About this activity
Six short words for the earliest-developing consonants: map, bat, mop, pig, bug, mom. /p/, /b/ and /m/ are made with the lips, which makes them visible and among the first sounds children acquire — a child who is not producing them by school age is usually showing something broader than a single-sound difficulty.
How to use it in a session
Use a mirror, because these are the sounds most visible on the face. The lips coming together and apart is the whole articulation, and a child can watch it happen. Note the contrast built into the set — map and bat differ by voicing and by the closing sound, while map and mop differ only in the vowel — so the same six words can be used for several comparisons. Five minutes is a full pass.
What to listen for
Watch whether the difficulty is one sound or a pattern. A child who omits final consonants across map, bat and mop has final consonant deletion; one who says bat for pat has a voicing pattern. Both are broader than a single sound and are worked as patterns. Notice mom, which has the same consonant twice and is often the easiest word here.
Carrying it home
Mom, map and bug are among the first words most children say. Modelling clearly and responding to whatever the child produces is the right approach at this stage — correction of a very young child usually reduces how much they talk.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten and first grade, and often preschool.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all six cards play free with no login.
- These are very early sounds. When are they a concern?
- When they are still absent well past the age most children have them, or when the errors follow a pattern across many sounds. A single missing early sound in a young child is often within the expected range.