Speech development of children 3-4 years old: why are speech therapy exercises needed?

The above is true not only for the muscles of the body, but also for the muscles of the articulation or speech apparatus - any speech therapist in kindergarten will confirm this. The lips and tongue are controlled by many muscles, which ensure the normal pronunciation of sounds. Imperfect operation of any of them can lead to incorrect sound pronunciation. The mobility of the speech apparatus improves (develops) gradually. A 3-year-old child may not have access to some subtle and precise movements, but over time, the muscles begin to work better and better, and allow the organs of articulation to pronounce the most complex sounds.

In order to clarify, develop and improve the basic movements of the speech organs, it is recommended to carry out special speech gymnastics. It is also called “speech therapy exercise.” A children's speech therapist can begin to conduct it with the youngest children.

Speech exercises for a 3 year old child

By the age of three, most children develop a large vocabulary and phrasal speech. But many of them still speak slurred and unclear.

Exercises for the speech development of a 3-year-old child include various activities. Let's look at the main ones.

• Articulation gymnastics. These exercises help to develop coordinated and clear movements of the organs of the articulatory apparatus. You can perform the “Shovel” exercise with your child. Mom says: “We need to dig up the potatoes, get your shovels ready.” At this time, the baby's tongue rests on the lower lip in a calm state. Then: “We’re digging potatoes.” The child should lower and raise the tip of the tongue, covering either the lower or upper lip.
• Tongue twisters and sayings. Pronouncing them improves the child’s diction and enriches his vocabulary.
• Description of the picture. This exercise perfectly develops the baby’s coherent speech. To carry out descriptions, you need to use bright, plot-based pictures. The child must be interested and drawn into dialogue, using, for example, phrases such as “What would you do?”, “What do you think?” If the baby answers in monosyllables or finds it difficult to answer at all, you need to tell him the correct answer.
• “What would that mean?” Such exercises are aimed at improving oral speech skills, developing logical thinking and imagination. The essence of the lesson is for the child to explain the meaning of a particular phrase. These can be simple proverbs, sayings, phraseological units.
• "Big small". This exercise helps to increase the child’s vocabulary and familiarize him with synonyms. It is better to use a book with bright pictures for classes. You can, for example, show your child a kitten and ask: “Is the kitten in the picture big or small?” The child must learn to answer in a complete sentence: “The kitten in the picture is small.”

Speech therapy exercises for the tongue:

• SPATULA

The mouth is open, relaxed, the wide tongue lies on the lower lip. There is no need to stick out your tongue too much. Place the very tip on the lip. If the tongue “does not want” to relax and lie still, you can spank it with your upper lip, saying “five-five-five.” Or lightly tap with a teaspoon (ice cream stick) - the tongue will relax.

Our tongue lies wide, like a spatula. He dozes sweetly, lies down - and there is silence.

• NEEDLE

The mouth is open, the tongue is narrow, tense, sharp, like a needle, extended forward. It's like he wants to stab someone.

Our tongue is sharp, like a needle.

• SPATULA - NEEDLE

This speech therapy exercise consists of alternating exercises. The tongue changes position without hiding in the mouth. The mouth is open.

Wide and sharp, like a needle. I slept and tensed up - well, just like an arrow.

• WATCH

The mouth is slightly open, the lips are slightly stretched in a smile. The tip of the narrow tongue alternately touches one or the other corner of the mouth. The exercise is carried out under the words “tick” - to one corner, “tak” - to the other. Do not allow the child to perform this exercise quickly, without a command - in each corner you need to hold your tongue for a few moments. There is no need to run your tongue over your lips. Make sure that the lower jaw does not move - only the tongue works. To do this, ask the child to open his mouth more.

The clock goes tick-tock, the tongue can do that.

• SWING

The mouth is wide open. With a tense tongue, we reach for the upper lip (nose), then to the chin, sticking out the tongue as much as possible. If the exercise does not work, you can first reach for the upper teeth, then the lower ones. Make sure that the lower jaw does not move - only the tongue works. To do this, ask the child to open his mouth more.

We sat on the swing, up and down we flew.

• JAM

Ask your child what kind of jam (or anything else tasty) he “will eat”? After this, the child imitates chewing movements. The adult says that the baby’s lips are stained with jam and need to be licked. The mouth is open, movements along the lips, starting from one corner - lick the lower lip to the other corner and return to the beginning of the exercises on the upper lip. We make sure that the lips do not connect and the movements are not too fast.

We ate jam - our lips are now sweet, We will lick our lips, and everything will be fine.

• BRUSHING YOUR TEETH

The mouth is open, we make movements from side to side along the inside of the lower teeth between the fangs, as if brushing our teeth. Then we repeat the same exercises with the upper teeth. We make sure that the jaw does not move.

We always need to brush our teeth so that food doesn’t hide there.

• CANDY

The mouth is closed, we move the tongue in a circle between the lips and teeth, as if we are “rolling” candy in the mouth.

We'll roll the candy, and it will completely melt.

• FOOTBALL

The mouth is closed, the tongue rests on one cheek (the tongue looks like a round ball), then on the other. You can try as an adult to “catch” the ball and touch it with your finger - the child quickly presses his tongue against the other cheek.

The tongue plays football and presses hard against the cheek.

• COUNTING THE TEETH

The mouth is open, we count the teeth, touching the teeth one by one, starting from the farthest tooth on one side of the lower jaw to the other. Then we repeat the same steps on the upper jaw. We make sure that the mouth does not close.

We count the teeth, we step on each one.

• CUP

Use your wide tongue to “hide” your upper lip. Then, opening your mouth and without lowering your tongue, we put it into your mouth. The tip and side edges are raised without touching the palate. Hold it, then lower it.

We lift the tongue, pour compote into the cup.

• PAINTER

Explain to your child what a painter is. Ask your child what color he will “paint the ceiling.” After this, we open our mouth wide, lift our tongue by the upper incisors (it turns into a brush) and begin to “paint” - move the tongue from the incisors deep into the mouth (the jaw does not move). Then we make the same movements from the soft palate to the incisors. We make sure that the ceiling is “painted” well.

We paint the ceiling in color, there is no barrier to the tongue.

• HORSE

We suck the wide, outstretched tongue to the hard palate (ceiling) and tear it off with a sound similar to the clatter of a horse’s hooves. Repeat several times without stopping.

The tongue gallops briskly, Like a horse - hop-hop.

Recommended exercises

For a specific child, an individual complex can be assigned, but among the basic tasks for children of the specified age, the following can be noted:

"Pipe". Ask the child to extend the sponge forward with a tube and hold it that way for as long as possible. To make the exercise more difficult, you can ask your child to do something like “doo-doo.”

"The Puppy and the Snake" Ask your child to show how a puppy breathes on a summer day - the tongue is flaccid, wide and spread across the lower lip. And then ask them to show how a snake does this - the tongue becomes mobile and “sharp.”

If certain sounds are defective, add exercises to improve the pronunciation of these particular “problem” sounds:

"Zoo". Show the card with a tiger and ask the baby how a tiger roars - “R-r-r.” Show pictures of those animals whose names contain a sound that is difficult for the baby and ask them to voice the name and show how the animal “talks”: to pronounce the sound “R” - tiger cub, badger, fish, giraffe, to practice the sound “L” - lion, husky, fox, dolphin, fallow deer, deer, lemur, with “W” and “F” - beetle, bumblebee, giraffe, foal, jackal, with “C” - dog, owl, elephant, fox, gopher.

"Pure talk." You can use various rhymes. The main requirement is repetition of the “problem” sound. If the pronunciation of “R” is unclear, for example, you can come up with something like: “Ra-ra-ru, ra-ra-ru, I’ll take a walk around the yard, ru-ru-ra, ru-ru-ra, now it’s time to go home!” " You can compose similar pure sayings yourself for any sound that the child is not very good at pronouncing.

Types of speech defects

A child 3-4 years old may have the following disorders:

• dyslalia - incorrect pronunciation of sounds with normal physical hearing and functioning of the articulatory apparatus;
• dysarthria - a violation of the pronunciation aspect of speech due to organic damage to the central nervous system;
• stuttering – difficulties in using speech means when they are formed, caused by convulsions in the articulatory apparatus;
• alalia – unformed speech components due to underdevelopment of the speech centers of the cerebral cortex;
• disturbances in voice formation and speech rate due to the anatomical features of the organs of articulation and disturbances in the functioning of the vocal apparatus.

The listed violations belong to the medical classification. But speech therapists also use a psychological and pedagogical approach to more accurately determine the structure of the defect.

In this version, there are three types of speech disorders:

• Phonetic underdevelopment of speech (FSD) is the incorrect pronunciation of sounds with normal physical and phonemic hearing and the functioning of the articulatory apparatus.
• Phonetic-phonemic speech underdevelopment (FFSD) is a distorted pronunciation or confusion of sounds caused by difficulties in perceiving phonemes by ear.
• General speech underdevelopment (GSD) is a violation of all components of speech. The ONR distinguishes three levels: Level 1 – a child of 3 years – non-speaking or communicates only in individual words, onomatopoeic complexes. Actively uses non-verbal means - facial expressions and gestures. Passive vocabulary is more of an expressive type; has virtually no word formation skills, the syllable structure is distorted.
• Level 2 – simple sentences predominate in children’s speech, disturbances in sound pronunciation and syllable structure; vocabulary also lags behind the norm; the presence of a large number of gross agrammatisms.
• Level 3 – vocabulary is slightly behind the norm, sound pronunciation is impaired; presence of agrammatisms; the sentence is supplemented with conjunctions and pronouns; difficulties in forming independent coherent speech.

Depending on the structure of the defect, the specialist will draw up a plan for corrective work and select appropriate techniques.

Speech characteristics of children 4-5 years old

For preschoolers, this time is a period of active vocabulary growth (by the age of 5, its volume normally reaches 3 thousand words). Children of this age begin to acquire a sense of language, handle their native speech more confidently, and engage in word creation. The grammatical structure continues to level out too.

A child of four or five years old not only begins to speak more and more freely, he also uses more and more complex sentences than before. The ability to compose a short story not only about what the child saw personally, but also without relying on his own direct experience, gradually develops. Such stories are still emotional and often have a broken logical structure, but they are quite voluminous and meaningful.

The level of phonetic perception of speech by this age also becomes significantly better. The child has the opportunity to determine the presence of a particular sound in a word and select words for a specific sound. He becomes able to perceive the syllabic rhythm of the structure of a word.

We can say that at the age of four, children begin the most active period in speech development, which allows them to acquire communicative capabilities comparable to the level of adults. Of course, it is rare that a child goes through this path without difficulties; speech disorders at this stage are most common.

Types of speech disorders in older preschoolers

There are three main types of disorders and speech underdevelopment:

• phonetic;
• phonetic-phonemic;
• general.

In practice, this means that children have difficulty recognizing, distinguishing and pronouncing the sounds of their native language. These three types of disorders can occur separately or in combination.

Normally, by this stage of development, natural age-related difficulties with the pronunciation of individual sounds or their groups should already be a thing of the past. The stage of mastering sound pronunciation is completed, children stop skipping and softening consonants in speech. At 4 years old, all hissing sounds should appear, and by 5 years old, you can expect a confident L and R sound. But in older preschoolers, articulation disorders are very common. These may be defects in the pronunciation of hissing, whistling, sonorant sounds. Almost all children have to perform speech therapy exercises on the letter and sound r; many manage to “growl” only after special training.

It is also worth paying attention to lexical and grammatical problems, which manifest themselves in the difficulties of actively using speech as a means of communication. Children with such disorders have difficulty composing questions and descriptions, and cannot use all the means of their native language to express thoughts.

They do not know how to construct sentences correctly, use endings and prepositions incorrectly, and make mistakes when forming words. Speech therapy help in this case is necessary, but parents can also help the child speak better (of course, after consultation with a specialist).

Advice from experts on speech development in children under 3 years of age

Parents often begin to panic when their child does not want to start talking. Regarding difficulty speaking, authoritative pediatrician E. O. Komarovsky says the following:

“Speech difficulties may be caused by the fact that adults do not actively communicate with the child. But when the baby goes to kindergarten, he will make up for lost time, as children quickly try to adapt in society, purely instinctively. But there is a high probability that he will have problems with pronunciation, so it is better to work with the child from an early age.”

R. Levykin, psychologist:

Useful for speech development:

1. Talk to your child as much as possible and encourage him to speak as much as possible. Ask him questions. Ask for his opinion. Comment on your actions.
2. Develop your horizons. Walk more: gardens, playgrounds, parks, museums, zoos, walks in the forest, etc.
3. Develop hand motor skills: plasticine, paints, crafts made from natural materials, construction sets.

From the book by I. A. Ermakova “Talk to me, mom! Educational activities for kids":

Speech therapy massage of the facial muscles helps correct speech development. A light massage of the cheeks, forehead, and lips helps regulate blood circulation, improves muscle elasticity and serves as an effective way to prevent speech disorders. Light circular movements should be performed with the fingertips of both hands so that folds do not form on the skin. The massage should be done slowly and smoothly for 2-5 minutes 2 times a day. The duration of the course is 10-15 sessions. Before starting the massage, you need to cut your long nails, thoroughly wash and warm your hands, and lubricate your fingertips with nourishing or baby cream.

1. Perform light circular movements from the middle of the forehead to the temples.
2. Perform light circular movements from the middle of the forehead to the earlobes.
3. Perform light circular strokes under the eyes from the nose to the temple area.
4. Perform light circular movements from the middle of the forehead to the neck.
5. Perform light circular movements from the wings of the nose to the corners of the lips.
6. Perform light circular movements from the wings of the nose to the earlobes.
7. Perform light circular movements along the contour of first the upper and then the lower lip - from the corners to the middle.
8. Lightly tap your lips with your fingertips.
9. Perform light circular movements from the middle of the upper lip to the chin.

Yu.S. Kosmina, speech therapist of the highest category:

In the family, conditions must be created for the child so that he experiences satisfaction from communicating with adults, receives from them not only new knowledge, but also enriches his vocabulary, learns to construct sentences correctly, pronounce sounds clearly, and tell interesting stories.

By expanding the child’s range of ideas about surrounding objects and phenomena, talking with him on various everyday topics that are close and understandable to the child, parents will thereby not only expand his horizons, but also contribute to the mastery of correct speech.

Speech pathologist-defectologist Anna Makovey about methods of speech development in twins:

Twins are a special topic. They have each other and that says it all. A special language, complete mutual understanding and no incentive to master the generally accepted language. It seems to me that the most humane of all the tested means (here is separation/distribution to grandmothers and division of responsibilities for raising each person between father and mother) is the introduction of children into a group of peers. There, children realize the need to master speech and learn to voice their needs (which is vital in kindergarten).

Individual communication with parents also helps to “talk” such children. It's up to your imagination and resourcefulness. One goes with dad to the store for... (something very necessary!!! You can’t handle it alone!), the second stays with mom... boil the kettle, wash the dishes, etc.

Don’t worry if your child doesn’t start talking at 1.5-2.5 years old. You should be afraid if a child at 3 years of age does not want to utter a single sound. This is a reason to contact a specialist who will help you find the answer to the question of why the child cannot speak.

Teach your children, develop their speech, thinking, memory, because a lot depends on the parents. And with such a set of modern techniques, books, educational games, you can decorate not only your baby’s everyday life, but also your own.

Exercises for general speech development at home

At home, it is imperative to regularly conduct speech therapy classes for children 4-5 years old, the exercises of which include not only the speech part, but also gymnastics for the speech organs and fingers.

Finger gymnastics

This set of simple exercises stimulates the part in the brain center that is responsible for correct speech. This is why fine motor skills classes are needed not only for the little ones, but also for preschoolers.

Finger exercises stimulate the part of the brain responsible for correct speech

All exercises are done 8-10 repetitions:

1. “Opening” and “closing” the fingers on each hand. First one by one, then together. You can gradually increase the speed.
2. Place your hands on the table: the left one touches the table with the palm, the right one with the back. Then at the same time you need to turn your hands over.
3. First, draw a river: fold your hands, palms up, as if you have water in them. Then depict a steamboat - put your palms together, press your thumbs together and lift them up. Then depict the fish that have arrived: press all your fingers together, palms together and make movements with your hands, as if a fish is swimming.
4. Draw a tree with branches - arms vertically, fingers spread out in different directions. Then show the roots of the tree - in the same position, move your hands with your fingers down. Then show leaf fall: quickly, quickly clench and unclench your fingers.

Articulation gymnastics

These exercises are aimed at developing the tongue, the main organ responsible for the correct pronunciation of sounds.

Features of speech development in preschool children

Note! Thanks to regular training in articulation gymnastics, the child will soon begin to pronounce even the most difficult sounds.

1. Smile as wide as possible, teeth are closed, exactly on top of each other. Stay in this position and count 10 seconds.
2. Pull your lips forward and pretend as if an elephant is drawing water with its trunk. Stay for 10 seconds in this position.
3. Pretend to be a snake: smile broadly, stick out your tongue like a tube, then hide it back.
4. Open your mouth wide and make a clicking sound with your tongue, imitating a horse. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the child’s lower jaw is motionless and only the tongue is working.
5. Smile widely, stick out your tongue as far as possible and lightly squeeze it between your teeth. In this position, “pull” the tongue back into the mouth.
6. Open your mouth wide, stick out your tongue and pretend to be a clock - move your tongue from one corner of your mouth to the other.

Repeat all these exercises 8-10 times or for 10-15 seconds.

Games for developing phonemic sound

Speech therapy games for 4-5 year old children to develop phonemic sound must be included in daily classes. They are simple and at the same time interesting, and the results will not take long to arrive. After just a month of regular exercises, the quality of children's speech will noticeably improve.

• "Game of Silence" This game is very simple. The child is asked not to make a sound for 2 minutes and close his eyes. As soon as the time is up, then ask the baby to tell what sounds he heard.
• "Clap-stomp." The essence of the game: agree in advance with the child which sound he will stomp on and which sound he will clap on. For example, if he hears the sound [w], then he stomps his foot, if the sound [r], then he claps his palms. Next, the adult names different sounds, and when the child hears the ones he needs, he claps or stomps.
• "Catch the word." The essence of this game is simple: the child is given a word, upon hearing which he will have to clap his hands. Next, the adult names several words in turn that sound similar. As soon as the child hears what he needs, he should clap his hands.

To develop phonemic sound, it is necessary to regularly play speech therapy games

Role of parents

You should not assume that classes with a speech therapist alone will help the child completely solve the problem - parents should take a direct part in this. The child spends most of his time at home, so training should be carried out there.

Speech therapists advise parents to adhere to the following rules.

• Do not scold the baby for mistakes he has made in pronouncing sounds, but correct them.
• Encourage the child for his efforts and success, listen carefully to what he says about classes with a speech therapist, and show sincere interest.
• Ensure that the speech of family members is literate and correct.
• Before showing this or that exercise to a preschooler, you should practice in front of the mirror, check that everything is working out clearly and correctly.
• Ensure that children complete the speech therapist’s homework.
• Strives to ensure that every task is completed to the end, correctly, and diligently.
• Conduct classes daily - they can be small, but mandatory, they should become a good habit.

Specialist speech pathologists advise creating an atmosphere of correct speech for the child: reading him poems, fairy tales, singing songs more often, discussing any natural phenomena with the child, but it is better to keep TV watching to a minimum.

Games for sounds, hearing development and logarithmics

Speech or phonemic awareness is the ability to correctly hear, recognize and discriminate sounds.

Games for hearing development

1. “Ears are rumors”

Goal: consolidate the ability to differentiate sounds, develop auditory attention. Speech therapist shows wooden, metal spoons, crystal glasses

Children name these objects. The teacher offers to listen to how these objects sound. Having installed the screen, he reproduces the sound of these objects in turn. Children recognize sounds and name the objects that make them.

The speech therapist shows wooden and metal spoons and crystal glasses. Children name these objects. The teacher offers to listen to how these objects sound. Having installed the screen, he reproduces the sound of these objects in turn. Children recognize sounds and name the objects that make them.

2. “Who said “Meow?”

Goal: to improve the ability to distinguish the voices of domestic animals by ear.

Material: tape recorder, audio recording with the sounds of pets' voices.

The speech therapist plays an audio recording of the sounds of pets. Children must hear and name which pet has the voice.

The game “Who gives what vote” is played in a similar way. An audio recording with the sounds of forest birds is turned on.

3. “Who is standing at the traffic light?”

Goal: to develop auditory attention, recognize and name types of transport. Material: tape recorder and audio recording with street noise

Material: tape recorder and audio recording with street noise.

The speech therapist plays an audio recording with street sounds. Children listen to sounds and name vehicles stopped at a traffic light (car, truck, tractor, motorcycle, cart, tram).

4. “Where is it ringing?”

Goal: to develop auditory attention, the ability to navigate in space with eyes closed. Children stand with their eyes closed

A speech therapist with a bell moves silently around the group and rings. Children, without opening their eyes, point with their hand in the direction of the sound source

Children stand with their eyes closed. A speech therapist with a bell moves silently around the group and rings. Children, without opening their eyes, point their hand in the direction of the sound source.

5. Finger game “Thunderstorm”

Goal: to coordinate movement with the text, taking into account changes in dynamics and tempo of sound.

The speech therapist reads the words of the game, and the children perform movements according to the text.

Drops are dripping (they knock on the table with two index fingers). It is raining (they knock quietly with four fingers of both hands). It pours like a bucket (they knock loudly with four fingers). It starts to hail (they knock with their finger bones, knocking out fractions). Thunder rumbles (drum their fists on the table). Lightning flashes (we draw lightning in the air with our fingers, make the sound sh). Everyone quickly runs home (clap their hands, hide their hands behind their backs). In the morning the sun is shining brightly (describe a large circle with both hands).

Speech imitation or onomatopoeia

- this is the reproduction, following the speaker, of the sounds, words, and phrases he has spoken.

Games for imitating the voices of animals and birds

To play, use animal figures or pictures. Mothers and their babies. After all, the mother frog screams KVA, and the little frog screams KVA. Remember the fairy tale about the three bears, papa bear growls loudly, mama bear is quieter, and the cub squeaks.

Games to imitate household noises:

• The clock is ticking - tick-tock
• Water is dripping - Drip-Drip
• The baby is stomping – TOP—TOP
• The hammer knocks KNOCK-KNOCK
• Scissors cut CHICK-CHICK
• We swing on the swing KACH-KACH
• We eat carrots CRUM-CRUM
• The car goes BI-BI

Speech therapy rhythmics or logorhythmics is a combination of movement, speech and music. The adult reads the verse and shows the movements, the child repeats. Nothing complicated. Children have fun and interesting. Of course, an adult needs to read and learn the necessary poems in advance and learn the movements to them. You also need to select musical accompaniment for the poems in advance. It is advisable to exercise in the afternoon 2-3 times a week.

Results and recommendations

The basis of correct sound pronunciation is the coordinated work of the articulation organs

In order for a preschooler to be able to pronounce simple and complex sounds, it is important to train the flexibility and strength of the tongue and lips. This is facilitated by articulatory gymnastics

Timely lessons with your baby will make pronunciation easier, and he will begin to speak clearly and clearly on his own. If he has problems with sound pronunciation, such exercises will significantly reduce the time for muscle training and correction of defects.

Sluggish sound pronunciation can also be perfectly corrected by gymnastics; the result of the exercises will be correct, clear and beautiful speech. Exercises, selected in order of increasing difficulty, will help to develop important skills in the mobility of the articulatory apparatus, practicing the position of the tongue and lips. During exercise, blood circulation in these organs improves, which contributes to their greater mobility and correct position. You can start working on articulation earlier, but it needs to be done correctly!

What activities can be done with your child at home for speech development?

It's no secret that children spend most of their time at home.

Note! Therefore, it is so important to properly organize the baby’s activities aimed at developing children’s speech.

Articulation gymnastics and pronunciation training

Basically, all speech therapy classes for children 3-4 years old begin with small gymnastics for the organs of articulation. Most popular:

• Smile - stretch your lips in a smile, showing your teeth (the same without teeth).
• Dudochka - fold your lips into a tube and stretch them forward.
• Balloon - inflate your cheeks and hold the air for 3-5 seconds.
• Shoulder blade - place your tongue outstretched on the lower lip and fix it.
• Needle - tighten the tongue very much, make it as thin as possible and pull it forward, fix it.
• Jam - lick your upper and lower lips with your tongue.
• Let's brush our teeth - run your tongue over the upper teeth, then over the lower ones.
• Hill - the tongue rests on the lower teeth, while the middle of it tends to the palate, forming a hill. With this training, the child remembers the position of the tongue used to pronounce many sounds.

Games for hearing development

Children of primary preschool age are offered games to distinguish the volume of a sound or recognize an object that makes a sound. For many speech therapy tasks offered to children 3-4 years old, musical instruments such as pipes, drums, and piano are used.

Also at this age it is already possible to teach a child to distinguish sounds by ear. This can be done by offering a game: “Clap your hands when you hear the song of the water (sound “S”): sleep, frame, braid, mom, Sasha, etc.”

Important! It is best to call sounds by special “names”: the sound “S” is the song of the water, the sound “Sh” is the hissing of a snake, etc.

It will be easier for the child to remember and navigate. When pronouncing a word in which the baby must highlight the sound, it should be exaggerated.

Finger gymnastics

This gymnastics is used as an activity for the development of speech for 4 years at home and in preschool educational institutions. By this age, the baby understands simple instructions and is able to follow them, and children's fine motor skills are already sufficiently developed to make small “compositions” from their fingers. Here are some of them:

• Lock - hands are tightly clasped in a lock, with the fingers of both hands intertwined with each other.
• Scratching - alternately depict “paws” with your right and left hands.
• Let's warm up our hands by rubbing our left palm vigorously with our right palm.
• Glasses - make a circle with the thumb and index finger of each hand and bring it to your eyes - put on glasses.

Finger gymnastics develops speech

Poetry learning, reading and storytelling

Children 3-4 years old often learn poetry, retell fairy tales, and learn to read during speech therapy sessions at home. This is facilitated by numerous manuals and workbooks for younger preschoolers, which can be purchased at any children's store or printed from the Internet.

The best authors of children's fiction: Korney Chukovsky, Alexander Pushkin, Agnia Barto, Samuil Marshak. The main task of memorizing short poems and retellings of works is to enrich the child’s vocabulary, expand his fantasy and imagination.

Note! In 2021 Bardysheva T. Yu

and E.N. Monosova published a special manual aimed at the comprehensive speech development of children of primary preschool age. The notebook by Monosova and Bardysheva consists of 120 pages of high-quality exercises and games that help increase the child’s active and passive vocabulary, develop phonemic awareness and coherent speech, and improve the processes of thinking, attention and memory. This manual was created both for professional speech therapists and defectologists, and for parents - it is written in simple and understandable language.

Exercises

This set of speech therapy exercises for children 4-5 years old includes not only speech games, but also special gymnastics for the hands and speech organs. Fine motor skills help stimulate the speech center in the brain, so regular finger exercises are necessary for every preschooler. Articulatory gymnastics improves the main organ of speech—the tongue—and the child’s ability to control it. This has a positive effect on the ability to pronounce all, even the most complex, sounds.

Finger gymnastics

Each series of exercises is repeated 8-10 times

The lights came on

Rhythmically open and close the fingers on each palm, together and alternately.

Delicious pancakes

We place our hands on the table, alternating between the palm and the back. The right one touches the surface of the tabletop with the palm, the left one with the back. Then the position of the hands changes.

On the river

We depict waves with our hands, smoothly moving our palms from top to bottom - this is a river. Then a boat appears on the water - palms pressed together, a steamboat - thumbs raised and connected. And then the fish swam - palms together, thumbs pressed, hands moving from side to side.

How trees grow

We raise our palms, open our fingers strongly - branches have grown. We lower our palms down and also spread our fingers to the sides - these are the roots. They shook their palms and the leaves flew off.

Articulation gymnastics

Each exercise is performed 6-8 times.

• Funny wahs

We smile broadly, our teeth are closed and stand in an even “fence.” Maintain a smile for 10 seconds.

• Playful baby elephant

We stretch our lips forward and pretend that we are drawing water with our “proboscis”.

• Sly Python

We smile, stick our tongue out of our mouth, pull it out, and hide it back.

• Fast horse

We open our mouth wide, smile, click our tongue. Please note that the lower teeth do not move, only the tongue “jumps”!

• Scallop

Smile, show your teeth. Stick out the tongue, hold it between your teeth and “pull” it back.

• Grandma's walkers

We open our mouth, smile, then reach with our tongue to the corners of our lips - left and right.

• Air balloons

We “inflate” and “deflate” first one cheek, then the other, then both at once.

Speech error correction

When a child is 3-4 years old, correction of speech errors occurs quickly - this is a flexible age for correction and formation of new skills

It is important not to “force” the exercises - first there must be correct placement of the articulation organs, then increase the tempo of the exercise

The production of sounds is based on gymnastics. Static and dynamic tasks for the language are the basis for many sounds, especially such problematic ones as “r”, “l” and others. Before making sounds, the tongue and lips are warmed up, then the child is explained how to hold/direct them in order to get this or that sound.

If at home you cannot develop articulation, move your tongue correctly and make sounds, it is better to immediately contact a speech therapist. Prolonging the problem will lead to longer work on speech. In addition, the cause of the problem may not be hidden in articulation at all, but in the brain structures, which can only be determined by a pediatric specialist.

Tests to determine pathologies

To quickly respond to changes in the baby’s development, you can conduct simple tests.

• By the fourth year, children can already distinguish the simplest geometric shapes. You need to ask the child to draw a circle. Even the similarity of this figure is a good result. However, if the child does not understand what is wanted from him, or his drawing does not even remotely resemble what is required, the test has not been passed.
• If a child does not show interest in new games and does not assemble a small tower from cubes, development is slow.
• By the age of three, the toddler communicates in short phrases (those who at this age already speak in long sentences are not taken into account). The minimum milestone for speech development by 3-4 years is the simplest phrases. If the child does not pronounce them, you should go to a specialist.

Methods of speech development in non-speaking children

In what cases is it still necessary to contact a speech therapist:

• The baby does not respond to his name and does not understand simple requests.
• Shows no interest in new toys; all his game scenarios follow the pattern.
• He cannot assemble a simple turret or put a large bead on a rope.
• If by the age of three the child does not speak, there were injuries during pregnancy or early development, or there are hereditary diseases.

You should regularly conduct classes with children