Your Calm Practice Pack
For parents told to "just practise at home": gentle, SLP-designed ways to practise the sounds your therapist chose, no fight.
Therapy is once a week, but the in-between is every day, and that is where home practice lives. Here is a calm, play-based way to make those few minutes feel like play instead of a battle. Use what fits your family and leave the rest.
The practice ladder
This is the path speech therapists climb with a sound. Start wherever your SLP told you, and only move up a rung when this one feels easy and fun.
The sound by itself
Just the sound, like a happy snake hiss. Make it silly and fun.
Little sound-snaps
The sound joined to a vowel, sa, see, so. Quick and playful.
Whole words
Words with the sound at the start, middle, and end, see the word bank below.
Short phrases
Two or three words together, like silly seal.
Sentences
The sound inside one short, playful sentence.
Real talking
The sound shows up in everyday chat. That is the goal, no drills needed.
Five golden rules
Keep it short and sweet
A few minutes beats a long session every time. Stop while it is still fun, so your child wants to come back tomorrow.
Fold it into play, not a desk
Practice during a game, a walk, bath time, or a favourite story. It counts just as much, and it feels like play instead of homework.
Follow what they already love
Use the toys, snacks, and characters your child is already into. Their motivation does most of the work for you.
Model, do not correct
Say the word back warmly the way it sounds when you say it, then move on. You are not grading them, and you do not need to fix every sound.
Find a gentle rhythm
A small, regular moment, after breakfast or before a bedtime story, quietly becomes a habit. No streaks, no pressure.
How to respond, without the fight
- Model, do not correct. Say the word back warmly and move on.
- Aim for about ten happy moments for every nudge. The trying is the win.
- Keep it under five minutes. Stop while it is still fun.
- Skip days guilt-free. Showing up gently, most days, is the whole game.
Pick the sounds your SLP is working on
Tap one or more sounds. Each one adds its own word bank, play ideas, and a page of cut-out picture cards. When you print, only the sounds you picked are included, so you never reprint the pages you do not need.
Want to read about a single sound first? See our practice guides for each speech sound.
How to make it: Peek the tip of your tongue out between your teeth and gently blow, like a soft, windy sound.
The TH sound is one of the last sounds children master, so it is very normal to still be working on it, your speech-language pathologist knows what is right for your child.
Start of word
- think
- thumb
- three
- thick
- thin
- thank
- throw
- thunder
- thirsty
- thirty
- thorn
- thaw
In the middle
- bathtub
- toothbrush
- birthday
- something
- nothing
- anything
- healthy
- athlete
- python
- marathon
- toothpaste
- earthworm
End of word
- bath
- math
- teeth
- mouth
- path
- moth
- tooth
- cloth
- north
- south
- breath
- fourth
Short phrases
- three thumbs
- thick thread
- bath time
- thirty thorns
- thank you
Sentences
- I think three thumbs are thick.
- Thank you for the bath toy.
- Beth brushes her teeth.
- Throw the thin thread to me.
- The moth flew over the path.
A silly sound story
Theo the thumb went to take a bath. He counted three moths and brushed his teeth. Then he thanked the thunder for the thrilling, splashy bath time.
Sound hunt
Walk around and peek your tongue out for a soft th each time you both find something with the TH sound, like a thumb, teeth, or a bath toy.
Mirror mouth
In the mirror together, peek your tongue tips out between your teeth and blow a gentle, windy th.
Give it a character
Make the TH a gentle wind, and let your child blow a soft th before each word.
Book points
While reading, point to and say the TH words you find, like a thumb or a bath.
Bath and car
In the bath or the car, take turns naming TH words like bath, teeth, and thank you.
Cut along the dashed lines, pop the cards in a bowl, and take turns picking one to say and play with. No screen, no pressure, just a few warm minutes together.
Our week of play
Tick a box on the days you had a few warm minutes together. No streaks, no pressure.
Know another parent in the trenches?
Send them this free pack. The calm, no-fight kind of help is worth passing on.
logopedia-site-ecru.vercel.app/guideSome days you will skip it, and that is completely okay. Showing up gently, most days, is the whole game. And for your child's specific sounds and needs, your speech-language pathologist knows them best. This guide is just here to make the practice in between feel a little lighter.
Free for home and practice use. Please don't resell or repost the file. © Logopedia+