/t/ and /d/ Early Sounds
Word-initial /t/ and /d/ for early developing sound work.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Put a hand on the throat for the voicing contrast. /t/ and /d/ are identical apart from whether the voice is on, and feeling the difference is far more effective than hearing it at this age. Contrast the pairs that differ only in voicing — top and dot are close, ten and den if you have it — since minimal pairs make the distinction consequential. Six minutes covers the twelve.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 3 seconds for the student to say it.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to your mouth, or show the mouth picture for /t/ and /d/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueTongue tip up on the bumpy ridge behind your top teeth, then drop it: a quiet puff for /t/, voice on for /d/.Log as cued
Adjust it
Go back to /t/ and /d/ on their own or in syllables, and use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /t/ or /d/ in it.
Matching IEP goal
Given picture cards, Student will produce /t/ and /d/ in single words 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
Twelve short words for two early sounds: toe, tea, ten, top, two, tap for /t/; day, door, dot, duck, dig, dad for /d/. The two sounds are made in the same place and differ only in voicing, which makes them a natural pair — and a child who has one usually has the other.
What to listen for
Listen for voicing errors rather than placement ones. Dop for top is a voicing substitution and the child has the tongue in the right place; a /k/ or /g/ substitution would be a placement issue and a different pattern entirely. Watch two and toe, where the following vowel is rounded and the /t/ can be slightly obscured.
Carrying it home
Dad, door, duck and top are among the earliest words a child says. Modelling clearly and responding to whatever comes back is the right approach — correction at this age tends to reduce how much a child talks.
What's in this activity
- toe
- tea
- ten
- top
- two
- tap
- day
- door
- dot
- duck
- dig
- dad
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Preschool through first grade. /t/ and /d/ are early-developing sounds.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve cards play with no account.
- What is voicing?
- Whether the vocal folds vibrate during a sound. /t/ and /d/ are made identically apart from that, which is why a hand on the throat shows the difference better than listening does.
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.