Minimal Pairs Activities

Here are a few ideas to work on minimal pairs activities during your therapy sessions.

I love to use movement-based and play-based activities with minimal pairs to increase client engagement for both in-person and virtual speech therapy sessions.

In-person sessions

Jumping Pairs

Lay target words pairs on the ground. Have the child jump from pair to pair, practicing the word pair that they land on. Bonus step: I like to use a jumbo dice like this to see how many times they will say each word pair.

"Magic” Wand

A magnetic wand and bingo chips are versatile for a wide variety of activities. Each time the child says their target word pairs correctly they can get a “magic” chip and place it on top of the picture targets. After they have acquired a few or when you are completing the task, they use the “magic” wand to pick them up.

Bowling

Using a bowling set is always a crowd pleaser. Place the target words underneath the bowling pins. When the child knocks the pins down, they must say all of the visible target pairs before they can take another turn.

Virtual Sesssions:

Critter clinic

Place the minimal pair target words inside the critter clinic. Have the child choose which door they would like to open and reveal the word pair inside. Bonus: I also like to add a mini object for an extra surprise.

What’s in the egg?

I love to use plastic eggs year-round. Place the target word pairs in plastic eggs. I place the plastic eggs inside of a bag or container. I like to make a big deal of shaking the bag and guessing what could be inside. I’ll pull out two eggs and let the child pick one. We’ll open it and find the minimal pair inside and practice that target. If you are worried about the visibility of the target wrods, you can screen share the target as well. Bonus: I like to add mini objects for an extra surprise as well.

Feed the monster

I use my green screen for this activity. I have my green felt background hanging with the felt pouch attached to place the word pairs in. It will give the appearance that the monster at the food. I select my virtual background. I like to use a silly monster for this but it is very versatile, I’ve used a cat, bear, and the cookie monster for this activity. I’ll screen share our target pairs after the child produces the targets correctly for the desired amount of time. I’ll feed the monster the word pair. Download Monster Background

Do you have questions about minimal pairs approach? Check out our blog post and step-by-step directions.