How To Teach The Sh Sound
To make the Sh sound round the lips and bring them forward. Raise the tongue up so the blade brushed against the bumpy ridge behind the teeth. Turn the voice off and release a narrow flow of air. Your tongue stays up. This will produce the /sh/ sound.
At What Age Should a Child Say the Sh Sound?
Most English speaking children can say the Sh sound around age 4.*
How Do You Practice the Sh 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 Sh Word List
chef
shade
shadow
shake
shampoo
shapes
share
shark
sharp
she
shed
sheep
shelf
shells
shiny
ship
shirt
shoe
shop
short
shoulder
shout
shovel
show
shower
shrimp
shut
shy
Medial Sh Word List
action
bushes
cashier
caution
dishes
fashion
fishing
flashlight
lotion
machine
milkshake
mushroom
ocean
pushing
social
sunshine
tissue
washcloth
washer
wishes
Final Sh Word List
brush
bush
cash
crash
crush
dash
dish
fish
flash
fresh
leash
smash
squish
swish
trash
wish
Activity Ideas for Practicing the Sh Sound
Practice Common Words
Write down a list of words with Sh that your child uses. Think of as many things (nouns), actions (verbs), and descriptive words (adjectives) as you can.
Nouns: shoe, fish, couch…
Verbs: show, shop, shower …
Adjectives: shiny, sharp, squishy…
Games and Toys
Look for games and toys that include a lot of Sh words.
Play a game of Go Fish
Dig in the sand with a shovel
Match shapes
Books
Find books that have Sh words in them.
Think about characters, places, and objects (nouns)
What Sh action words does it have?
Does the book use descriptive words (adjectives with Sh words?)
Make your own Sh word book!
Speech Therapy Materials
Check out the resources on the right side of the page for ideas.
Or Shop Here.
* 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
