Hands Up For Minimal Pairs

Today I wanted to share a little tip that I use when using minimal pairs during phonology or articulation tasks.

It’s something I started doing during my CF as a way to visually get kids to recognize the difference between minimal pairs and also as a way for me to check that they were hearing words correctly. A lot of time during phonology therapy you’re using minimal pairs.

Say for example you’re working on fronting and the words are key/tea. I hold up both hands like the picture shown above and say, “Slap the hand that matches the word I say.” Move one hand for “key” and the other hand for “tea.” Switch it up each time you do it. This way, you can check for auditory discrimination so you know if your students can hear the difference. They might not be able to produce it correctly yet, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Do you use any tricks when working on minimal pairs? Comment below!