Little Words

Chant SH and CH sounds

Shoes and Cheese

Round the lips for a long /ʃ/, then add the stop that makes it /tʃ/.

9 lines7 turns for your child88 beats a minute4 tappable picture words

All the words

Print this, or read it yourself. The blank lines are the point: that is where you stop and wait.

  1. Buddy saysRound your lips like a little circle. Shhh!
  2. Buddy chantsShh. Shh. Shoes go shh.
  3. your childSay shhh — four beats of quiet
  4. Buddy chantsShh. Shh. Shoes go shh.
  5. your childYour turn — four beats of quiet
  6. Buddy chantsSheep. Sheep. Soft sheep, shh.
  7. your childSay sheep — four beats of quiet
  8. Buddy chantsNow pop it. Ch, ch, ch!
  9. your childSay ch ch ch — four beats of quiet
  10. Buddy chantsCheese. Cheese. Cheerful cheese, ch.
  11. your childSay cheese — four beats of quiet
  12. Buddy chantsChair. Chair. Sit on the chair, ch.
  13. your childSay chair — four beats of quiet
  14. Buddy chantsShh and ch. Shoes and cheese.
  15. your childOne more time — four beats of quiet
  16. Buddy saysLong shhh and poppy ch. You did them both!

Why a chant and not a song

Buddy’s voice here is her real recorded voice — the same one she uses everywhere else in Little Words. She chants rather than sings, on a steady beat, over a music-box tune. That is a deliberate choice: a rhythmic, slowed, highly predictable pattern is what lets a child anticipate what is coming and arrive on it, and a synthetic singing voice would have cost us the one thing that makes Buddy feel like a friend.

This one works on SH/CH. Round the lips for a long /ʃ/, then add the stop that makes it /tʃ/.

  • The gap is the work. Buddy chants a line, then stops for four beats. In “Buddy and me” that gap stays silent — no filler, no rush — so the turn genuinely belongs to your child.
  • Repetition is the feature. Repeat is on by default. Most children need many passes before they join in, and the second or third time round is usually when it happens.
  • Slower on request. The turtle button drops the tempo and swaps in a bed recorded at that slower tempo, so the beat is still a real beat to move to.
  • Nothing is marked right or wrong. Buddy reacts warmly to anything she hears and says nothing at all about a quiet turn. Listening is taking part.