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H

Early sounds

H Sound

Open the mouth and push a little puff of warm air out from the throat. The tongue and lips do nothing at all.

Sound
/h/
Typical age
By age 2-3
Voicing
Voiceless
Type
Glottal fricative
Words here
132

How to elicit H 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.

  1. 1Open the mouth and relax the tongue completely - it does nothing for this sound.
  2. 2Push a small puff of warm air out from the throat.
  3. 3Add a vowel right behind the puff.

Elicitation strategies

Tips to help a child say this sound. Most need more than one.

Auditory

  • A long warm sigh — "haaa" — like fogging a window, not a sharp puff.
  • Contrast with a hard vowel start: hat / at, hill / ill, hair / air.
  • Keep it breathy and relaxed; forcing it turns it into a cough.

Visual

  • Nothing to see at all — the mouth is simply open.
  • Say that plainly rather than pointing at a mirror that shows nothing.
  • Fog a mirror or a window so the breath itself becomes visible.

Gestural

  • Open palm in front of your mouth, floated slowly outward as the air carries.
  • Slow and smooth — a flick of the hand will pull them toward /p/ or /t/.
  • Trace the breath all the way out to arm’s length for a long /h/.
  • Let them float their own hand out and stop when the air stops.

Tactile

  • Palm in front of the mouth: a long warm stream, not a burst.
  • Fog up a mirror and let them watch the patch spread and shrink.
  • Hand on the chest for the long easy breath out.
How to teach any soundThe practice ladder, shaping from a sound they have, and what to do when it stallsShow

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. 1

    Just the sound

    “hhhh”

    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. 2

    The sound in syllables

    “ha, ho, hee”

    The sound glued to a vowel. Nonsense syllables are useful precisely because they carry no meaning - nothing to get in the way.

  3. 3

    Words that start with it

    “hat, house, hand”

    The easiest place in a word, because the child gets to set up their mouth before they begin.

  4. 4

    Words with it anywhere

    “hat, behind”

    Middle and end are harder - the sound has to be produced while the rest of the word is already moving.

  5. 5

    Short phrases

    “a happy helper”

    Two or three words together. This is the first step where the child has to think about something other than the sound.

  6. 6

    Whole sentences

    “Hold my hand and hop on one foot.”

    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. 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. 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

  • a sigh
  • a laugh

Nothing has to be placed for this one. A sigh, a laugh, or fogging up a mirror is already /h/ — catch it and attach a vowel to the end.

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

Print it

H Sound word list132 words, sorted by position · PDFH Sound picture cards132 cards, 6 per page · PDFH Sound practice packBingo board, week log, sticker chart · PDF

Free to print, copy and share. No account needed.

Note

/h/ never occurs at the end of a word in English, so this page has initial and medial lists only.

Initial H

95 words

The sound is at the beginning of the word.

1 Syllable63 words

  • hat
  • house
  • hand
  • horse
  • hair
  • hot
  • hop
  • heart
  • hill
  • help
  • home
  • hug
  • hen
  • hood
  • hail
  • half
  • hall
  • ham
  • hang
  • hard
  • harp
  • hatch
  • haul
  • have
  • hawk
  • hay
  • he
  • head
  • heap
  • hear
  • heat
  • hedge
  • heel
  • height
  • held
  • her
  • herd
  • here
  • hers
  • hide
  • high
  • hike
  • hind
  • hinge
  • hint
  • hip
  • hive
  • hoe
  • hold
  • hole
  • honk
  • hoof
  • hook
  • hoop
  • hope
  • horn
  • hose
  • hound
  • howl
  • huff
  • hum
  • hush
  • hut

2 Syllables26 words

  • happy
  • hammer
  • honey
  • hippo
  • hockey
  • hanger
  • hurry
  • hundred
  • hungry
  • hamster
  • handle
  • happen
  • harbor
  • harvest
  • hat box
  • haystack
  • heavy
  • helmet
  • hero
  • highway
  • hobby
  • hollow
  • hornet
  • huddle
  • hurdle
  • husband

3 Syllables4 words

  • hamburger
  • history
  • holiday
  • hospital

4 Syllables2 words

  • harmonica
  • helicopter

High-frequency initial H 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.

  • he
  • have
  • here
  • who
  • his
  • had
  • help
  • hello
  • happened
  • hear
  • hi
  • hold
  • whole
  • hope
  • having
  • happen
  • hot
  • himself
  • happens
  • happening
  • hide
  • hungry
  • whose
  • herself
  • helping
  • helped
  • hiding
  • heavy
  • hoping
  • helps

Medial H

37 words

The sound is in the middle of the word.

2 Syllables31 words

  • behind
  • ahead
  • anthill
  • beehive
  • playhouse
  • doghouse
  • forehead
  • greenhouse
  • inhale
  • somehow
  • treehouse
  • uphill
  • perhaps
  • lighthouse
  • birdhouse
  • downhill
  • behave
  • boathouse
  • clubhouse
  • dollhouse
  • farmhouse
  • funhouse
  • pinhole
  • schoolhouse
  • sinkhole
  • unhook
  • foothill
  • keyhole
  • peephole
  • pothole
  • unhurt

3 Syllables6 words

  • unhappy
  • overhead
  • grasshopper
  • firehouse
  • potholder
  • neighborhood

High-frequency medial H 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.

  • behind
  • ahead
  • perhaps

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 happy helper
  • hold my hand
  • hot and humid
  • my whole hand
  • hop on one foot
  • a hundred hats
  • hide behind the house
  • hurry home
  • a horse on the hill
  • have a hug
  • here it is
  • how high

Sentences 12

  1. 1.Hold my hand and hop on one foot.
  2. 2.The horse ran up the hill behind the house.
  3. 3.Hannah has a hundred hats in her closet.
  4. 4.Hurry home before it gets hot.
  5. 5.How high can you hold your hand up?
  6. 6.The hen hid behind the hay.
  7. 7.Give Grandma a great big hug.
  8. 8.My hair got wet in the heavy rain.
  9. 9.Here is the hammer you were holding.
  10. 10.He hung his hat on the hook.
  11. 11.The hippo stayed in the water all afternoon.
  12. 12.Have you heard the whole story?

Reading passage

Hiking up the Hill

Hannah and Henry hiked up the hill behind their house. It was hot, so they held their hats in their hands and hurried into the shade. Halfway up they heard a horse behind the hedge. At the top they had a whole picnic of ham sandwiches and honey cake. Hannah said it was the happiest afternoon she had had all summer.

Phonological awareness

Hearing and playing with the sounds inside words — the listening skill that reading is built on.

1

Rhyming

Word families built on words from the list above. Say the family out loud, then ask for one more that fits.

-at family

hat, that, cat, flat, rat, chat, bat, mat

-and family

hand, land, grand, band

rhymes with “hair”

hair, there, where, their, care, wear, fair, dare

-ot family

hot, got, lot, pot, rot, dot, knot

-op family

hop, top, drop, pop, chop, crop, mop

-art family

heart, part, art, cart, chart, tart

2

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.

  • hat1
  • happy2
  • hamburger3
  • harmonica4
  • house1
  • hammer2
  • history3
  • helicopter4
3

Sound blending

You say the separate sounds, the child says the word. Start with the two- and three-sound words.

  • /h/ /ay/hay
  • /h/ /ee/he
  • /h/ /er/her
  • /h/ /eye/high
  • /h/ /oh/hoe
  • /h/ /a/ /t/hat
  • /h/ /ow/ /s/house
  • /h/ /e/ /r/hair
  • /h/ /ah/ /t/hot
  • /h/ /ah/ /p/hop
  • /h/ /i/ /l/hill
  • /h/ /oh/ /m/home
4

Sound segmenting

The reverse, and the harder one. You say the word, the child breaks it into its separate sounds.

  • hay/h/ /ay/
  • he/h/ /ee/
  • her/h/ /er/
  • high/h/ /eye/
  • hoe/h/ /oh/
  • hat/h/ /a/ /t/
  • house/h/ /ow/ /s/
  • hair/h/ /e/ /r/
  • hot/h/ /ah/ /t/
  • hop/h/ /ah/ /p/
  • hill/h/ /i/ /l/
  • home/h/ /oh/ /m/

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

Hide and seek

Hide a toy and give hot-or-cold hints. Let them hide it for you too.

Words that come up

hide, hot, here, help, house, hand, hat, who, how, hooray, behind, hiding, have, hey

Hat shop

Try on every hat in the house, including improvised ones. Look in a mirror and react to each.

Words that come up

hat, head, hair, help, how, hot, here, have, hold, happy, hi, hello, ha ha, huge

Hopping game

Hop like a rabbit, a frog, a kangaroo. Hop to things you name, then hop back.

Words that come up

hop, high, here, hurry, hold, hand, help, hooray, hot, happy, home, how many, hang on

Conversation and verbal games for older kids

  • How do you

    Explain how to do something ordinary in exact steps. "How" starts every round, and instructions are full of /h/.

    Words that come up

    how, hard, hold, hand, help, happen, whole, behind, ahead, heavy, here, home

  • Hypotheticals

    What would happen if...? Every question starts with a /h/ word and the answers usually contain more.

    Words that come up

    happen, how, huge, hopeless, behind, ahead, perhaps, who, whole, hardly, hope, help

  • Headline news

    Turn the day into news headlines. "Here," "happened" and "headline" are constants.

    Words that come up

    headline, happened, heard, home, here, whole, hundred, high, hoping, behind, however, who

Play it

Each game opens with H 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.