L sound activities: helping your child say L

When does the L sound usually develop?

Most children are saying L clearly somewhere between 4 and 6. Before that, it’s common to hear it swapped for W (“wion” for “lion”) or Y (“yeyyow” for “yellow”). Every child is different, so treat ages as a rough guide, not a deadline.

A note on accents: in many British accents, the L at the end of words like ball, milk or table naturally sounds a bit like a W or an “oo”. That’s accent, not a speech difficulty. Focus on L at the start of words and between vowels: lion, leaf, lolly, yellow.

When to talk to a speech and language therapist

Ask a speech and language therapist (SLT) if:

• your child is around 6 and still replaces L most of the time;
• several sounds are unclear, or your child is hard to understand;
• the tongue can’t easily lift to the top teeth, or you’ve wondered about tongue-tie;
• your child gets frustrated, avoids words or is teased.

Your GP, health visitor, nursery or school can tell you how to reach local services. It’s fine to ask “just to check”.

Where the tongue goes, and a quick warm-up

For L, the tip of the tongue lifts and touches the bumpy ridge just behind the top front teeth, and the sound flows out around the sides. The lips stay relaxed: if they round into a kiss, you’ll hear a W. Practise in front of a mirror so your child can see the tongue go up.

• Tongue tap: mouth slightly open, tap the tip on the ridge behind the top teeth: “la-la-la”. 10 taps.
• Ice-lolly lick: pretend to lick an ice lolly from bottom to top. 5 licks.
• Lift and hold: tongue tip up behind the top teeth, hold for 5 seconds, relax. 5 times.
• Lip lick: lick the top lip slowly from corner to corner. 5 times.

More in tongue exercises for speech. Keep warm-ups short and silly: they get the tongue moving, but they’re not the practice itself.

Step by step

1. Listening: play with pairs like light/white, lake/wake and lock/wok, or let/yet, less/yes and lawn/yawn. You say a word; your child points to the picture.
2. The sound alone: a long, singing “lllll” with the tongue tip up.
3. Syllables: la, lee, loo, lo – then “lalala”, “lololo”.
4. Words: L at the start (lion, leg, lemon, lolly), then in the middle (balloon, jelly, yellow), then in blends (play, blue, clock, flag).
5. Phrases: “lots of lemons”, “a lovely blue balloon”.
6. Everyday talk: pick one routine – bath time, the bus – for listening out for L.

Stay on each step until it’s easy. If it gets wobbly, go back one step; that’s part of learning.

L sound activities and games

• La-la karaoke: sing a favourite song using only “la”.
• Lock or wok? Draw a lock and a wok. Take turns saying one while the other points. Mix-ups are funny, and they show why the sound matters.
• L spotting: on a walk, look for things that start with L – leaves, lorries, lamp posts, ladders.
• Lolly shop: make paper lollies and “sell” them; your child orders a lemon, lime or lychee lolly.
• Tongue twisters: “lovely lemon lollies” – for later, once L is steady in words.

How Chatterbox helps

The L track in Chatterbox is a motorbike race: reading words aloud fires the nitro, and there are tricks, a garage and coins to collect. The Speech lessons add tongue warm-ups with pictures of the tongue position, tongue twisters and chants. A friendly animal says every task aloud, and the microphone hears when your child speaks.

Common mistakes

• “Say it properly!” Model it instead: “Yes, a lion! A big lion.”
• Long sessions. 5–10 minutes a day is plenty.
• Worrying about the L in ball if that’s simply how your accent sounds.
• Jumping to sentences before single words are steady.