James & Jess’s Jungle Journey! A Joyful /J/ Sound Story for Kids
When our family was introduced to auditory bombardment to support my son’s speech development, I started making up simple, sound-rich stories during our morning drives to school. If you’re new to auditory bombardment, it’s a potentially powerful and easy-to-implement technique used in speech therapy to help children develop sound awareness by hearing the same target sound repeatedly in natural, engaging ways.
Since then, we’ve created lots of stories together, each one focused on a tricky sound my son is working on. Today’s story, James and Jess’s Magical Jungle Journey, is all about the /j/ sound. From jaguars and jellybeans to joyful jumps and jungle riddles, this playful adventure is packed with fun words that feature the /j/ sound at the beginning and middle of words.
If your child is working on the /j/ sound—or you’re just looking for a fun and simple way to support speech at home—I hope this story brings as much joy to your routine as it has to ours!
James and Jess’s Magical Jungle Journey
One June afternoon, James and Jess were feeling just a little bored.
“Let’s go on a jungle journey!” Jess said, holding up a crinkly old map she’d just found in the bottom of the junk drawer.
James jumped to his feet with joy. “I’ll grab our explorer journals and jackets - we’re going!”
With a giant breath and a jolt of imagination, James and Jess jumped into their magical jungle jeep
Vroom! They jolted off, bumping and jumping down a twisty jungle trail.
First, they spotted a jaguar leaping between giant jungle trees.
“Jumping jaguars!” James laughed.
Next, they met a jackal joyfully juggling jellybeans.
“Join us on our journey?” asked Jess.
“Just for a jiffy!” said the jackal.
They discovered a jungle pond with... a jellyfish?!
"A jellyfish?! In the jungle?!" James giggled.
"Maybe it took the wrong jet stream!" Jess joked.
Suddenly, a badger in a jeweled jacket popped out from behind a bush.
"To finish your jungle journey," he said, "you’ll need to solve my riddle using imagination and magic."
James and Jess juggled ideas...
Until just like that, they solved the jungle riddle!
"Jumping jellybeans, they’ve got it!" the badger cheered.
He handed them a glowing jar filled with jungle glitter.
POOF! They were back in their room. Their journals were still open. Their jackets still zipped. But they both had big, jellybean-wide smiles.
"That was the best jungle journey ever," said James.
"And we’re just getting started," whispered Jess.
The end 🐆
We hope you and your child enjoyed James and Jess’s Magical Jungle Journey! If your little one has ideas for where these two adventurers should go next, we’d love to hear them. Whether it’s a jungle treasure hunt, a jam-packed safari, or something totally unexpected, share your suggestions for their next /j/ sound adventure in the comments below!
