Oral-Motor Exercises

speech exercises

These are actual speech exercises.  I am copying this hand-out here.  It is the best I've seen.  I've kept mine over 5 years in a plastic protective sleeve. 

Highlight it.  Put your cursor on the highlighted area and right click.  Print.  It will most likely be 2 pages.  Just do a few exercises. Select new ones when you need a change.

ORAL EXERCISES

Please practice the  exercises checked

_____ times a day

_____ repetitions each.

MOUTH AND LIP EXERCISES

1.  Open and close your mouth slowly/quickly.  Be sure your lips are all the way closed.  Repeat.

2.  Pucker your lips, as for a kiss, then relax.  Repeat.

3.  Spread lips into a big smile, hold then relax.  Try to make both sides of your mouth even.  Repeat.

4.  Pucker, hold, smile, hold.  Try to make both sides of your mouth even.  Repeat this alternating movement without holding.

5.  Close your lips tightly and press together.  Hold for 3-5 seconds.  Relax and repeat.

6.  Move your jaw from side to side as slow as you can.  Relax  and repeat.

7.  Puff your cheeks up with air.  Hold the air in for 3-5 seconds.  Try not to let the air escape out of your lips or nose.  Rerlax and repeat.

8.  Same as exercise 15.  Tap your right cheek with your index finger while holding air in your cheeks Try not to let air escape through your lips or nose.  Relax and repeat.

TONGUE EXERCISES

9.  Stick out your tongue so that it is in the middle of your mouth and it does not go off to the side.  Hold that position for 3-5 seconds.  Relax and repeat.

10.  Stick out your tongue and move it slowly from corner to corner.  Relax and repeat.  Repeat moving your tongue quickly.

11.  Stick out your tongue and try to touch your chin with the tongue tip.  Relax and repeat.

12.  Stick out your tongue as far as you can and try to reach your nose with the tongue tip.  Don' t use your bottom lip or your fingers to help.   Hold that position for 3-5 seconds.  Relax and repeat.

13.  Hold a spoon  steady and upright (like a popsicle).  Push your tongue tip against the back of the spoon.  Relax and repeat.

14.  While holding your head steady, pretend to lick a sucker moving the tongue tip from down  to up.

15.   Move your tongue all around the inside of your lips in a circle as completely as you can touching the upper lip, corner, lower lip and corner.  Relax and repeat.  Do the same exercise moving your tongue around the outside of your lips.