Articulation Games
These games will help to improve the children’s fluency with language. They also help to improve clarity of speech sounds and assist with vocal projection.
Game: Voice coach
Difficulty rating: **
Minimum number of participants: 2
Resources needed: Clear space, index cards with emotions written on them
Instructions: Choose a simple sentence, e.g. “I want a can of Coke.” Write one of the feelings listed below on each index card. Have one child choose a card and then say the simple sentence in the emotion written on it. The rest of the class has to guess which emotion the child is trying to portray.
Examples of emotions which can be used:
Calm
Happy
Sad
Stubborn
Surprised
Excited
Angry
Worried
Brave
Lonely
At the end, have the children repeat the sentence together, as they all use the emotion they have chosen from the card.
Game: Tongue-twisters
Difficulty rating: * to *****
Minimum number of participants: 1
Resources needed: Handouts with tongue twisters on them
Instructions: The children must start slowly and articulate each word clearly. They can go faster and faster as they feel more confident with the tongue twisters. If you have a large class, divide them into groups of four or five.
Some sample tongue-twisters to help you get started:
A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk. The skunk thought the stump stunk. What stunk? The skunk or the stump?
A tutor who tooted the flute, tried to tutor two tooters to toot; said the two tooters to the tutor: “Is it harder to toot or to tutor two tooters to toot?”
If Freaky Fred found fifty feet of fruit and fed forty feet to his friend Frank, how many feet of fruit did Freaky Fred find?
Pepperoni pizza on a pink-patterned plate with parsley on the side to your pleasure.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Red Leather Yellow Leather Red Leather Yellow Leather Red Leather Yellow Leather…
She shut the shop shutters so the shopping shoppers can’t shop.
Unique New York; Unique New York; Unique New York …
