15 Oral Motor Exercises for Kids to Improve Speech Clarity

Does your school-age child struggle with unclear speech or difficulty producing certain sounds? Oral motor exercises can help strengthen the muscles used for speech and improve overall clarity. These 15 fun, evidence-based exercises are designed specifically for children ages 5-12 and can easily be practiced at home.

What Are Oral Motor Exercises?

Oral motor exercises are activities designed to strengthen and improve coordination of the muscles used for speech, eating, and swallowing. These include muscles in the lips, tongue, jaw, and cheeks. When these muscles are stronger and better coordinated, children often experience improved speech clarity and articulation.

Who Benefits from Oral Motor Exercises?

These exercises can help children who have:

• Unclear or "mushy" sounding speech
• Difficulty with specific speech sounds
• Weak oral muscle tone
• Drooling issues
• Difficulty with precise lip or tongue movements
• Motor planning challenges

Important Safety Notes

Before You Begin:

• Ensure your child doesn't have any swallowing disorders
• Children with oral sensitivity may need gradual introduction
• Always supervise exercises involving small objects
• Stop if your child experiences pain or excessive fatigue
• Consult a speech-language pathologist for persistent concerns

Lip Strengthening Exercises

Exercise 1: Lip Resistance Training

Target: Lip muscle strength and coordination

What You Need: Your finger or a tongue depressor

How to Practice:

• Have your child purse their lips tightly
• Place your finger against their closed lips
• Ask them to keep lips closed while you gently try to pull them apart
• Hold for 5 seconds, repeat 10 times
• Make it fun by pretending to be a "lip monster" trying to open their mouth

Progression: Increase hold time to 10 seconds as strength improves

Exercise 2: Lip Pops

Target: Lip closure and release coordination

What You Need: Nothing!

How to Practice:

• Have your child press lips firmly together
• Build up air pressure behind closed lips
• Release with a loud "pop" sound
• Practice 15-20 pops in a row
• Challenge them to make the loudest pop possible

Make It Fun: Have a "popping contest" or pop to the beat of their favorite song

Exercise 3: Lip Stretches

Target: Lip flexibility and range of motion

What You Need: Mirror

How to Practice:

• Smile as wide as possible, hold for 5 seconds
• Pucker lips as if giving a kiss, hold for 5 seconds
• Alternate between wide smile and pucker 15 times
• Practice in front of mirror for visual feedback
• Add silly faces to make it entertaining

Progression: Increase hold time and add resistance with finger pressure

Tongue Strengthening Exercises

Exercise 4: Tongue Push-Ups

Target: Tongue tip strength and elevation

What You Need: Nothing!

How to Practice:

• Have your child push tongue tip firmly against the roof of their mouth (behind front teeth)
• Hold for 5 seconds while keeping tongue tip pressed up
• Release and repeat 10 times
• Ensure they're not pushing with their whole tongue

Visual Cue: "Press your tongue like you're trying to make a dent in the ceiling of your mouth"

Exercise 5: Tongue Resistance Training

Target: Overall tongue strength

What You Need: Tongue depressor or clean spoon

How to Practice:

• Place tongue depressor against side of child's tongue
• Have them push their tongue against it while you provide gentle resistance
• Hold for 5 seconds, repeat on both sides
• Practice pushing forward, backward, and to each side
• Gradually increase resistance as strength improves

Safety: Use gentle pressure and stop if child reports discomfort

Exercise 6: Tongue Tip Precision

Target: Tongue tip coordination and accuracy

What You Need: Small, safe foods like Cheerios or mini chocolate chips

How to Practice:

• Place small food item on child's lower lip
• Have them use only their tongue tip to move it to the center of their upper lip
• Practice moving items to different spots around their lips
• Try picking up items from a plate using only the tongue tip
• Progress to smaller items as accuracy improves

Make It Fun: Create "tongue obstacle courses" with different foods

Cheek and Jaw Exercises

Exercise 7: Cheek Puffs

Target: Cheek muscle strength and control

What You Need: Nothing!

How to Practice:

• Have your child puff out both cheeks with air
• Hold for 10 seconds without letting air escape
• Release slowly through pursed lips
• Practice puffing one cheek at a time
• Try moving air from one cheek to the other

Progression: Increase hold time and practice while walking or doing other activities

Exercise 8: Jaw Strengthening

Target: Jaw muscle coordination and strength

What You Need: Small chewy foods or sugar-free gum

How to Practice:

• Give child a piece of sugar-free gum or chewy candy
• Have them chew with their back teeth on one side
• Count 20 chews, then switch to the other side
• Practice opening mouth wide and closing slowly
• Practice side-to-side jaw movements

Important: Only use this exercise with children who won't swallow gum

Breathing and Airflow Exercises

Exercise 9: Straw Activities

Target: Breath control and oral motor coordination

What You Need: Straws of different sizes, cotton balls, tissue paper

How to Practice:

• Blow cotton balls across the table using a straw
• Suck up small pieces of tissue paper with the straw
• Blow bubbles in water using different straw sizes
• Practice steady, controlled airflow for 10 seconds
• Try blowing objects through obstacle courses

Progression: Use smaller straws for increased difficulty

Exercise 10: Controlled Breathing Games

Target: Breath support for speech

What You Need: Pinwheels, bubbles, or feathers

How to Practice:

• Blow pinwheels with steady, controlled breath
• Keep bubbles floating in the air with gentle puffs
• Blow feathers and keep them airborne
• Practice long, slow exhalations through pursed lips
• Count while blowing to encourage sustained airflow

Goal: Achieve 15-20 seconds of controlled exhalation

Coordination and Motor Planning Exercises

Exercise 11: Lip and Tongue Sequences

Target: Motor planning and coordination

What You Need: Mirror

How to Practice:

• Create sequences like: pucker lips → stick out tongue → smile
• Start with 2-step sequences, progress to 4-5 steps
• Practice the same sequence multiple times for consistency
• Add new sequences weekly
• Use visual cues or pictures for complex sequences

Example Sequence: Kiss → stick tongue out → big smile → open mouth wide

Exercise 12: Sound and Movement Combinations

Target: Integration of oral movements with speech sounds

What You Need: Nothing!

How to Practice:

• Combine oral movements with speech sounds
• "Pa" with lip pops
• "Ta" with tongue tip movements
• "Ka" with jaw movements
• Practice in rhythm or to music
• Create silly sound sequences

Make It Fun: Turn into a rap song or chant

Advanced Exercises

Exercise 13: Precision Feeding

Target: Fine motor control and coordination

What You Need: Various textures of food (applesauce, yogurt, crackers)

How to Practice:

• Have child eat different textures mindfully
• Focus on controlled chewing and swallowing
• Practice moving food around mouth with tongue
• Try eating without using hands (tongue and lips only for small items)
• Practice controlled biting with front teeth

Benefits: Improves awareness and control of oral movements

Exercise 14: Speaking While Moving

Target: Maintaining speech clarity during physical activity

What You Need: Simple physical activities

How to Practice:

• Have child recite alphabet while doing jumping jacks
• Count while marching in place
• Say tongue twisters while walking
• Practice speech sounds during ball activities
• Maintain clear speech during movement

Goal: Speech clarity shouldn't decrease significantly during movement

Exercise 15: Multi-Tasking Speech Activities

Target: Advanced motor planning and coordination

What You Need: Simple puzzles or building blocks

How to Practice:

• Have child describe what they're doing while building with blocks
• Practice speech sounds while sorting objects
• Tell stories while drawing or coloring
• Practice conversation skills during simple games
• Maintain speech focus during fine motor activities

Benefits: Prepares for real-world communication demands

Creating a Daily Practice Routine

Sample 15-Minute Session:

Warm-up (2 minutes):

• Lip stretches and facial movements
• Gentle jaw movements

Strength Training (8 minutes):

• Choose 3-4 exercises from different categories
• Focus on quality over quantity
• Take breaks if child shows fatigue

Cool-down (5 minutes):

• Fun coordination activities
• Breathing exercises
• Positive reinforcement and celebration

Weekly Schedule Suggestions:

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Focus on strength exercises
• Tuesday/Thursday: Emphasize coordination and motor planning
• Saturday: Fun review and games
• Sunday: Rest or light practice

Tracking Progress

What to Monitor:

• Muscle strength improvements
• Increased endurance during exercises
• Better coordination in daily activities
• Improved speech clarity
• Child's comfort and confidence levels

Keep a Simple Log:

• Date and exercises completed
• Duration of practice
• Child's mood and participation
• Any improvements noticed
• Challenges encountered

Making It Fun and Engaging

Gamification Ideas:

• Create exercise "challenges" with rewards
• Use sticker charts for daily practice
• Make up silly names for exercises
• Practice with siblings or friends
• Record progress videos
• Let child be the "teacher" sometimes

Incorporate Interests:

• Sports themes for active children
• Animal movements for animal lovers
• Musical rhythms for music enthusiasts
• Art activities for creative kids

Troubleshooting Common Challenges

"My child resists practicing"

• Make sessions shorter
• Incorporate their favorite activities
• Practice during preferred times of day
• Offer choices in exercise selection
• Use positive reinforcement consistently

"I don't see improvement"

• Progress can be gradual - keep consistent
• Take videos to compare over time
• Focus on effort, not just results
• Consider consulting a speech-language pathologist
• Adjust difficulty level if needed

"Exercises seem too hard/easy"

• Modify difficulty as needed
• Break complex exercises into smaller steps
• Add resistance or duration for increased challenge
• Combine exercises for advanced practice

When to Seek Professional Help

Contact a speech-language pathologist if:

• Child shows no improvement after 6-8 weeks of consistent practice
• Speech clarity significantly impacts daily communication
• Child experiences pain during exercises
• You notice regression in speech skills
• Child has additional concerns like swallowing difficulties

Additional Tips for Success

Create the Right Environment:

• Choose a quiet, comfortable space
• Use good lighting and a mirror when helpful
• Minimize distractions
• Have all materials ready before starting

Positive Reinforcement:

• Celebrate effort, not just perfect performance
• Use specific praise ("Great job holding that for 10 seconds!")
• Acknowledge improvements, however small
• Keep sessions positive and encouraging

Stay Consistent:

• Practice daily, even if just for 5-10 minutes
• Same time each day helps establish routine
• Don't skip days due to "bad" performance
• Consistency trumps perfection

Remember, oral motor exercises are most effective when combined with traditional speech therapy techniques and regular practice. These exercises provide the foundation of strength and coordination that supports clearer, more precise speech production.

With patience, consistency, and the right approach, you'll help your child develop stronger oral motor skills that support confident, clear communication for years to come!