles, have them practice their target word 5x and then blow again!

Beach Themed Vocabulary by Sound:

/Sh/: shell; shark; shore; ship; seashell; fishing; fish

/Ch/: chips; choppy; chair; beach ball; beach; conch

/R/: relax; reef; run; rock; row; read; sunscreen; tropical; refreshing; red flag

/S/: sand; sun; sea; seagull; star; surf; swim; awesome; trunks; sandcastle

/L/: low tide; luau; life jacket; lifeguard; pail; shovel

/K/: kite; kayak; crab; make; castle; sandcastle

/G/: goggles; gill; gull; golf; sunglasses; flag; bag;

/F/: frisbee; football; fun; fish; flag; food; flip flops; flippers