Do you need some free fall activity worksheets for speech therapy that are editable and low prep? Canva has everything you need to help your students learn fall vocabulary words this year. Here are some ways you can use the worksheets available in Canva today. Check out the blog post to get all the free goodies.
Affixes are one of my favorite therapy targets for school age and middle school age students in speech and language therapy! You can even listen to a FREE hour long podcast interview I did all about morphology here! It is essential to introduce kids to affixes that are both common and functional. Let’s dive into […]
Playdough has been a staple in my speech therapy bag for years. Here you'll find speech and language goals linked to playdough activities.
Download free speech therapy activities for toddlers! Work on communication skills and language development with these printables.
Did you know that the average school-aged student learns between 3000 to 5000 words per year? That means they learn eight to 12 words per day (Biemiller & Boote, 2006). Most children are like little sponges soaking up new information. Unfortunately this isn’t the case for students with language disorders who have limited word knowledge. Students...
How to use articulation carrier phrases and sentence strips in speech therapy activities.
Free speech therapy worksheets and activities (articulation, receptive/expressive language) for speech-language pathologists, teachers, parents.
In this blog post you will learn how to teach categories for your students with language impairments without overwhelm!
Ideas for semantic language activities that you can do during the fourth step. targeted activities, in the literacy based therapy framework.
Speech therapy freebies for SLPs and clipart freebies for educators. Find pediatric tools for language, articulation, social skills, and more!
Verbs are crucial for early language development. In this post you'll learn about 3 engaging activities you can use for teaching early verbs.
Use these 3 simple language games to improve your toddler's speech and help develop their articulation, language, and pre-reading skills. The following post 'Improve Your Toddler's Speech' was written in collaboration with my own mom, Jamie Bott, M.A., C.C.C. Licensed & Certified Speech & Language Pathologist / Reading Endorsed by the State of Florida. Every parent wants their child to grow up to become a
Are you on a hunt for free speech therapy online activities and games that are perfect for teletherapy? Then be sure to check out this list!
The best way to help a child's speech and language development is through play. Here are 10 simple activities that you can do at home, including the key vocabulary to focus on, to help develop your child's speech and oral language. The key to these activities is about engaging with the child and using simple, useful language that matches the actions of play. This puts the language into context with what they are experiencing and gives them opportunities to hear, use and practice the language in a way that makes sense to them. Often the simple phrases are repeated over and over again in the same activity which is what you want. The words that you can focus on are listed for each activity under "Language" but you can still use them in correct sentence structure whilst focusing on the key words. For example, "Ball. You have a ball" and "Give ball. Give me the ball please." For more specific information about how to develop your child's speech through play and to hear our personal journey with oral language concerns, see here. Ball Play Materials little ball bowl basket spoon Language (to match the actions) throw ball get ball give ball please (simple instructions for them to follow) ball in basket ball out of basket ball on floor ball on spoon ball fell off spoon pick up ball Pasting Materials Glue stick with lid large sheet of paper scraps for gluing (paper/felt/feathers etc) Language (to match the actions) lid off glue glue on paper stick on paper lid on glue glue on hand sticky hand/ your hand is sticky sticky paper red/blue/green etc paper (saying colour names as they are used) put lid on "Child's name" give lid please (try simple instructions for them to follow) Trucks and Ramps Materials little truck ramp (use hard cover books for ramps) small toy animal that will fit in truck/trailer (eg. dog, cow) Language Go! brooooom! Ready, set, go Go truck! truck on ramp truck go down ramp truck at top truck at bottom "dog" in truck "dog" out of truck "dog" on ramp "dog" on floor put dog in truck (simple instructions for them to follow) Making a Snack Instead of preparing a snack for your child, provide materials for them to make their own snack and then use the language that naturally goes with the processes. Materials Little containers fruit (eg. banana, strawberries) plastic knife savoury cracker spread (eg. cream cheese, peanut butter) sultanas plate Language yummy eat food hungry snack time cut up banana peanut butter on cracker put in container more? you like? 3 sultanas. 1, 2, 3. strawberry on plate strawberry off plate in mouth Pom-pom Play Materials pom-poms basket box plate spoon/tongs Language pom-poms on floor pick up pom-poms (can use simple instructions for them to follow) pom-poms in basket pom-poms in box pom-poms on plate pom-poms off plate pom-pom on spoon "red" pom-pom 3 pom-poms. 1, 2, 3 more all gone tip pom-poms Ring-Ring Materials toy phone Language hello yes thanks ok press buttons ring-ring who's there? bye Mama, Daddy, Nanna, etc. Let's build Materials variety of different blocks (shapes, sizes, colours etc) Language build up block on top put on fall down big tower tall tower very tall put block on (following simple instructions) big block little block "red" block more Animal Tracks Walking plastic animals over clay/playdough to leave footprint impressions. Focus the language on the movements and animal sounds. Materials clay/playdough plastic animals Language (match the actions being used) roll clay squishy clay kangaroo jump/ jump jump jump marks in clay footprints in clay more? snake slither/ sssssss frog jump/ jump jump/ ribbit ribbit lion roar/ roaaaaar animals walk walk on clay I'm a Chef Pretend cooking play using playdough and various kitchen implements. You can roll some sausage shapes etc. to help encourage other actions that allow you for other language use. Materials playdough plastic pot w/ lid plastic frying pan plastic knife plastic plates Language cut "playdough" (or, "sausage/carrot" etc.) roll playdough in pot out of pot in pan out of pan lid on pot lid off on plate more? no more all gone yummy what are you making? Sandpit Play Sensory play is great for young children and for developing language. Children are able to match what they are seeing/hearing/smelling/touching or tasting with the words that go with the sensory experience. This makes the experience very tangible for them. Materials sand plastic bottle with lid spoon Language lid on bottle lid off bottle sand in bottle scoop sand pour sand give spoon tip sand empty bottle sand all gone sand on spoon Handy Tips: - Generally, just asking my child if they would like to play with me is enough to entice them to participate in some one-on-one time, however if they are hesitant (code for, my toddler wants to do what he wants to, not what I want him to) I will get out the materials and start playing with them myself. The more fun I'm having on my own, the more they usually want to join in. - If your child really isn't in the mood for your planned play, I wouldn't force it. Instead, try to find a way to engage with what they are interested in playing and try and use and encourage them to practice the language that naturally comes with that activity. - Read my tips on the best way to approach these one-on-one play times with your child. - It is very important to allow your child time to respond to any questions you ask and for them to attempt to use or mimic the language. Encourage and praise their attempts at oral language. - You will most likely find, during the course of your one-on-one play, that other language (other than what's listed above) naturally occurs due to the direction that your play takes. This is of course perfectly fine. Just try and keep the language short, clear, relevant and useful during this time. Repetition is important. - There are lots of great kids books that encourage speaking and making sounds. A favourite of ours is, "Mr Brown can Moo. Can you?" by Dr Seuss. Happy playing, Debs :) Look where else we are. 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Speech therapy freebies for SLPs and clipart freebies for educators. Find pediatric tools for language, articulation, social skills, and more!
Speech therapy freebies for SLPs and clipart freebies for educators. Find pediatric tools for language, articulation, social skills, and more!
Are you looking for apple-themed activities to try in speech therapy? It’s one of my favorite times of year-apple season! There are so many unique apple-themed activities for speech therapy to do with your students
This is a blog providing example speech goals for IEPs and tips on how to write IEP goals for SLPs. New SLPs would benefit.
You know the lingo. 1 step 2 step Multi-step before after all but under neither Last year, I worked on following directions constantly. I would target the above vocabulary and usually students understood what to do after a few sessions. I found that my kiddos would do a great job following directions in my small […]
I target sequencing and vocabulary while working on activities daily living sequencing tasks. Find out HOW and to grab some free materials.
Check out this blog post for tips and ideas for using a "what's in the bag?" activity to support early language skills in your EI sessions.
Are you looking for some quick, no or low prep ideas to add to your therapy arsenal? I know I always am! Today, I'd like to share with you some ways I use dice in
Have you seen these three letters, EET, floating around Pinterest and Speechie Blogs?! Are you wondering what they mean and what the hype is all about?! Well, they stand for Expanding Expression Tool! This amazing idea and product was created by a fellow Speechie, Sara L. Smith. It is a multi-sensory a ...
Blowing bubbles with kids is such a simple activity that brings so much joy. And there are so many opportunities for speech and language development and learning. Did you know...
These research-based vocabulary instruction tips & free printable will help you focus on what's most important in your language sessions!
Play Based Speech Therapy is my J-A-M.It breaks my heart when I hear misconceptions about Play Based Therapy - so much, that this email is allll about common myths (and the actual truth!).When I ask people why they don't use play in therapy - their reply is usually one of these myths. So let's BUST THESE MYTHS and get you playing in therapy!1) You can't take data. FALSE. There are many ways to take data!2) Before the session begins, you have no idea what you're going to do. FALSE. You still make
Looking for examples of Tier 2 words? You probably already know that there’s a lot of evidence supporting Tier 2 Vocabulary instruction because these high-frequency, academic words occur across the curriculum (Elleman et al., 2019). I’ve thoughtfully studied the academic language that seems to be especially important for our students to know! Here are my […]
Here is a list of my favorite games to use in speech therapy. All have been used by me, an SLP, and my students have loved them all!
Download free speech therapy activities for toddlers! Work on communication skills and language development with these printables.
It's no secret that I love toys and including play into my therapy sessions. If you haven't already downloaded my FREE Play-Based Speech Therapy Homework you can download it HERE! One toy that I use often but have never really included is a shape sorter. Sometimes this one may seem a little "babyish" but I am always surprised by my kiddos who want to play with it. This toy can be used to target many language goals and I thought I'd put together a little list of ten goals you can target with a shape sorter. I usually bring it out with my Pre-K-Kinder population or my younger students who have autism. Please know these are just general ideas, really the possibilities are endless and you may need to adjust to what your student needs. Here are some ideas of how to use a shape sorter to target language skills! First is obvious, naming or identifying colors. Now with this particular sorter, I am limited to five colors but usually, that is a good number to start with. You can give directions such as "Give me a purple block." or ask questions "What color is the triangle?" to target this goal. Next is requesting! This is a goal I work on often, many of my kiddos enjoy independent or parallel play and are used to grabbing what they want. But often I want to encourage cooperative play where they acknowledge a partner playing with them, not just next to them. I will hold the sorter bucket with the blocks and put the top in front of the student. Or I may hold all the blocks but give them the bucket with the top. Then prompt them to request what they want using as much detail as possible. My end goal would be for them to verbalize "I want a red square please!" or "Can I have the purple circle?" but we will work up to that with maybe just verbalizing or signing "more" or "please" at first. You may have to use some more structure when playing to target following directions by withholding some of the blocks. You could maybe give your student half the blocks and you keep half. Give them directions while handing one of your blocks such as "Put this block in the bucket" or "Stack this block on the star". Understanding quantities can be tricky for my younger kiddos. With the blocks, you can work on understanding "more", "some", "all" and "none". You can sort the blocks into two unequal groups and ask which group has more. You can instruct the student to put all the blocks in the bucket. You can ask the student to give you "some" blocks. You can show them an empty bucket and ask how many are inside. This one can go hand-in-hand with following directions. Prompt the student to give you a block with negation. For example "Find a block that is NOT red" or "Give me a block that is NOT round". You can use the top of sorter to match or you can put a set of blocks in a row and encourage your student to match them up with another set of blocks as shown in the picture. Positional Words, Spatial Concepts, or prepositions...whatever you call them they are all essentially the same and you can use the sorter to target them! The easiest positional words to target with the sorter are "in", "out", "on", "off", "under" and "over". You can either have the student follow your direction "Put the square on the triangle" or answer a question "Where is the orange block?" while holding it over or under another object/block. Take turns putting the blocks in, taking them out, requesting, lining them up, naming them, counting them...any of the skills you are working with! Count the blocks, it may be easiest to put them all in a straight line to help work on one-to-one correspondence when counting. For older students (end of kinder, 1st grade), you can use the blocks to count by 5's or 10's. And last but not least you can work on naming or identifying the shapes. Ask the student "What shape is this?" while pointing to the block. Request a block by naming the shape such as "Can I have a star?". If your student is good with naming/identifying the basic shapes work on the attributes instead. For example "What shape has three points?" or "Give me a shape that has four sides". That's it! One little toy and so many possibilities!
Looking for a cheap, easy to use therapy material? How about paper bags? I love using paper bags for a variety of activities. Here are some simple ways I have incorporated paper bags into my therapy sessions. 1. Puppets My students love to use puppets to "eat" their articulation cards or other target cards. They also love to use them to tell stories. Making puppets from paper bags is a great, inexpensive way to engage your students in a variety of activities! You can easily make a puppet to match any book or story that you are using. Be creative- your kids will love it! I made these monster puppets with my son this week. They were so easy to make! We used a little paint, glue, and card stock with our paper bags. I found the idea for these cute monsters from this pin: Paper Bag Monster Puppets 2. Describe It To Me This activity is also super easy. I throw a bunch of items into a bag. My students reach in and grab something (no peeking!) to describe. The students remove the object and then describe it using a variety of descriptors. This is a great way to incorporate your Expanding Expression Tool (EET) with describing real objects. Sometimes I will even get really small, cheap objects that the students can keep if they give me a description using all of the beads on the EET. 3. What is in the bag? This is a great activity to work on a student's deductive reasoning skills. I put an object into the bag (students do not see- again, no peeking). Students need to ask questions about my object. This is similar to the game Headbanz. 4. Categories Place pictures of categories on the bag and collect items or pictures to place in each category. I used pictures from my Category Sorting activity. I like to put a piece of Velcro on each bag so that I can interchange the categories without having to get a new bag each time. 5. Collect in a bag Put any kind of card into the bag. My students love to decorate a bag and then collect their cards. 6. Paper bag books You can use two paper bags to make a book that will have two pockets. Simply fold two bags in half and then put the two openings touching each other to make two pockets for a book. Staple together, and done! You have a paper bag book that you can use to target a variety of goals. I used this one to put some of my new sequencing cards in for a student to take home. I have also made these Articulation Paper Bag Books. These are so fun to make with students and send home! Here is a link to a freebie that contains blank frames to use on your paper bags, as well as labels for What is in the bag? and Describe It To Me. Have fun using your paper bags!
My best tips for teaching /r/ in articulation therapy! Placement cues, product reviews and /r/ word lists to help your students succeed!
If you love Zingo! you'll love this Zingo hack! You can create your own educational tiles to target any skill you need to!
Use these 3 simple language games to improve your toddler's speech and help develop their articulation, language, and pre-reading skills. The following post 'Improve Your Toddler's Speech' was written in collaboration with my own mom, Jamie Bott, M.A., C.C.C. Licensed & Certified Speech & Language Pathologist / Reading Endorsed by the State of Florida. Every parent wants their child to grow up to become a
Inside: Spanish vocabulary games for the language classroom. The best way to “learn vocabulary” is in context. I use to give long lists of isolated words, until I switched to proficiency-based teaching and threw out my textbook. I realized my students were memorizing the words to pass a quiz, and then forgetting them. Our students really need to see
About Vocabulary When targeting vocabulary in therapy, we not only want to focus on giving our learners an expanded vocabulary (by learning many new words), we also want to prioritize having robust vocabulary knowledge (by deepening how well they know each word). These concepts are often called vocabulary breadth and vocabulary depth. Vocabulary depth is […]
Core vocabulary dice are a fun way to learn, practice, and play with AAC core words. Perfect for AAC and sentence formulation goals!
Speech therapy compare and contrast examples, worksheets, and teaching tips, plus my best speech therapy IEP goals for classroom success!
Use busy picture scenes in speech therapy! Download a free language scene and use a free Pinterest board with over 100 scenes.
Let me help you with some back-to-school speech therapy ideas to make planning and preparation easier and more fun and...