Later sounds
Z Sound
Same tongue and teeth position as /s/, with the voice turned on. The buzz should be continuous, not choppy.
- Sound
- /z/
- Typical age
- By age 4
- Voicing
- Voiced
- Type
- Alveolar fricative
- Words here
- 170
How to elicit Z Sound
Ways to help the child make the sound on its own, before practicing it in words.
Placement, step by step
Where the lips, tongue and teeth go.
- 1Everything as for /s/: teeth close, tongue grooved, sides sealed.
- 2Turn the voice on so the hiss becomes a buzz.
- 3Hold the buzz continuously - it should not be choppy.
Elicitation strategies
Tips to help a child say this sound. Most need more than one.
Auditory
- Buzzing "zzzz" like a bee, held long and steady.
- Contrast with /s/ (zip / sip, zoo / Sue).
- Listen for the same lateral escape that spoils /s/.
Visual
- Same as /s/, and equally hidden.
- Voicing is audible, not visible — do not send them to the mirror for it.
- A drawing of the tongue groove is still worth having.
Gestural
- The same forward gliding line as /s/, with your other hand on your throat.
- Keep both hands moving together for the whole sound.
- Same straight midline path as /s/ — the buzz does not change the aim.
- Have them keep a hand on their own throat while they trace.
Tactile
- Fingers on the throat: /z/ buzzes, /s/ does not.
- Hold a long /s/ and switch the voice on without moving the tongue.
- Straw at the midline, same as /s/, to keep the stream central.
How to teach any soundThe practice ladder, shaping from a sound they have, and what to do when it stallsShowHide
The practice ladder
Speech practice climbs. Each step is harder than the one below it, and the jump that trips most people up is the one from single words to real talking. Work at the step where the child is right now - not the one you wish they were on.
- 1
Just the sound
“zzzz”The sound on its own, with no word attached. If the child cannot make it here yet, this is the whole job for now.
- 2
The sound in syllables
“za, zo, zee”The sound glued to a vowel. Nonsense syllables are useful precisely because they carry no meaning - nothing to get in the way.
- 3
Words that start with it
“zoo, zip, zoom”The easiest place in a word, because the child gets to set up their mouth before they begin.
- 4
Words with it anywhere
“zoo, scissors, nose”Middle and end are harder - the sound has to be produced while the rest of the word is already moving.
- 5
Short phrases
“a dozen roses”Two or three words together. This is the first step where the child has to think about something other than the sound.
- 6
Whole sentences
“A dozen bees buzzed around the roses.”A full sentence of their own. Expect the sound to slip here even though it was perfect in single words - that is normal, not backwards.
- 7
Reading and telling
“a paragraph, a story about their day”Longer stretches of talking, with the sound coming up over and over. Reading aloud is useful because the words are already chosen.
- 8
All the time
“in the car, at dinner, with friends”Real conversation with nobody reminding them. This is the goal, and the only step that actually counts as finished.
Two rules. Do not skip a step because the child is bored - go back one instead. And if the sound falls apart when you move up, that is information, not failure: drop down a rung, get a few easy wins, and try again in a day or two.
Start with a sound they already know
- /s/
- /d/
From /s/, turn the voice on and change nothing else. From /d/, hold the tongue contact and release it into a buzz rather than a tap.
If it is not working
If a sound has not responded to several weeks of consistent work, stop and reconsider the target rather than drilling harder. There could be structural reasons a sound will not stabilize, and those need looking at before more practice will help.
Where this guidance comes from
- ASHA Practice Portal — Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonology — Treatment framework, cue taxonomy, and named treatment approaches.
- ASHA Practice Portal — Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders — Why a resting tongue posture or open bite may need addressing before sibilant therapy.
- Boyce (2015), Articulatory Phonetics for Residual Speech Sound Disorders: A Focus on /r/ — Bunched versus retroflex /r/, the obligatory pharyngeal constriction, and /r/ error patterns.
- Shriberg (1978), Utilization of the "Straw Technique" for Correction of the Lateral Lisp (LSHSS) — A straw at the midline as a tactile cue for lateral /s/.
Print it
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Initial Z
17 wordsThe sound is at the beginning of the word.
1 Syllable5 words
- zoo
- zip
- zoom
- zone
- zap
2 Syllables5 words
- zebra
- zero
- zigzag
- zipper
- zip line
3 Syllables6 words
- zucchini
- xylophone
- zinnia
- zigzag line
- zipper pull
- zookeeper
4 Syllables1 words
- zucchini bread
Medial Z
64 wordsThe sound is in the middle of the word.
2 Syllables56 words
- scissors
- lizard
- puzzle
- music
- dizzy
- desert
- present
- easel
- busy
- blizzard
- closet
- raisin
- freezer
- dozen
- wizard
- easy
- buzzing
- roses
- cousin
- breezy
- causing
- chosen
- cozy
- daisy
- design
- dessert
- dissolve
- drizzle
- dozing
- fizzy
- frozen
- fuzzy
- gazing
- grizzly
- hazy
- husband
- jazzy
- lazy
- noisy
- oozing
- pleasant
- raising
- reason
- rising
- rosy
- season
- sizzle
- thousand
- visit
- closing
- cheesy
- freezing
- teasing
- daisies
- cheesecake
- zigzag
3 Syllables8 words
- museum
- amazing
- lizard tail
- magazine
- puzzle piece
- visitor
- bulldozer
- raspberries
High-frequency medial Z words
Some of these also sit in the lists above, and none of them are picture-card words - which is exactly why most lists leave them out. They are the words the child already says hundreds of times a day — so they carry more carryover value than any noun on this page. Target them in conversation, not in drill.
- exactly
- easy
- busy
- using
- closes
- closing
- supposes
Final Z
89 wordsThe sound is at the end of the word.
1 Syllable73 words
- nose
- bees
- shoes
- cheese
- rose
- toes
- keys
- eyes
- prize
- buzz
- maze
- size
- please
- sneeze
- freeze
- pies
- hose
- jazz
- trees
- cars
- noise
- breeze
- as
- blaze
- boys
- choose
- clothes
- clues
- cows
- cruise
- days
- doors
- ears
- eggs
- fizz
- flies
- fries
- fuzz
- gloves
- graze
- has
- haze
- his
- hers
- is
- knees
- lose
- moves
- news
- ones
- pause
- paws
- peas
- pose
- praise
- raise
- rise
- says
- snooze
- stars
- tease
- these
- those
- toys
- was
- whose
- wise
- zoos
- buys
- pigs
- legs
- bugs
- bears
2 Syllables11 words
- glasses
- sunrise
- surprise
- applause
- because
- daisies
- scissors
- babies
- cookies
- fingers
- flowers
3 Syllables5 words
- exercise
- sunglasses
- raspberries
- potatoes
- bananas
High-frequency final Z words
Some of these also sit in the lists above, and none of them are picture-card words - which is exactly why most lists leave them out. They are the words the child already says hundreds of times a day — so they carry more carryover value than any noun on this page. Target them in conversation, not in drill.
- is
- was
- his
- because
- please
- these
- those
- things
- always
- does
- says
- kids
- yours
- seems
- sometimes
- lives
- happens
- others
- suppose
- feels
- calls
- loves
- whose
- gives
- themselves
- ourselves
- upstairs
- leaves
- tells
- plays
Phrases, sentences and reading
Using the sound in longer stretches of talking, once single words are easy.
Phrases 12
Most of these carry two targets, so each one is two chances to practice.
- a dozen roses
- close your eyes
- buzzing bees
- my shoes and socks
- freeze the peas
- a puzzle piece
- those keys
- please and thank you
- cheese pizza
- zip the bag
- lazy days
- noisy cars
Sentences 12
- 1.A dozen bees buzzed around the roses.
- 2.Close your eyes and count to zero.
- 3.Those are my shoes, and these are his.
- 4.Please put the peas in the freezer.
- 5.The zebra has black and white stripes.
- 6.Where are the keys to the closet?
- 7.We had cheese pizza on Tuesday.
- 8.Zip up your bag before we go.
- 9.The lizard froze on the warm stones.
- 10.Those noisy cars woke the babies.
- 11.Rosie sneezed and the papers blew everywhere.
- 12.The music was easy to sing along to.
Reading passage
The Buzzing Zoo
On a lazy Tuesday, Zoe visited the zoo. She saw zebras with stripes, lizards dozing on warm stones, and a dozen bees buzzing around the roses by the gates. Her favorite was the chimpanzees, who were making so much noise that Zoe had to cover her ears. She bought a bag of frozen cherries on the way out and shared them with her cousins.
Phonological awareness
Hearing and playing with the sounds inside words — the listening skill that reading is built on.
Rhyming
Word families built on words from the list above. Say the family out loud, then ask for one more that fits.
rhymes with “zoo”
zoo, you, two, new, knew, blue, clue, chew
-ip family
zip, trip, tip, rip, chip, hip, flip, lip
-oom family
zoom, room, bloom, broom, loom
-one family
zone, phone, bone, tone, lone, drone, cone
-ap family
zap, map, trap, cap, wrap, tap, lap, nap
rhymes with “bees”
bees, freeze, breeze
Syllable counting and blending
Clap or tap once per syllable. To blend, say the parts with a gap and let the child put the word back together.
- zoo1
- zebra2
- zucchini3
- zucchini bread4
- zip1
- zero2
- xylophone3
- zoom1
Sound blending
You say the separate sounds, the child says the word. Start with the two- and three-sound words.
- /z/ /oo/zoo
- /eye/ /z/eyes
- /a/ /z/as
- /i/ /z/is
- /z/ /i/ /p/zip
- /z/ /oo/ /m/zoom
- /z/ /oh/ /n/zone
- /z/ /a/ /p/zap
- /n/ /oh/ /z/nose
- /b/ /ee/ /z/bees
- /sh/ /oo/ /z/shoes
- /ch/ /ee/ /z/cheese
Sound segmenting
The reverse, and the harder one. You say the word, the child breaks it into its separate sounds.
- zoo/z/ /oo/
- eyes/eye/ /z/
- as/a/ /z/
- is/i/ /z/
- zip/z/ /i/ /p/
- zoom/z/ /oo/ /m/
- zone/z/ /oh/ /n/
- zap/z/ /a/ /p/
- nose/n/ /oh/ /z/
- bees/b/ /ee/ /z/
- shoes/sh/ /oo/ /z/
- cheese/ch/ /ee/ /z/
Generalization
Word lists get a sound into a child’s mouth. Generalization is what gets it into their life. These are activities where the target words come up on their own, so nobody has to be talked into practicing.
Play-based ideas for young children
Zoo animals
Line up zoo animals and visit them one at a time. Make the buzzing bee land on each one.
Words that come up
zoo, zebra, buzz, bees, nose, eyes, toes, is, has, these, those, please, does, size
Zipper practice
Zip and unzip a coat, a bag and a pencil case. Race to see who can zip fastest.
Words that come up
zip, zipper, close, those, is, please, buzz, zoom, cheese, nose, was, his, hers, easy
Bubbles and buzzing
Buzz like a bee around the room, landing on things and naming them. Every landing is a /z/ word.
Words that come up
buzz, bees, zoom, nose, eyes, toes, knees, was, is, has, these, rose, cheese, sneeze
Conversation and verbal games for older kids
Plural challenge
Name ten things in a room, all in the plural. Nearly every plural ending is a /z/ - this is the single highest-value /z/ game.
Words that come up
shoes, keys, bees, toes, eyes, noses, roses, days, ways, buzzes, pleases, zeroes
Whose is it
Play a possession guessing game: whose shoes, whose keys, whose bag. Possessives are /z/ endings too.
Words that come up
whose, his, hers, theirs, ours, is, was, those, these, yours, nobody’s, cousins
Zoom in
Describe something starting far away and zooming closer, adding detail each time.
Words that come up
zoom, zero, zone, size, close, choose, easy, busy, does, was, is, always
Play it
- Patchy's Slides & LaddersRoll, count your way along, say the word. Ladders climb; land on Patchy and slide back down.Choose position and play
- Enchanted ForestBeat dragons, trolls and witches at rock, paper, scissors on the way to the finish.Choose position and play
- Crazy EightsMatch the color or the animal, say the word to play the card, go out first.Choose position and play
- Build a CreatureMix heads, bodies, tails, wings and extras into something silly. Two words per part.Choose position and play
- Color PatchyColor him in one piece at a time. Every area costs one word.Choose position and play
- Sticker ScenePick a place, then drag people, things and clothes onto it. Best game for phrases and sentences.Choose position and play
Each game opens with Z Sound selected. Choose a word position before playing. Score every production with Yes! or Not quite and a percentage appears at the bottom. Nothing is sent anywhere, and nothing is saved beyond this browser.