Stopping Minimal Pairs: Fig or Pig?
Eight minimal-pair cards for stopping, played as a memory game: a long sound like /f/, /s/ or /sh/, or the /ch/ in chick, against the short stop it turns into, from fig and pig to shoe and two.
How to run it
Play it as memory: turn two cards, and keep them when a target word and its partner match. Name both cards on every turn. Talk about long and short sounds first: the /f/ in fig can go on and on, the /p/ in pig is over in an instant. When the student keeps a pair, they say the target word. If you hear pin for fin, point to the pin and ask which one a fish has. The eight pairs take about six minutes.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentThe student names one card of the pair; you point to the card you heard. Wait 3 seconds.Log as correct
- Listen firstSay both words of the pair, then ask the student to say the one you point to.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the target word slowly, stressing the sound that changes, and the student repeats it.Log as cued
- Placement cueContrast a long, airy sound you can hold, like /fff/ in fig, with the short pop of /p/ in pig. Hold the long sound on the target card before the rest of the word.Log as cued
Adjust it
Work one sound at a time, such as only the /f/ pairs, and let the student stretch the first sound.
Mix all the sounds in one round, and have the student say each target word in a short phrase.
Matching IEP goal
Given minimal-pair picture cards, Student will produce fricatives and affricates at the start of words, without stopping them, in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Eight minimal pairs for stopping, the pattern where a long, airy sound is replaced with a short, popped one. Seven pairs start with a fricative, a sound you can stretch: fig and pig, fin and pin, fan and pan, fork and pork, vase and base, zip and dip, shoe and two. One starts with an affricate, the /ch/ in chick, which becomes tick. Each pair differs only in that first sound, so a stopped word lands on a different real word.
What to listen for
Notice which sounds are still stopped and which have come in. A student may manage /f/ in fig and fan while /sh/ in shoe or /ch/ in chick still comes out as /t/. Listen for a long sound that starts right but stops partway, and for a student who adds a /t/ before the long sound, as in tshoe.
Carrying it home
Play the long sound game: hold a /fff/ like a cat hissing or a /zzz/ like a bee, and count how long you can make it. Then name a pair, fig and pig or shoe and two, and let the child point to the one you said. Swap so the child says one and you point. Praise a long, airy sound even if the word is not perfect yet.
What's in this activity
- fig pig
- shoe two
- fin pin
- fan pan
- fork pork
- vase base
- zip dip
- chick tick
Questions
- What is stopping?
- Stopping is a speech pattern where sounds you can stretch, like /f/, /s/ and /sh/, or the /ch/ sound, are replaced with short sounds like /t/, /p/ or /d/, so fig can sound like pig and shoe like two.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
- Can I play the same pairs as a different game?
- Yes. Copy it to your own library, open the copy in the Activity Studio, and switch the template between Match Up, Memory Pairs and Find the Match. The same pairs play in each.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.