185+ Initial S Articulation Words for Speech Therapy

Are you on the hunt for a list of initial s words that would be a great way to practice with your child or student?

As a speech-language pathologist, I know articulation goals are frequently seen at the elementary level.

If you’re a parent or speech therapist on the hunt for a list of speech therapy words that include your child or student’s target sound then you’ve come to the right place.

Minimal Pairs

A great way to work on sound production is through minimal pairs.

A minimal pair is two words that differ by only one phoneme, in this case, the initial /s/ sound.

For example, “sea” and “bee”.

When you pronounce these words side by side, it’s easy to hear the difference in the initial sound.

Having a list of initial s minimal pairs is a great way to work on correct production!

Correct Production

The /s/ initial sounds in the English language are made by lightly placing the tip of your tongue on the ridge right behind your upper front teeth.

Be sure to place the sides of the tongue against the upper side of your teeth to allow for the passage of air to go down the center of the tongue.

Then while smiling blow a skinny stream of air over the center of your tongue (you do not want the air to come out the sides of the tongue).

Target Word

Here’s a list of initial s articulation sounds for you to use in therapy, practice at home, and with those who are diagnosed with articulation disorders.

• For Example: sea, soap, soup, sauce, search, set, sit, sew, soak, sun, suit, surf, sad, saw, side, sign, sing, sound, soothe, seek, sell, see, sack, salt, sock, and sail

See the full list of words, phrases, and sentences below.

Be sure to grab my one-page freebie of initial s sounds below. Simply scroll to the bottom of this post and grab your free copy!

Board Games

One of my favorite speech therapy activities to work on articulation goals is to use board games!

There are a few different types of board games that can be great for working on initial s sound production.

The first type is a game where you simply play a game and when it’s your child or student’s turn they have to say one of their practice words from a list of words.

You can have them say their word once or five times before they earn their turn to play.

A few of my favorite games to play while working on articulation sounds while the student has to earn their turn are Go Fish, Connect Four, and Jenga.

The second type of game is one where the game includes your child or student’s articulation sound within the game itself. This is a great way to work on initial s sound production in the context of a game format!

Word Positions: Initial S Words Speech Therapy 

Initial Position of Words

The initial position of the initial s is at the beginning of a word. For example, “sorry” or “salt”.

Medial Position of Words

Some words have the s sound in the medial position of a word, such as “castle”, “Mississippi”, and “dancer”.

Final Position of Words

The final positions of words are when the target sound is at the end of a word. For example, “bus” or “horse”.

Word Level: Initial S Words Speech Therapy

There are a lot of initial s words that can be used at the word level.

You could have your child or student say each initial /s/ word as they search through a list to find where it belongs in their sentence.

Another way you could use initial /s/ words at the word level is by using a dot marker. Have your child or student place a dot under each initial /s/ sound in a sentence.

Look no further I’ve included a one-page freebie of initial s sounds below. Simply scroll to the bottom of this post and grab your free copy.

• 1 Syllable: sea, soap, soup, sauce, search, set, sit, sew, soak, sun, suit, surf, sad, saw, side, sign, sing, sound, soothe, seek, sell, see, sack, salt, sock, sail, safe, sake, sale, same, sand, save, say, seal, seat, seed, seem, seize, self, sense, serve, sick, side, sight, silk, sink, site, size, so, soft, soil, solve, some, son, song, soon, sore, sort, sour, source, south, such, sum, said, sip, six
• 2 Syllable: secret, seaweed, soccer, sandals, sailor, safety, supplies, silly, sibling, sister, sadness, salad, salesman, sample, sandwich, savings, season, second, section, secure, seldom, select, selfish, senior, sentence, series, servant, service, session, settle, severe, sideburn, signal, silence, silent, silver, simple, singer, single, social, software, solar, soldier, solid, sorrow, sorry, southern, subject, submit, substance, success, sudden, suffer, sugar, suggest, summer, sunny, sunshine, support, surgeon, sustain, soda, super, sidewalk, seven, sunrise, sunset, saddle, sequel
• 3 Syllable: sacrifice, salary, salesperson, saleswoman, sarcastic, satisfy, secretive, selection, semester, sensible, sensitive, separate, several, signature, similar, solution, somebody, somehow, someone, something, sometimes, somewhat, somewhere, substantial, substitute, successful, sufficient, suggestion, suitable, summary, seventeen
• 4 Syllable: satisfaction, secondary, secretary, security, separation, significant, situation, superficial, sustainable
• 5 Syllable: serendipity, supernatural, sensitivity, satisfying, socialization, situational, summarization, similarity
• 6 Syllable: superiority, simultaneously, semiannually

Practice in Flash Card Mode Right Here from Your Computer!

Initial S Words Speech Therapy

SEE ALSO: 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy

Short Sentences or Phrases: Initial S Words Speech Therapy

When working on initial s sound production, it’s important to use short sentences or phrases once your child or student has mastered the sound at the word level at or near 80% or higher accuracy.

Here is a list of initial s word phrases to try:

Initial S Words Speech Therapy in Phrases

Sentence Level: Initial S Words Speech Therapy

The next step after working at the word level is to work on the initial s sound at the sentence level.

For example, you could use picture cards and have your child or student choose the correct initial /s/ word that goes with each picture card. The child or student could then use their initial /s/ word to create a sentence about the picture.

Initial S Words Speech Therapy in Sentences

Initial S Words Speech Therapy Ideas

Dot Marker

One way to help your child or student see the initial s sound in words is by using a dot marker.

Have them say the word and then put a dot above the letter that makes the /s/ sound. For example, have them say “salt” and then put a dot above the s in the word “salt”.

Another way to use a dot maker is to use them as reinforcement boards allowing the student to make a dot with their dot marker after practicing one of their initial s words or using an I Spy sheet with initial s words already on the sheet.

Here are a few examples your child or student might enjoy:

1. Dot Marker Articulation Stories Initial /s/ FREEBIE by SPEECHtacular – As students read each story, have them use a Dot Marker to dot each time their target sound is used. Complete these in individual or small group sessions, or send them home as homework!

2. Acorn- Dot Marker Tracking worksheet (Articulation) by Kiddo Talk Speech Therapy – This is ideal to keep a kiddo focused during Articulation Drill tasks. Have them identify their target sound first and then get right to work…and drill, drill, drill!

3. Articulation Coloring Sheet by Kimiko the SLP – Use this coloring sheet to keep your kids engaged while practicing their /s/ sounds!

SEE ALSO: 279+ Free Speech Therapy Digital Materials

Answer Questions

One way to help your child or student with initial s sound production is by answering questions.

You can either use a worksheet where they have to answer questions about initial s words or you could verbally ask them questions and have them answer out loud.

Some examples of initial s questions are: “What’s the name of this bird?” while pointing to a picture of a seagull.

Here is an example your child or student might enjoy:

1. Articulation Story Loaded with “S” Sounds and WH Story Question by Speech Fun Club –  This Freebie resource focuses on “S” sound production at the connected speech level while also targeting listening comprehension and narrative language skills.

Initial Consonant Deletion

What is initial consonant deletion?

Initial consonant deletion is when a child or student deletes an initial sound from a word. For example, the word “seal” might be pronounced as “eel”.

One way to work on initial consonant deletion is using minimal pairs to show the student the difference.

When working on initial s minimal pairs, you’ll have two words and your child or student will circle which word has the initial sound they are working on.

For example, if you’re working on initial s sound production, you might have the words “sip” and “dip”. The student then selects the correct word, “sip”.

Here are a few of my favorite initial consonant deletion worksheets that can be used for the initial s sound:

1. Initial Consonant Deletion or Collapse: Animated story by Karen Pardyjak- This is a short story written to highlight the fact that using a specific initial consonant in CVC words changes the meaning. The story is an animated video, which is very useful in the tele-therapy or distance learning format.

2. Initial & Final Consonant Deletion! Print N’ Go! 32 Squares by Speedy Speechy Supplies- 32 squares! Hand drawn worksheets! Draw a line from the word that’s being articulated and the word they MEAN to say! Initial Consonant Deletion made easy!

Distance Learning

One of the many ways you can practice articulation therapy for the initial s sound is through distance learning.

Here are three of my favorite distance learning approved ways to work on the initial s sound: 

1. Initial Sound Picture Spotter – letter ‘s’ by Early Years Resources – Use this fun lesson to reinforce the initial s sound with a variety of words.

2. S sound practice. Placement, isolation, and initial position of words practice by Lizzette Burger – This is a simple way to target /s/ phoneme in isolation and in the initial position of words.

3. FREE S Articulation Short Stories, Lateral Frontal Lisp Sounds, Speech Therapy by Shine Speech Activities – This resource includes 2 stories targeting the initial sound position.

SEE ALSO: Free Articulation Games for Speech Therapy

Auditory Bombardment

Another way to work on articulation practice of the initial s sound production is through auditory bombardment.

Auditory bombardment is a term used to describe the process of providing a student with an abundance of listening opportunities to hear their target sound.

This can be done in a variety of ways such as through listening activities, songs, stories, and more.

Here are a few auditory bombardment activities to work on the initial s sound: 

1. Auditory Bombardment by The Pedi Speechie – You’ll love this Auditory Bombardment freebie that includes the initial s sound. Each page contains parent instructions.

2. Articulation War Plus – S sound by Snowflake Speech – This resource is a play on the card game War, with an added bonus of matching symbols to sound-loaded actions for extra auditory bombardment AND extra engagement!

Age Range

According to the Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation 2 from 2000, most children have mastered the initial S sound by the time they are five years old. (This is a standardized sample from the GFTA-2 with 85% of children able to correctly produce that consonant by that age.)

If you are concerned about your child’s ability to produce this sound, it is best to consult a speech therapist about receiving speech services.

Conclusion

There are a lot of initial s sound therapy activities to choose from!

If you don’t have a lot of time to create your own then be sure to check out the ones listed throughout this blog post.

Which one will you try first?

<< Click Here to Grab your Free Initial S Words Lists >>

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