Oral-Motor Activities

 Tongue Strength

• Suck on a lollipop
• Drinking liquids, increasing in thickness with straw that become thinner in diameter over time and as strength increases, will help build up the tongue strength necessary for correct sound production.

Tongue Mobility

• Lick the bowl after making cookies or cake – without a spoon!
• Lick a lollipop
• Lick a lollipop as it is being held in front of your mouth.  Use only the tip of your tongue.
• Lick Fluff or Peanut butter off of a spoon/popsicle stick… placed slightly in front of your mouth.
• Suck on a lifesaver have the child manipulate in his/her mouth – NO CHEWING.

Lip Strength

• Have a cotton ball/feather/ping-pong ball/tissue paper war. You and a friend compete to blow the object off you opponents side of the table.  One point for each time you blow the item off the opposite side of the table.
• Keep a balloon/bubble up in the air for as long as possible.  Blow under it to keep it up in the air.  You can compete with a friend.  The person who doesn’t let the balloon drop/or pop the bubble gets a point.
• Blow sponges/ping-pong balls/ducks…across a pan/pool of water.
• Dip a cotton ball in paint and blow it all around a piece of paper to create a design.
• Place a dab of paint on a piece of paper, take a straw and blow the paint all over the paper in a pattern all of your own!
• Have your lips lift weights!  Place a few pennies on each end of a popsicle stick, tape them on and see how long you can hold it.  Gradually increase the number of pennies and the amount of time you can hold them.
• Put some liquid soap in a bowl of water.  Blow as many bubbles as you can.  As an alternative.  You can also add some paint to the water, blow the bubbles and place a piece of paper on the colored bubbles to make a “picture”.  Make sure you only blow out, be VERY careful not to inhale as the soap tastes horrible and can make you feel sick.

Jaw Stability

• Manipulate the mouth of a puppet to varying degrees (tiny bit, wide, …).  Have your child imitates the same mouth movements as the puppet. 
• Have your lips lift weights!  Place a few pennies on each end of a popsicle stick, tape them on and see how long you can hold it.  Gradually increase the number of pennies and the amount of time you can hold them.

Please click on this link to return to Mrs. Van Hoesen's Home Page