Part 3: Advanced Activities for Oral Motor Skills Development

By: Maria Panagitopoulos, M.S., CF-SLP and Lydia Stimpson, M.S., CCC-SLP

Once basic oral motor exercises are established, advanced activities help reinforce coordination and strength, leading to improved speech and feeding abilities.

Exercises for Tongue Motion and Resistance

• Tongue extension and retraction: Enhances forward and backward movement control.
• Pushing tongue forward, upward, sideways, and inside: Builds tongue resistance and strength.
• Counting teeth with tongue: Improves tongue awareness and mobility.
• Blowing raspberries: Helps engage tongue muscles playfully.
• Lateralization of tongue: Moving tongue to side to side to help develop control and awareness

Lip Closure Strengthening Activities

• Lip retraction and protrusion: Improves control over lip movement.
• Lip press exercise: Enhances strength by pressing lips together tightly.
• Cheek air-filling exercise: Holding air in the cheeks without letting it leak helps strengthen lip control.
• Pressing lips on a tongue depressor: Encourages forceful lip closure and endurance.
• Fishy face and smoochy lips: Encourages lip mobility and flexibility.
• Inside lip stretches: Helps babies with tight upper lips achieve better mobility.
• Blowing Bubbles: Helps children develop lip rounding abilities

• Making the /m/ sound: creates familiarity with closed lips
• Blowing air out of a straw: Helps create lip rounding abilities and helps to strengthen lips

Bolus Control and Chewing Activities

• Placing small boluses of paste-like food in the mouth: Helps practice tongue coordination during eating.
• Chewing on a licorice stick: Strengthens jaw and tongue muscles for better chewing skills.
• Using a mesh bag with chewy foods: Encourages molar chewing and strengthens jaw muscles.
• Drinking through a straw: Enhances lip strength and controlled swallowing.
• Playing with harmonicas or whistles: Helps improve breath control and oral coordination.

Tongue Tie Treatments

• The following exercises above are very helpful tips in creating more flexibility and strength with the tongue and lips when they are restricted.
• A frenotomy may be recommend based on severity of the tie and the difficulties it is causing. This a mild procedure.  Some people can learn to compensate with a mild (to moderate) tongue and lip tie.
• Tongue and lip exercises are essential before and after surgery. A trained speech therapist or a myofunctional therapist can help assist with the exercises and right treatment plan.

These exercises, when practiced consistently, can greatly enhance oral motor skills, leading to clearer speech, improved feeding, and overall better oral function. If challenges persist, working with a speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist can provide personalized guidance and support.

If you’re looking to build on these fun, advanced oral motor activities, our experienced therapists at Child & Family Development are here to help. Click to fill out our online appointment request form and schedule a session today. We proudly serve families across Charlotte, NC with two convenient locations:

• Midtown Charlotte: 4012 Park Road, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28209
• Pineville: 11940 Carolina Place Pkwy, Suite 200, Pineville, NC 28134

Let’s work together to boost your child’s oral motor skills—right here in Charlotte.