Finger puppets are an unobtrusive but very effective tool in speech therapy. The child is not speaking "for the therapist" but for the lion. The target sound becomes an animal sound, repetition becomes play, and the child looks at the puppet instead of at their own mouth. Here are ten exercises we have developed together with speech therapists and parents. Each one has a setup, a sentence you say to the child, and a variation for home practice.
All exercises work with one puppet on the therapist's finger and one on the child's. Our puppets are 8 × 4 cm, two layers of felt, free of small loose parts and hand-washable, which matters in a clinic.
Articulation: single sounds
1. The lion roars – target sound /r/
Puppets: lion and tiger from the safari animals set.
Setup: The lion has lost his voice and can only roar a quiet "rrr". Every time the child holds the /r/, the lion gets louder and sits up taller. If the child substitutes /w/, let the tiger "next door" model the sound with lips pulled back, not rounded.
Say to the child: "The lion has a sore throat. Help him roar properly again: rrr!"
At home: The lion roars three /r/ words before bed: rain, red, rabbit.
2. The elephant lifts its trunk – target sound /l/
Puppet: elephant from the safari set.
Setup: Trunk up, tongue up. The child lifts the tongue tip behind the top front teeth and holds "lll" for as long as the elephant keeps its trunk raised. Then syllables: la, le, li, lo, lu.
Say to the child: "When the elephant lifts its trunk, you lift your tongue. Lll – until it comes down again."
At home: The elephant "drinks" five /l/ words every evening: lamp, lemon, ball, lion, yellow.
3. The hissing snake – target sound /s/
Puppet: we do not make a snake; the crocodile from the safari set hisses just as well with its long flat head.
Setup: The puppet creeps slowly across the table and hisses "sss": teeth together, tongue behind the teeth, a smile. For a frontal lisp, the puppet's head is the reminder: the tongue stays "inside the house".
Say to the child: "The snake can only hiss when your tongue stays behind your teeth. Show her how: sss."
At home: The snake hunts for three /s/ things in the flat: sofa, sock, soup.
4. The bee buzzes – target sound /z/ and voicing
Puppet: bee from the garden animals set.
Setup: The bee flies from flower to flower (the child's palms) and buzzes "zzz" with voice. Hand on the throat: the child feels whether the throat "hums". Contrast with the snake, which is voiceless.
Say to the child: "The bee hums in your throat, the snake doesn't. Feel it: is your bee humming?"
At home: Buzzing contest: who can hold the buzz longer, child or bee?
5. The cat hisses – target sound /sh/
Puppet: cat from the city animals set.
Setup: The dog comes too close and the cat hisses "shhh": lips rounded and pushed forward, tongue wide and back. Later, the s/sh contrast becomes a snake-versus-cat duel: who hisses thin, who hisses round?
Say to the child: "Make your mouth into a little tunnel and let the cat hiss: shhh."
At home: The cat hisses at every /sh/ word in the bedtime picture book.
6. Peekaboo! – target sound /k/
Puppet: cow from the farm animals set, or any other puppet.
Setup: The puppet hides behind your hand and pops out with "Cuckoo!" or "Peekaboo!". The back-of-the-tongue /k/ gets repeated dozens of times without it feeling like practice. For fronting (k becomes t), have the child tip the head back slightly.
Say to the child: "The cow is playing hide and seek. When she comes out she calls: Cuckoo!"
At home: Peekaboo behind doors and cushions, child and puppet taking turns.
Oral-motor skills
7. The fish snaps – lip strength and rounding
Puppet: fish from the sea animals set.
Setup: The fish opens and closes its mouth and the child copies: pucker, fish face, press the lips firmly shut, wide smile, kiss. Five of each movement, at the fish's pace.
Say to the child: "The fish has no hands. It can only talk with its mouth. Copy its fish face."
At home: Fish faces in the mirror for one minute a day while brushing teeth.
Speech rate and fluency
8. Tortoise and hare – controlling speech rate
Puppets: turtle from the sea animals set, rabbit from the forest animals set.
Setup: Both animals say the same sentence. The tortoise speaks slowly and stretched out, the hare fast. Children who clutter or stutter "borrow" the tortoise: its pace is the model, not a correction from the therapist.
Say to the child: "The tortoise wins today. Say it as slowly as she does: I … am … going … to … the … forest."
At home: One tortoise sentence per person at dinner, no judging.
Listening, imitation and storytelling
9. The parrot repeats – imitation and minimal pairs
Puppet: parrot from the pirate set.
Setup: The parrot repeats everything the child says, but sometimes gets it wrong. The child has to listen and decide whether the parrot said it right: "key – tea", "sun – ton", "ship – sip". Then swap roles: now the child is the parrot.
Say to the child: "The parrot is a bit scatterbrained. Listen carefully: did he say it right or wrong?"
At home: Three minimal pairs per evening; the child gets to "correct" the parrot.
10. Retelling a fairy tale – sequencing and sentence structure
Puppets: fairy tale set with king, princess, knight, dragon and witch.
Setup: You tell a short story with three characters and three scenes. Then the child gets the puppets and tells it back. Order, connectors (first, then, in the end) and complete sentences are the goal. For older children: the story gets a different ending.
Say to the child: "Now you are the storyteller. What happened first, what came next, how did it end?"
At home: In the evening the child tells a parent what happened at nursery, using the puppets, in three scenes.
A note for parents
These exercises do not replace an assessment. If your four-year-old still cannot produce several sounds, is hard to understand or gets stuck, a speech and language evaluation makes sense; your paediatrician or GP can refer you. At home the rule is: five minutes a day, always playful, never correcting. The puppet is allowed to make mistakes, and so is the child. If your child is already in therapy, ask the therapist which sounds are current and take exactly that puppet home.
All the sets mentioned here are gathered in our Speech therapy collection. A dedicated therapy set with sound cards for the individual animals is in development; we will only name a date once it is finished. Clinics that need several sets are welcome to write to us via the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
From what age are finger puppets suitable for speech exercises?
From three years, because under toy safety rules the puppets count as small parts. Exercises 1 to 7 work from three; the storytelling and minimal-pair exercises from about four to five.
How do I clean the puppets between two children?
Hand-wash in lukewarm water with a little soap, squeeze out, dry flat. The felt takes it without complaint. Many clinics keep two sets and swap daily.
Which set covers the most sounds?
The safari set: lion and tiger (/r/), elephant (/l/), crocodile (/s/), giraffe (/g/), zebra (/z/) and hippo (/h/, /p/) – six target sounds in one pouch.