How To Teach The K Sound
To make the /k/ sound bring the back of the up to the roof of your mouth. The tongue should tap against the soft spot known as the soft palate. Quickly pull the tongue down and release air over the tongue. The voice is turned off. This quick movement and burst of air produces the /k/ sound.
At What Age Should a Child Say the K Sound?
Most English speaking children can say the K sound around age 2-3.*
What is the Difference Between k and /k/?
The written symbols, K and k, refer to the name of the letter “k”. When you see the k between diagonal lines, /k/, that refers to the sound the letter makes, /k/.
K is a letter name.
/k/ is the sound it makes.
What Are K and G Sounds?
K and G are paired together because they are made the same way, with one difference, our voice. The muscles in our mouth move the same way to make both sounds except our voice is “turned on” for the G and not the K. This means we vibrate or move our vocal folds as air passes through them to make a sound.
G is voiced.
K is unvoiced.
Try it!
Hold your hand to your throat and say /g/. Can you feel the vibration?
Now say the /k/ sound. Just air, no vibration.
(Learn more voiced and voiceless pairs of sounds here.)
How Do You Practice the K Sound?
It depends.
Understanding why your child is having difficulty making this sound is important. A speech therapist can do an evaluation to make a diagnosis. What words you choose and activities will vary depending on the cause.
Click here to read more about types of speech sound disorders and treatment
Initial K Word List
cab
call
calm
can
candy
cap
car
card
care
castle
cat
catch
caterpillar
coat
cobweb
cold
comb
come
computer
cone
cook
cool
corn
cough
count
cousin
cow
cub
cup
cut
cute
kangaroo
ketchup
key
kid
kind
kindergarten
king
kite
kitten
Medial K Word List
bacon
baker
bicycle
breakfast
bucket
chicken
chocolate
cooking
cracker
donkey
jacket
looking
lucky
monkey
napkin
pumpkin
raccoon
raincoat
rocket
soccer
turkey
uncle
vacuum
weekend
Final K Word List
back
bake
bike
black
block
book
break
cake
check
chick
cook
duck
hike
joke
kick
knock
lake
lick
like
lock
look
magic
make
milk
rake
rock
shake
sick
snack
snake
sock
speak
stick
talk
truck
walk
Note: Notice that some words are spelled with the K and some are spelled with a C.
Activity Ideas for Practicing the K Sound
Practice Common Words
Write down a list of words with K that your child uses. Think of as many things (nouns), actions (verbs), and descriptive words (adjectives) as you can.
Nouns: car, bucket, book…
Verbs: kick, cut, looking…
Adjectives: cold, kind, lucky…
Games and Toys
Look for games and toys that include a lot of K words.
kick or catch a ball
play with cars
Books
Find books that have K words in them.
Think about characters, places, and objects (nouns)
What K action words does it have?
Does the book use descriptive words (adjectives with K words?)
Make your own K word book!
Speech Therapy Materials
Check out the resources on the right side of the page for ideas.
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* Resource
McLeod, S. & Crowe, K. (2018). Children’s consonant acquisition in 27 languages: A cross-linguistic review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. doi:10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0100. Available from: https://ajslp.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2701897
