# Phoneme Practice: /b/ Sound for Toddlers

Little Wheels Talk & Listen provides 25+ minutes of /b/ sound practice through vehicle words, vocabulary themes, and sound-specific games with mic recognition.

## About the /b/ Sound

The /b/ sound is one of the earliest developing sounds, typically mastered by age 3. It's a bilabial stop consonant—lips come together and release with voice.

### When Children Typically Master /b/
- Emerges: 12-18 months
- Mastered: By age 3
- One of the first consonants most children produce

## /b/ Words in Talk & Listen

### Vehicle Words with /b/
- **bus** - everyday vehicle
- **bike** - bicycle
- **boat** - water vehicle (bonus)
- **bulldozer** - construction favorite
- **backhoe** - digging machine
- **big rig** - large truck
- **bucket truck** - utility vehicle

### Food Words with /b/
- **banana** - fruit
- **bread** - staple food
- **bowl** - container
- **bite** - action word
- **berry** - fruit category

### Body Words with /b/
- **belly** - tummy
- **back** - body part
- **bottom** - sitting area

### Action Words with /b/
- **beep** - horn sound
- **bump** - collision
- **build** - construction
- **bounce** - movement

### Descriptive Words with /b/
- **big** - size
- **blue** - color
- **broken** - state
- **busy** - activity level

## How Talk & Listen Teaches /b/

### Layer 1: Vehicle Card Practice
Tap vehicles with /b/ names (bus, bulldozer) to hear and practice the sound in context.

### Layer 2: Category Gateways
Food Truck delivers /b/ food words (banana, bread, bowl) for themed practice.

### Layer 3: Phoneme Drill Mode
Select /b/ from the soundboard to see ALL /b/ words across categories. Practice for 25+ minutes on one sound.

### Sound Games with Mic Recognition
New mic-enabled games detect when children produce the /b/ sound (sound recognition, not word recognition). Games reward correct /b/ production regardless of the specific word.

## Practice Tips for Parents

### Modeling /b/
1. Bring lips together firmly
2. Build up air pressure
3. Release with voice ("buh")
4. Exaggerate the lip closure for visual learners

### Fun /b/ Activities
- "Beep beep!" with toy vehicles
- Bouncing balls while saying "bounce"
- Building blocks ("build, build, build!")
- Bubble blowing ("bubbles!")

### Common Substitutions
- /b/ → /p/ (devoicing): "bus" becomes "pus"
- /b/ → /d/: less common
- If persistent past age 3, consult SLP

## Why 25+ Minutes Matters

Speech therapy research shows:
- Repetition builds motor memory
- Distributed practice is more effective than massed
- 25+ minutes allows for varied contexts
- Multiple word positions (initial, medial, final)

## Related Resources
- All phoneme guides: littlewheels.app/llm/phoneme-practice-overview.txt
- Bulldozer page: littlewheels.app/vehicles/bulldozer
- Talk & Listen app: littlewheels.app/apps/talk-listen

## About Little Wheels
Little Wheels Talk & Listen provides 25+ minutes of practice per phoneme across 300+ words. Mic recognition games, call-and-response prompts, SLP-informed methodology. One-time $4.99, 100% offline.