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We have the ultimate list of cluster reduction activities to make your speech sessions a SPECTACULAR, SMASHING, and SWEET success! Check out all of the links below to some of our favorite speech activities, books, and ideas. And be sure to GRAB our FLAWLESSLY PLEASING /l-blends/ speech sound FREEBIE too! 😉
Cluster Reduction in Speech Therapy
Cluster reduction occurs when children omit one or more sounds within a sound sequence. For example, a speech student may state “nack” instead of “snack”. Chances are you have had many students present with this error! Since cluster reduction can be quite common, we have rounded up some activities to target /s-blends/, /l-blends/, and /r-blends/.
/S-blends/
Word Lists
Check out these links to free word lists containing /s-blends/. Using word lists are great for coming up with target speech sounds when playing open ended games or activities during sessions.
- Home Speech Home
- Mommy Speech Therapy
Activities & Games
Click on these links for some great games and activities centered around /s-blends/. Always great to have some easy, no prep, print & go activities targeting a variety of speech sounds.
- Tic Tac Toe
- Jeopardy style game
- Photo Identification
- Roll & Say Games
- Smash Mats
- Picture to Word Matching
- Make A Word (With Blends)
Books
Here is a list of books containing a variety of /s-blends/ sounds. These are great for auditory bombardment as well as labeling pictures containing target sounds.
- /sp/
- The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
- Spoon by Amy Rosenthal
- /sk/
- Chicken Little
- Skunks! by David T. Greenburg
- /st/
- Stop That Ball! by Mike McClintock
- Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper
- Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
- /sm/
- You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang
- Small Pig by Arnold Lobel
- /sn/
- The Snowy Day by Erza Jack Keats
- There’s A Snake In My School by David Walliams
- A Pet Named Sneaker by Joan Heilbroner
Also read: Best Fall Books To Use For BOTH Speech & Language Therapy!
/R-blends/
Word Lists
Activities & Games
Books
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
- Room On The Broom by Julia Donaldson
- Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
- Princess And The Pea by Hans Christian Anderson
Want more books that target /r-blends/? Check out this awesome blog post from Teachers Love Lists that includes all /r-blends/ with several titles for each!
/L-blends/
Word Lists
Activities & Games
Books
- That’s Not My Sloth by Usborne Books
- Fletcher And The Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
- There Was An Old Lady That Swallowed A Fly by Lucille Colandro
Want more phonological processes ideas and activities? Read also: How To Effortlessly Plan 15 Activities For Final Consonant Deletion
Cluster Reduction Freebie!!!
We have an awesome freebie for you in this post! These roll and say game boards are print & go, no prep. Each game board comes in color and black and white.
Your students will love rolling the honey pot die template that is included then practicing their target speech sounds. Have them cover up each word with a manipulative or color each picture. Perfect to send home for additional home practice!
The /l/ clusters included are: BL, CL, FL, GL, PL, SL, and mixed L-blends.
Instantly download these Freebie Bear /L-blends/ Roll and Say Games by clicking the image below!
In addition to this awesome freebie, we have lots of cluster reduction activities in our TPT store. Click the link here or the image below to check out some more games and resources to target the phonological process of cluster reduction in your sessions today!
So there you go! We hope you find this ultimate list of cluster reduction activities not only helpful, but effective as well. Have an activity we missed? Leave us a comment below to tell us your favorite cluster reduction speech therapy activity!
Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Pinterest too! We will be posting more ideas and activities in action that you won’t want to miss.
Happy cluster reduction, SLPs!
Talking Mama Bears
