This song is available in the following formats:

• Download this song in MP3 format
• Download all 13 Music in My Mouth songs
• Receive the CD and accompanying manual via Mail (shipping/handling charges apply)
  Includes 13 BONUS tracks- Friends, Hands, My Family, I've Got Two, I Can Do It, I'm Gonna Find a Way, Let's Play, Breathe, Emotion, I Get Angry, Self Control, Stop and Think, and Three Rules  

Click the ► in the top right of the "Place Order box" for a preview. 

Correct production of the sounds /s/ and /z/ is challenging for many young children.   Mistakes on these sounds are among the most frequently noted articulation errors.  Many typically developing children and children with developmental disabilities have difficulty smoothly directing their air-stream through the anterior of the mouth while maintaining correct tongue placement behind the teeth.  When the tongue protrudes creating a /th/ sound, the result is a frontal lisp.  When the air escapes through the sides of the mouth, the end result is a lateral lisp.  Both articulation errors interfere with speech intelligibility.

Direct sound teaching during therapy can lead to correct sound production.  Once the sound is produced correctly in isolation, the challenge becomes the transition from isolated production to correct production in connected speech.  This transition is accomplished through practice, practice, practice.  Suzie the Snake provides opportunities for practicing the target sounds /s/ and /z/ in a song that is fun to listen to and sing making practice time painless.

Lyrics                                                     
Suzie the snake
Slides through the grass
Suzie moves slow
But her tongue moves fast

Suzie the snake
Has smooth scales
From her slippery head
To her slippery tail

Suzie stops to hiss
Her hissing sounds like this
Sss sss sss sss

Tips for Parents                                           

• Ask your child, "What sound are we working on? “Can you think of an animal that says that sound?"
• As the song begins, bring your hands together over your head to become long and skinny like a snake.
• During the song, wiggle and move your bodies in slithering motions.
• Emphasize the /s/ words and provide lots of opportunities to practice hissing.
• Use the song when your child is ready to practice correct production of /s/.
• Make play-doh snakes to help with /s/ practice.
• Draw the letter /s/, and turn it into a snake.
• Wiggle a rubber snake across the floor making an /s/ sound as it moves.

Books to Read With Children
I Need a Snake by Lynne Jonell
Find the Snake by Cate Foley
Don't Take Your Snake for a Stroll by Karin Ireland

This song is part of our Music in My Mouth series (created in collaboration with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Division of Speech Pathology) which consist of the following thirteen song titles:
Ask Me
Down on the Farm
Food, It's O.K.!
Go to the Zoo
Hello, Neighbor, I'm a Farmer
Licking Lollipops
Music in My Mouth
Now You're Dressed
Randy the Orangutan
Suzie the Snake
Tip of My Tongue
Turtle Talk/Bouncing Bunny
Word Makin' Machine

This song is available in the following formats:

• Download this song in MP3 format
• Download all 13 Music in My Mouth songs
• Receive the CD and accompanying manual via Mail (shipping/handling charges apply)
  Includes 13 BONUS tracks- Friends, Hands, My Family, I've Got Two, I Can Do It, I'm Gonna Find a Way, Let's Play, Breathe, Emotion, I Get Angry, Self Control, Stop and Think, and Three Rules