Initial S Cards
Eight printable flashcards for the S sound
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What this is
Eight printable flashcards for practising the S sound at the start of words: soup, salt, scissors, sit, sand, sign, send, sing.
What it helps with
The S sound is made with the tongue-tip close to the ridge behind the upper front teeth (but not touching it), the teeth almost closed, and a thin stream of air flowing down a groove in the middle of the tongue. A clean S depends on precise tongue control — which is why it’s one of the last sounds many children master.
Children still learning S often substitute it with T (saying “toup” for “soup”) or produce a lispy version where the tongue pushes forward between the teeth.
How to use them
- Print, cut, and laminate if you want them to last.
- Ask your child to make a “snake sound” — long and quiet: “sssss”.
- Check the tongue in a mirror: it should stay behind the teeth, not poke through.
- Keep the teeth almost closed and smile slightly — this helps the groove form.
- Stretch the sound into the word: “sssss-oup”, then speed up to “soup”.
When to seek support
S often develops later, so age three to five is usually fine. If your child is five or older, still substituting T for S, or if the tongue consistently pokes through the teeth (an “interdental lisp”), an assessment is worthwhile. Persistent lisps are often linked to tongue posture or tongue-tie and respond well to myofunctional therapy.
Myofunctional Therapy Perspecitve
We say this/these sounds with the tip of our tongue to the spot behind our upper incisors, or the palate. – Sometimes, when the tongue is not functioning optimally, or is always compensating for an airway issue, the tongue cannot always easily find this spot. The sound scan be made with the wring part of the tongue to the spot, or with the tongue pushing into or between teeth. – Working on these sounds as part of a myofunctional programme can be helpful for myofunction, as well as improving speech clarity – Myospots (fruit flavours applied to ‘the spot’ can be a great helper for children to find the right spot
