By Little Words Editorial · Editorial standards · Updated August 10, 2026
Do straw exercises actually improve speech sounds?
Here is the honest answer, and it is the one most straw articles skip: the evidence is weak. When straw work is done to change speech, it belongs to a category called nonspeech oral motor exercises. The systematic review of that category in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology concluded there was insufficient evidence to support or refute the use of these exercises to produce effects on speech [1]. That review is still the field's reference point.
ASHA's practice portal takes the same careful line. It points clinicians to those systematic reviews and asks them to consider what a particular oral motor activity is likely to accomplish, and whether it addresses the child's actual speech sound error [2].
None of that makes straws useless. It means straws are not a speech program. Mouths get better at what they practice, and sucking is not talking. If the goal is a clearer /s/ or /r/, the practice that matters is speech itself, guided by a speech-language pathologist. If the goal is drinking skill, straw work earns its keep. We are deliberately more cautious here than most oral motor articles: when the evidence is thin, a page written for parents should say so.
What do straws genuinely work on?
ARK Therapeutic, a therapy-tools company founded by a feeding SLP, describes straw drinking as working on lip seal, tongue retraction, cheek strength, correct jaw position, suck-swallow-breathe coordination, and consecutive swallows [3]. Those are feeding and drinking skills, and they are real. A child who can pull liquid through a straw, manage it, and swallow in rhythm is doing coordinated mouth work.
ARK also notes that straw drinking usually starts around 8 to 10 months of age, earlier than many parents expect [3]. A baby pulling a smoothie through a straw is already practicing these skills. No therapy branding required.
One technique detail from ARK is worth stealing for any straw in your kitchen: keep only about a quarter inch of the straw inside the mouth [3]. That is a technique guideline, not a norm to measure your child against. Less straw in the mouth means the lips do the sealing work, instead of the teeth holding the straw in place.
How do you set up a straw progression at home?
You do not need special tools. The straws already in your kitchen cover the whole progression, and drinks your child already loves are the motivation.
| Stage | Setup | What you are watching for |
|---|---|---|
| First sips | A short, wide straw and an easy liquid your child loves | Lips wrap the straw; liquid arrives without spilling out the sides |
| Better seal | A regular straw with only the tip between the lips | Roughly a quarter inch in the mouth, cheeks working, no biting the straw |
| More work | A longer or narrower straw, one change at a time | Steady drinking without fatigue or frustration |
| Play blowing | Blow through the straw at a cotton ball or pompom | Rounded lips, one controlled steady breath, and giggles |
Keep sessions short and inside real snack times. If it stops being fun, you have left the useful zone. The goal is easy, repeated practice attached to something your child already wants: the drink.
When does straw work make sense, and when should you skip it?
| Your goal | Does straw work fit? |
|---|---|
| Moving off the bottle or sippy cup | Yes. This is the natural use. Straw drinking is a normal feeding skill that ARK places from around 8 to 10 months [3]. |
| Building a cleaner lip seal and drinking stamina | Reasonable, kept playful and brief, inside regular meals and snacks. |
| Fixing a lisp or unclear speech sounds | No. The evidence does not support straw exercises for changing speech sounds [1][2]. Practice speech itself; our guide to speech therapy apps covers home options that involve actual talking. |
| Concerns about coughing, choking, or gagging on liquids | Stop and ask for a feeding and swallowing evaluation first. Never run a home program on top of a swallowing question. |
| Cost check | A bag of straws costs about as much as a greeting card. Be skeptical of any oral motor plan that starts with a shopping list. Specialty tools exist and some therapists use them well, but none is required for home practice. |
| Where to get real guidance | A pediatric SLP or feeding therapist. Under age 3 in the US, your state early intervention program is the front door; the AAP describes early intervention as a federal- and state-funded program [4]. |
What are the signs you should see a professional first?
- Coughing, choking, or a wet, gurgly voice when your child drinks
- Meals that regularly turn into battles, or a very narrow list of accepted foods
- Loss of feeding or speech skills your child used to have
- Any worry that keeps sitting with you, even if you cannot name it precisely
A feeding evaluation is the right tool for those. This page cannot assess swallowing safety, and no article can. If straw work belongs in your child's plan, a professional will show you exactly how, and our speech therapy at home hub covers what home practice can responsibly carry.
What this page can and cannot tell you
It can tell you what straw drinking builds, when it usually starts, and how to make practice easy with kitchen supplies, with the evidence limits stated plainly. It cannot tell you why your child's speech is unclear, and it cannot turn straw work into a substitute for speech therapy. Home practice supplements a professional plan; it never replaces one. If speech sounds are the concern, ask an SLP about speech practice, and treat blowing games like our bubble blowing guide as play with language benefits, not treatment.
How Little Words fits alongside straw play
Little Words is a voice-first practice app, built by a dad, for kids ages 2 to 8, with support through age 10. Kids talk out loud with Buddy, which is the kind of practice that actually rehearses speech: speaking. If straw work has a place in your child's routine, let it live at snack time, and let talking practice be talking. The app supplements speech therapy and never replaces it.
Questions parents ask about straws and oral motor skills
Do straws strengthen speech muscles?
Straw drinking works oral structures for drinking: lip seal, cheek strength, and tongue retraction, per ARK Therapeutic's feeding specialists. Carryover to clearer speech sounds is the part research has not supported. The 2009 systematic review found insufficient evidence that nonspeech oral motor exercises change speech.
When can a baby start drinking from a straw?
Around 8 to 10 months of age, according to ARK Therapeutic. Start with small amounts of a liquid your child loves through a short, wide straw, and expect messy first tries. It is a skill, and it builds through easy repetition at regular meals and snacks.
Which straw should we start with?
Short and wide is easiest because it takes the least suction. Keep only about a quarter inch of straw between the lips, ARK's technique guideline, so the lips do the sealing work instead of the teeth. Then change one variable at a time: a little longer, then a little narrower.
Is straw blowing good for speech?
Blowing games build a steady, controlled breath and they are fun, which keeps kids practicing. As a treatment for speech sounds, blowing exercises sit under the same insufficient-evidence finding as other nonspeech oral motor work. Treat blowing as play, and treat speech sounds as speech work.
My child cannot seal their lips around a straw. What now?
Try a wider straw, less straw in the mouth, and a favorite liquid, and keep tries short. If the seal still does not come, or drinking triggers coughing or choking, ask for a feeding evaluation. Under age 3 in the US, your state early intervention program can arrange one.
Sources
How this page was checked: benefit claims were attributed to ARK Therapeutic's published guidance, and the evidence-limit statements were verified against ASHA's practice portal and the 2009 systematic review, all on August 10, 2026. Where the evidence is thin, we said so instead of rounding up.
- McCauley, Strand, Lof, Schooling, and Frymark (2009): Evidence-Based Systematic Review: Effects of Nonspeech Oral Motor Exercises on Speech: American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology: insufficient evidence to support or refute the use of oral motor exercises to produce effects on speech. Abstract confirmed August 10, 2026
- ASHA Practice Portal: Speech Sound Disorders, Articulation and Phonology: clinicians weigh what an oral motor activity is likely to accomplish and whether it addresses the child's speech sound error; points to the systematic reviews. Accessed August 10, 2026
- ARK Therapeutic: The Oral Motor Benefits of Straws: by Debra C. Lowsky, MS, CCC-SLP: lip seal, tongue retraction, cheek strength, jaw position, suck-swallow-breathe coordination, consecutive swallows; straw drinking usually starts around 8 to 10 months; quarter-inch placement guideline. No date shown on the page; accessed August 10, 2026
- HealthyChildren.org (AAP): Language Delays in Toddlers: early intervention described as a federal- and state-funded program. Last updated April 30, 2021; accessed August 10, 2026