App Review: Bigmouth Sounds - Teach Children Speech Sounds

Reviewed by Krista – I am a stay at home mom of 3 amazing boys- ages 2, 5, and 7. My 2 year old has a speech disorder called Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). We enjoy using apps for therapy and education as well as entertainment.

Details

Bigmouth Sounds by Vox Aux is a simple app designed to teach children speech sounds.

Sound Cards: Children are greeted by Big Mouth, a friendly cartoon character who presents each sound in isolation as well as in words. Each sound card can be flipped over for written and spoken instructions on how to make the sound. There are 5 levels of sound cards starting with very basic sounds and progressing to using 24 consonant sounds and 12 vowels.

Stories: 5 sound-based stories with pictures are read aloud to encourage sound repetition. The stories are- Birthday Party, Fairgrounds, Balloons, Park, and Friend.

Games: “Snap” has the child find 2 sounds that match by flipping sound cards. Again there are 5 levels to choose from.

What Krista Liked

I love that this app has 5 levels and can be broken down to a useable level for children just working on basic beginner sounds. Many apps I have come across are too advanced for my son who has Childhood Apraxia of Speech and a current vocabulary of 65 words. Bigmouth Sounds would be useful as well though for a much more advanced child who struggles with articulation.

I appreciate that Bigmouth Sounds includes example words demonstrating different placements of the target sound (beginning, middle, and end). I also found it helpful that the sound cards flip over for more instructions on making each sound.

Suggested Enhancement

There is no animation anywhere in this app. The “Sound Cards” are just that- flash cards with sound. The stories are also not animated- they are like pictures in a book with narration. Because of this it may be difficult to keep some children engaged. I would like to see some animation and/or rewards to keep the child interested.

Big Mouth’s voice is a British woman. I would like to have other voice/ accent options.

Each level adds additional sound cards but the words that are used for examples are the same for all levels. I would love to see each level have words appropriate to a child who is likely to be struggling with those sounds. For example- a child working on the H sound is not likely to be able to repeat “heartbeat”. “Hot” might be more likely to set the child up for success.