Fall October Speech Therapy Activities for Young Children
October is one of my favorite months for speech therapy sessions! The crisp fall air, colorful leaves, big chunky sweaters and the excitement of Halloween make it the perfect time to introduce engaging and seasonal activities that help build speech and language skills.
Over the years, I’ve found some go-to activities that my students look forward to each autumn. Here are a few of my favorites that have helped my students work on speech and language goals while having tons of fall fun!
October is one of my favorite months for speech therapy sessions! The crisp fall air, colorful leaves, big chunky sweaters and the excitement of Halloween make it the perfect time to introduce engaging and seasonal activities that help build speech and language skills.
Over the years, I’ve found some go-to activities that my students look forward to each autumn. Here are a few of my favorites that have helped my students work on speech and language goals while having tons of fall fun!
Fall Speech Therapy Activities That I Love 🍂
1. Pumpkin Play dough Smash Mats
I can’t get through a fall season without these! I like to use themed smash mats (such as pumpkins, apples, or leaves) with playdough. These mats are great for working on target sounds, following directions, and sentence expansion. Students can “smash” a playdough ball when they find a picture or word that matches their sound or language goal. It’s always a hit, and it’s a tactile way to reinforce skills while having fun.
2. Fall-Themed “I Spy” Activities
I love creating and using fall-themed “I Spy” sheets! These are great for working on expressive and receptive vocabulary. Students take turns describing what they see, practicing prepositions like “under the pumpkin” or “next to the witch’s hat,” and making inferences. They also help with visual scanning and attention.
3. Sensory Bins with Fall Elements
Sensory bins filled with dried leaves, acorns, mini pumpkins, and little fall-themed objects provide a hands-on way for students to explore fall vocabulary. I often hide small toys or pictures related to our books, and we “hunt” for them while practicing articulation words or using target phrases like “I found a…” or “It’s hiding under…”
Halloween-Themed Activities 🎃
Halloween is such an exciting time for students, so I love incorporating a bit of Halloween magic into speech therapy sessions. Here are a few activities that have worked wonders in my sessions:
1. Haunted House from a Box
One of my favorite activities is creating a haunted house out of an Amazon box (we all have a spare box handy!). I cut out doors and windows and then use it alongside the book Inside a House that is Haunted. As we read, students place corresponding pictures or objects in different areas of the house, working on spatial concepts like “inside the window,” “through the door,” and “up on the roof.” It’s a fun, hands-on way to reinforce spatial language while tying into a Halloween story!
2. Trick-or-Treating Scenarios
We take our haunted house activity a step further by acting out trick-or-treating scenarios! Students take turns sticking their heads inside the box and “knocking” on the door. We practice social language skills by saying, “Trick or Treat,” “Happy Halloween,” and “Thank you.” This simple but effective role-playing game helps students with greetings, requests, and polite language in a context they love.
3. Digital Halloween Activities
For no prep digital activities “Who is Knocking on My Door” is a fun activity to target answering and asking “who” questions while also working on Fall vocabulary. A way to target the following sounds: B, P, T, D, K, G, F, V, S, Z, L, R , TH, DG, CH, SH is with the Pumpkin Articulation Match game for your computer or tablet! Kids LOVE competing with this fall match activity!
4. Spiders and Monsters for Non-Halloween Themes
If Halloween isn’t your cup of tea, don’t worry! I often turn to spider and monster themes, which are just as fun. My students love making “spider eggs” by wrapping small plastic spiders in playdough and hiding them inside. Then we take turns unwrapping the “eggs” to see who can find the spider. This activity is perfect for targeting core words like “in,” “out,” “look,” and “see” as well as phrases such as, “Find it,” “Not there,” and “It’s scary.” For those working on speech sound targets, we sneak in some /sp/ blends with words like spider, spy, and spooky.
5. Monster Blobs with Playdough
For a fun fine motor and language activity, we make “Monster Blobs” by pushing googly eyes into playdough. This activity strengthens pointing skills and can be adapted to work on speech sounds. Students practice producing correct sounds before they get to push an eye into the monster, which adds a playful and tactile twist to articulation practice.
Wrapping Up October with Fun and Learning
With the right mix of fall-themed books and interactive activities, October can be a time of both learning and fun in speech therapy sessions. My goal is always to keep students engaged and motivated, and bringing in seasonal elements helps make each session feel new and exciting.
Favorite Fall-Themed Books 🍁
The Leaf Thief: This fun and engaging story is about a squirrel who’s convinced one of his leaves has gone missing. With help from his friend Bird, they set off to solve the mystery of the missing leaf. The playful language and vibrant illustrations keep my students engaged, making it perfect for working on problem-solving, sequencing, and expressive language. I love to have my students guess who might be the leaf thief, and it always leads to fun discussions.
We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt: If you’re familiar with We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, this fall-themed version is a wonderful choice for early learners. It’s about three friends who venture through the forest, collecting leaves and encountering fun obstacles along the way. The rhyming text and repetitive patterns are perfect for targeting early language skills, and my students love chiming in with the sound effects. We often go on our own “leaf hunts” around the classroom or outside, finding different shapes and colors of leaves, which opens up opportunities to expand vocabulary and descriptive language.
Leaves, Leaves Falling from a Tree: This interactive book is such a gem because it lets students get involved in the story. I use printable leaves that students can move around during the story to “catch” or “fall” as we read. It’s ideal for following directions, matching, and describing what happens to the leaves as they fall from the tree. This story is also available as a no-prep digital version, which I sometimes use for teletherapy or for a change of pace. The interactive elements make it easy to turn the story into a game—students love pretending to catch falling leaves or finding leaves that match certain descriptions.
(affiliate links included. I earn a small amount of money from Amazon links and only recommend books and activities that I use personally)
Creative Speech Therapy Ideas: Using Stickers for Articulation, Apraxia and Language Goals
Discover creative speech and language therapy ideas using stickers! This blog post explores how to use stickers to target apraxia, enhance articulation trials, and create engaging sticker scenes. Perfect for achieving various goals in speech sessions, this low-prep, high-impact tool is a favorite among kids and therapists alike.
I want to shine a spotlight on an often underrated but inexpensive versatile resource for targeting goals in our speech therapy sessions. They are lightweight, require minimal prep, and the kids absolutely LOVE them! Yes, I’m talking about……
What is it about sticky pieces of paper that is so intriguing?
Recently, I’ve been using a Paw Patrol Puffy Sticker Book that I found at Marshalls (they also had a construction vehicle one!). It’s become a favorite among my kids, and I just had to share all the ways we can use stickers to target both speech and language goals.
Use stickers for……
Speech Sound Practice
Working with kids with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. When adding stickers to a page or background scenes model “power phrases” like “put on”, “take off” and “my turn” and use self advocacy phrases like “help me” and “it’s stuck”.
Sticker Charts: Create a chart with different articulation targets. Each time a child successfully practices a target sound, they get to place a sticker on the chart. This visual reinforcement can be very motivating (ok, so this one is overused and underwhelming, but I had to add it!)
Sticker Stories: Have the children create a story using stickers. Each sticker represents a word or sound they are working on. They can narrate their story, practicing their target sounds as they go.
Language Development
Sticker Sequences: Use stickers to create sequences or patterns. Have the child describe the sequence, focusing on using words like "first," "next," and "last."
Sticker Descriptions: Give each child a set of stickers and have them describe what they see. This can help with vocabulary building and descriptive language.
Sticker Scenes: Provide background scenes and let children create their own stories using stickers. Have them narrate their story, focusing on sentence structure and vocabulary.
STICKER SCENES
Add sticky magnets from a magnet tape roll to stickers to create magnetic stickers!
Social Skills
Sticker Conversations: Use stickers to prompt conversations. For example, place a sticker of a happy face and ask, "What makes you happy?" or use a sticker of a group of friends and discuss friendship and social scenarios.
Emotion Stickers: Use stickers depicting different emotions and discuss each one. This can help children identify and express their feelings.
Following Directions
Sticker Maps: Create a simple map or scene on paper and use stickers to give directions. For example, "Place the dog sticker next to the tree" or "Put the car sticker on the road."
Examples with Paw Patrol Puffy Sticker Book
To give you some concrete examples, here’s how I’ve been using the Paw Patrol Puffy Sticker Book in my sessions:
Prepositions: Receptive and expressive use. "Put Chase under the tree," "Where is Chickaletta?"
Expanding Utterance Length: Targeting 2+ word phrases. "Go Ryder," "Marshall wants a ride," "Bye ___." I model and repeat these phrases throughout the session.
Working with children with Apraxia: Power phrases like “put on”, “take off” and “my turn”. Self-advocacy phrases like “help me” and “it’s stuck”.
Gestalt Language Processors: Mixing and matching phrases. For example, if a child uses "Rubble on the double" and "I'm fired up," I model a combination like "Rubble is fired up."
Production of 2+ Syllable Words: We worked on "Mayor Humdinger" - a motivating 3-syllable word!
Verb Tense: Using background scenes with minis, we practiced past tense: "The car jumped over the sign," "He drove away."
Negatives: Using stickers on background scenes. "I don’t want it there," "Not in," "Not on my nose!"
PAINT STICKS WITH PACKING TAPE
Use paint sticks or tongue depressors and cover them with packing tape for repeated articulation trials.
Low Prep, Low Expense Ideas
Here are some additional low-prep, low-expense ideas to get plenty of repetitions with stickers:
Paint Sticks or Wooden Tongue Depressors: Add stickers for each target the child gets correct. I add packing tape to my paint sticks so kids can put on and take off stickers over and over for multiple trials!
Body Parts: Stick stickers on different body parts on you and the kids following each production, then have the kids take them off again while practicing their target sounds, words, or sentences.
Matching Games: Add matching stickers onto milk or juice lids, or cardboard circles or squares and play a matching game with them.
Stickers are a fantastic tool for making speech therapy sessions fun and engaging. I hope you find these ideas as helpful and enjoyable as I do. Happy sticking!
Best Christmas and Winter Books for Kids Ages 3-5
Best Christmas and Winter Books for Kids Ages 3-5
Winter and Christmas books are some of my favorite to use in speech therapy for facilitating language skills in preschoolers. Following is a list of books I use in my speech sessions each season with different target goals in the descriptions. I wanted to post this blog now if you are thinking about gift for this age children.
Winter and Christmas books are some of my favorite to use in speech therapy for facilitating language skills in preschoolers. Following is a list of books I use in my speech sessions each season with different target goals in the descriptions. I wanted to post this blog now if you are thinking about gift for this age children.
For more information on choosing books for children, go to Choosing Books for Preschoolers to Encourage Communication Skills
Each title has a link to the book on Amazon (these links are affiliate links, so I get a few cents if you purchase one- at NO extra cost to you). You can also find most of these books at your local library!
Holiday Books
Holiday and Winter Books can target an array of speech and language goals
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
This is a classic book with simple colorful contrasting pictures of a journey of a little boy and his adventures through the snow. I use the concepts of “toes pointed in” and “toes pointed out” when walking to incorporate some motor movement into speech therapy. I use my book companion for this story each winter! We also work on opposites like “down the hill” and “up the hill”. You can have tons of supplemental craft extension activities with this sweet story.
The Snow Globe Family by Jane O’Conner.
This story is about a real family living in a house, then the snow globe family living in a snow globe in the real family’s house and only the baby sees the snow globe family. This is for 4-5 year olds and is also great for older children also. It lends itself to working on “pretend” versus “real”, “big” versus “little” and working on finding solutions for problems. This one has fun extension activities like making snow globes.
Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood
This is really a perfect Christmas book for this age! A little mouse initially tries to hide his presents from the big hungry bear, then realizes that the bear needs some presents too!
This story has repetitive text and the reader is talking to the mouse keeping children interested in knowing how this will end up! I target asking the mouse questions for information and kids love to join in talking to the mouse. We also target “big and small” when talking about the bear versus the mouse, what they wear, the presents and where they live.
Are You Grumpy Santa by Gregg Spiridellis
Santa is grumpy in the beginning of this wonderful rhyming story then comes around. This is fun to read and kids think this grumpy Santa is hysterical because of all the reasons he is grumpy (itchy suit, he’s on a diet..). This one is for 4-5 year olds and is perfect for working on emotions like “grumpy, happy, sad, frustrated, annoyed”.
Merry Christmas, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
Stinky Face loves Christmastime...but he still has plenty of questions. What if a big, wintry wind blows his Christmas tree away? What if one of the reindeer gets his antlers stuck in the branches that hang over the roof? His Mama knows how to answer these questions. This one is fantastic for working on “wh” questions!
Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner
This is one book in a series of 5 about Snowmen at different time (Winter, Night, Play). There are hidden items throughout the story that children can try to find (although it’s not easy even for me!). Working on concepts like “behind’, “under” and “on top” when describing where the snowmen are as well as using descriptive language when describing the different snow people works well in this book. There is quite a bit of text, but remember, you do not have to read it all if you have a younger child.
Llama Llama Jingle Bells by Anna Dewdney
This is a book for younger children or children with difficulty attending to longer stories. It has rhyming phrases where children can attempt to fill in the words. The pictures are engaging and good to work on pointing to pictures named.
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
This is a story about a little boy who makes friends with a snowman. I like the “lift the flap” version of this book with my younger children. There is very little text (or no text in the original version), so children can use their own words to tell the story.
Dream Snow by Eric Carle
This is one of my favorite winter books! A farmer dreams that snow has covered him and his farm animals. There is a snow cover plastic page covering each animal in the story, so children can guess what is under each page. This works well for answering and answering “who” questions and labeling animals and using animal sounds for minimally verbal children.
Max’s Christmas by Rosemary Wells
Max has plans to stay up late to see Santa Claus, but his big sister, Ruby, won’t let him. Max asks questions throughout the book making it perfect for working on “wh” questions with children. It has limited text which is perfect for younger wiggly listeners!
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
The repeated phrasing in this story makes it easy for children to “help” tell the story. The people and animals that the Gingerbread Baby meet continue to grow lending this story to working on sequencing of events with children. There is a “hint” with the side pictures of what is coming next, that children love to guess! You can find a ready made book companion here!
The Night before Christmas by Clement Moore
Need I say more? Just had to include this for those of us who had to read this every Christmas Eve!
Check out my Winter Book Companion Kit in my TPT store for activities to use with some wonderful winter and holiday books!
Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a speech disorder that affects a child's ability to plan and execute the precise movements required for clear speech. Treatment differs from other speech sound disorders in that the focus must be on the motor speech movement and not on individual sounds. Treatment should be multi-sensory and targets should be selected based on the child’s interests and needs.
About 15 years ago, I got my first case of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) that was diagnosed by a developmental pediatrician as “verbal dyspraxia”. From that moment, I did some big digging into what CAS really is. Since then, I have had many children that I have worked with with CAS (most whom I diagnosed) and although complex, I really love working with kids with CAS because of the difference I can make! Kids with CAS are close to my heart and I want you to feel as comfortable as I do know with techniques for treatment. Understanding it better can help us make a significant impact on the lives of our young clients.
I recently took a refresher course by Alonna Bondar that I would highly recommend if you need more information on CAS, choosing targets and applying treatment techniques. There are also some videos on YouTube by Edyth Strand that provide some really practical therapy and treatment information!
1) What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech?
CAS is a speech disorder that affects a child's ability to plan and execute the precise movements required for clear speech. It's like the brain and mouth are not on the same page when it comes to talking. Unlike other speech sound disorders, CAS isn't caused by muscle weakness or muscle coordination problems but rather by neurological issues that disrupt the planning process.
2) How CAS Differs from Other Speech Sound Disorders
Unlike phonological disorders or articulation disorders, CAS is not about substituting one sound for another. It's about the brain struggling to coordinate all the movements required to produce the planning of speech sounds and combinations of sounds. CAS can sometimes be mistaken for other speech sound disorders like phonological disorders or articulation disorders. The key difference lies in the motor planning aspect. In CAS, the child knows what they want to say, but their brain has trouble coordinating the precise movements necessary for speech. This makes CAS unique and requires a different approach in therapy (see the earlier Blog Post: Principles of Motor Learning in CAS).
3) Early Signs of Apraxia of Speech
Limited babbling before 12 months
5 or less consonants between 17-24 months
Limited vocalizations
Simple syllable shapes (vowel or consonant-vowel only)
Late or difficult development of first words
Words that appear then disappear
(Bondar 2023, Bjorem Speech Informal Motor Speech Assessment 2020, Davis and Velleman 2000)
4)What characteristics distinguish Childhood apraxia of speech from other speech sound disorders?
Awkward transition from one sound and/or one syllable to another
Groping behavior while attempting word or sound production
Vowel Distortions
Errors with prosody (stress, loudness, intonation, pitch and rhythm
Inconsistent voicing errors
Inconsistency of word or phrase production over repeated trials
Struggling with longer and more complex words
Inconsistent errors when trying to repeat words
(ASHA 2007, Strand 2020, Bondar 2023)
5) How do we know a child is ready for CAS Treatment?
Does the child have an internet to communicate? Are they using some type of communication to make wants and needs known (i.e. pointing, grunting, pulling the hand of a caregiver)
Is the child able to focus on an activity (i.e focus on a favorite toy).
Can the child imitate motor movements (i.e opening their mouth, pursing their lips)
Is the child able to request items with gestures like pointing or reaching?
Will the child look at an object near your face?
6) Techniques for Children with CAS
Let’s get to the fun part! Treatment! When working with kids who have CAS, we've got to be creative and choose the approach and feedback that best fits the individual child. Whatever treatment approach is used the key is working on MOTOR MOVEMENT. Multisensory approaches work well for children with CAS. Here are a few techniques that have worked for me (and many others based on the research!) this is not ALL of the treatment procedures, I am highlighting some that proven to be successful for my students:
DTTC (Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing):
This is a dynamic approach that combines touch and sound cues. It helps kids improve speech motor planning by guiding them through the correct movements.
With DTTC, there is a specific hierarchy and cueing methodology to facilitate the acquisition and generalization of movement accuracy for speech. It is structured to slowly lengthen the amount of time between the clinician’s production of a motor movement and the child’s production of the word or motor movement. Initially the child says the word at the same time with the clinician, then the child voices the word while the clinician only produces the mouth shapes of the word and later is cued to say the word with no cues.
DTTC is designed for children with more severe CAS and is not intended for long-term use.
For more detailed information regarding the DTTC hierarchy please see the references below
(https://www.bjoremspeech.com/collections/free-resources/products/dttc-hierarchy-flow-chart-for-apraxia-therapy, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Strand, Edyth, Vol. 29, 30–48 • February 2020, Apraxia Course, Bondar, Alonna 2023)
Speech Sound Cue Cards:
Visual aids can be a game-changer! Using cue cards with pictures and written prompts can help children understand and produce specific sounds. You can find the speech sound cue cards that I developed for my students with CAS that provide visual (pictorial and hand cues), and auditory cues to aid in motor movement.
Using cue cards with pictures and written prompts can help children understand and produce specific sounds. Using a finger or pointer or marker on a wipe board to move from one sound cue card to another showing the child movement while elongating the sound (if possible) works well for a visual representation.
Promote Functional Communication:
Encourage children to communicate using signs, gestures, or alternative communication methods while working on speech goals. This helps reduce frustration and builds their communication skills.
7) Appropriate Target Selection
Choosing the right targets is key for the child to feel successful in the therapy program. Initially, if a child has very little verbal productions, begin with sounds and sound effects such as animal sounds (“baa, moo, neigh"), sounds like a car sound or “beep” and “uhoh” or” eeekk”. These sounds are fun to produce and promote the child’s engagement. It is important to reinforce the child’s attempts at vocalizations and imitate their vocalizations and assign some meaning to them.
Start with functional verbal words that are relevant to the child's daily life and communication needs if the child is at this level. As progress is made, gradually work your way towards more complex sounds and words. Words like “on, up, pop, bye, ma, poo” are great powerful words for kids to start with, but what is meaningful to the child is the best way to choose the targets. Use words that are meaningful to that child such as favorite toys, family names, friends names and favorite foods.
Using games that have lots of pieces to them can provide many trials and motivation for CV, VC and CVC words like “out, in, up, pop, push, my, me and see”.(Games like Pop-up Pirate, Banana Blast and Jumpin’Jack are great for this!).
Remember, progress may be slow, and that's okay. Every small victory is a step in the right direction. Celebrate those wins, no matter how tiny they may seem! CAS is a unique and challenging speech disorder that requires a specialized approach. By understanding the nature of CAS, spotting it early, and using appropriate techniques, we can make a world of difference in the lives of our young clients.
For more information: (https://www.bjoremspeech.com/collections/free-resources/products/dttc-hierarchy-flow-chart-for-apraxia-therapy, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Strand, Edyth, Vol. 29, 30–48 • February 2020, Apraxia Course, Bondar, Alonna 2023)
Principles of Motor Learning for Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
When learning about treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), we hear that we need to use the principles of motor learning (PML), so what does that mean? These principles or processes are how we all learn new motor skills or plans. Speech is a motor skill that can improve using these principles. Treatment may be designed differently depending on the child (with differences in severity, attention and motivation ), but applying the PML will provide a roadmap to support and treat children with CAS.
When learning about treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), we hear that we need to use the principles of motor learning (PML), so what does that mean? These principles or processes are how we all learn new motor skills or plans.
Speech is a motor skill that can improve using these principles.
Treatment may be designed differently depending on the child (with differences in severity, attention and motivation ), but applying the PML will provide a roadmap to support and treat children with CAS.
Following is a guide for using principles of motor learning that I use when I treat children with CAS (based on research):
1) PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE:
Imagine learning to swim. You didn't jump in the water and swim right away, you had to practice moving your body in different ways to float and stay afloat, then to move forward, all the while breathing at the same time. The same goes for children with CAS. Regular practice is the most important aspect for generalization of speech production.
It's all about getting enough practice trials per session to make the motor speech movements second nature and automatic. But remember, quality matters as much as quantity. Be attentive to the child's response, and adjust cues accordingly. As they progress, you can gradually fade those cues.
2) MASSED PRACTICE VS. DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE:
Think of this as the difference between cramming for an exam and studying consistently over time. For CAS, research suggests that frequent, shorter sessions spread out over time are more effective for progress and generalization.
Starting with massed practice (practicing all at once- think one session weekly for a longer time period) to build a strong foundation, then transitioning to distributed practice (therapy spread out across sessions- think 4, half hour sessions weekly). I know sometimes we don't have the luxury of changing a schedule like that in schools- but see principle number 3 for ways to change up practice within time constraints.
3) BLOCKED VS. RANDOM PRACTICE:
Blocked practice is practicing one target extensively before moving on, then later randomizing practice by mixing several targets together. An example is initially you might choose 5 words including bilabials plus vowels (like poo, ba, me, ma, and pee) and focus on those only. As the child improves, you can randomize the targets for example adding a vowel consonant productions in (i.e. “up, oop, um”)
The severity of CAS can be your guide here. For severe cases, more blocked practice might be necessary, but you can modify it by mixing targets within blocks. This variation allows you to get more repetitions of target movements within each blocked practice.
4) VARY CONTEXTS AND PROSODY
Facilitate practice in different contexts. Vary the types of consonants or vowels and the positions that they are in . For example, change the initial set, going from CV (consonant-vowel) to CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant). Increase complexity of movements as the child gains the accurate motor movement sequences.
Experiment with prosody, loudness, and emotional intonation. This variability engages different muscles, enhancing motor planning processing and efficiency – our ultimate goal.
5) FEEDBACK MUST BE EVER-CHANGING
Feedback is dynamic throughout a child’s therapy program. Feedback can be intrinsic (what the child perceives) or extrinsic (what we provide for the child). Extrinsic feedback can be knowledge of results (was that right or wrong) or knowledge of performance (specific guidance on what specifically needs improvement).
Initially, provide more feedback to guide the child, but gradually fade it as they become more accurate and independent in their speech movements. We don’t want too much support for too long otherwise the child could become dependent on the supports. We want to fade supports so children know how to produce the movements independently.
Often the type of feedback can change depending on the target and the accuracy of that target.
Using the Principles of Motor Learning:
Using the Principles of Motor Learning is like having roadmap in the world of CAS therapy. These principles guide speech therapy leading our children toward improved communication skills. So, practice often and adapt to the child's needs whether it be with feedback, type of practice or contexts.
Preposition and Spatial Concept Acquisition
Preposition and spatial concept acquisition for preschoolers
“Hey Addie, please put your shoes in your cubby”, “Wyatt, stand in front of Cooper”, “Eliza throw the ball up in the air!” These are some real life examples of the functional need for children to understand spatial concepts.
Working with young children, I find that the understanding and use of prepositions is incredibly important for daily life as a child (and the research backs me up!). Prepositions include words like “on, up, under,and behind” are critical in making requests, following directions and locating objects.
I target prepositions daily in my work with pediatric children with speech and language differences. A fundamental skill is being able to tell someone where an object is and being able to find an object when someone describes where it is- like “Mom, your keys are in the fridge”, and “Addie, your cup is under the table”.
Here is a chart that may be helpful for the acquisition of spatial concepts by age. Keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and these are estimates based on a compilation of research literature. Click on the chart to get your own copy.
When Teaching Spatial Concepts or Prepositions the literature makes two important points to keep in mind:
1) Children should be hearing prepositions in many different contexts. “Target words said by a clinician in a variety of syntactic and situational contexts (i.e. with different objects) were more often acquired by the two-year-old late-talking children..” (Alt et al, 2014). Meaning the more kids hear prepositions in different ways, the more likely they are to acquire them.
Example: If a child is learning the location “under”, they hear the word under as they are crawling under the table, “Hey, Jake, you are going under the table”. Later the child hears the word “under’ again, “Your cup is under your blanket”.A third time that day they hear, “My keys fell under my seat” and so on. The objects are changing but the preposition is staying the same.
2) The second point is that it is important to vary those contexts where the prepositions are presented. Those concepts should be presented in different places; at home, at the playground and the grocery store.
Example: If a child is working on the preposition “out”, The adult would say, “let’s go out the door”, then later in a different location, “Take the apple out of the cart” at the grocery store and later, “pull the piece out of the puzzle” when playing at home.
How to Teach Spatial Concepts
Start simple and with objects that interest the child. If you are working on the concept “off” and your objects are a cup and a small pig, place the pig on top of the overturned cup and push the pig off and say “off”. Repeat this allowing the child to push the pig off several times.
Each time you or the child pushes the pig off you say “off”. Pause after at least five times to wait to see if the child says “off”.
Later use the same word, “off” with different objects and repeat the activity.
Ask the child to push the pig off and celebrate when they do.
This simple activity will allow the child to initially learn the concepts you are targeting.
After you have used the guidelines above, the fun part is helping children understand and use spatial concepts in play!
HOW DO WE TEACH SPATIAL CONCEPTS ?
Here are some functional and fun ways to help a child learn spatial concepts:
“Hide” some plastic eggs around the room (allow the child to watch you hide them) and ask the child to find the eggs in different target locations “Find the egg under the table”, “Look under the chair”, “Maybe under the blanket”.
Allow the child to “hide” them and tell you where to find them.
Place sticky notes in target locations in a book (ie. “on top of the dinosaur's head”, “on top of the car”, “on top of his shoe”.)
Use a playhouse to target prepositions “on top of the roof”, “Under the bathroom”, “next to the tree” and move people in the target areas.
Using play dough to target “between”. “Put the blue ball between the 2 yellow balls”.
Use a train track set to target “in front and in back”. “Put the engine in front of the red train”
Fill a bin with water and have items that float “on top” or stay “on the bottom”.
Incorporating motor skills is a great way to engage children in learning spatial concepts. Make a blanket fort or use a chair and ask them to move to different areas, “Hide under the fort”, “Stand behind the chair”, “crawl between your friends”.
Digital Work with Prepositions (click the picture for a preview)
Alt M, Meyers C, Oglivie T, Nicholas K, Arizmendi G (2014) Cross-situational statistically based word learning intervention for late-talking toddlers. Journal of Communication Disorders 52: 207–20.
Hicks, S., Rivera, C., & Wood, C. (2015). Using Direct Instruction: Teaching Preposition Use to Students With Intellectual Disability. Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch, 46, 194-206.
Katrina Nicholasu, Mary Alt, and Ella Hauwille (2019). Variability of input in preposition learning by preschoolers with developmental language disorder and typically-developing language.
Add a Word Strategy for Language Development
Add a Word : Strategy to improve language development in early language learners. A blog post highlighting one strategy for parents and speech language pathologists to use to promote language and words in preschool children.
Description:
If a child is using one word to comment, request, negate, label, describe, answer or ask for more; add a word to their vocalization. If a child is using 2 words together, expand it to make a 3 word sentence and so on. The child does not need to imitate, simply hear the expansion. This will expand their sentences and the function of their communication and their vocabulary skills. Click here for the Full Resource of Speech and Language Strategies for Early Childhood.
Examples:
1) If a child is saying "bye-bye" to someone or something, you say, "bye-bye kitty" and if a child says "bye-bye Kitty, you say, "Bye-bye big kitty". Add a word to what the child says.
2) If a child asks for "more", expand their vocalization by saying "more milk", if they say "more milk", you could say, "more milk me".
3) If a child makes a comment on a picture or something happening in their environment by saying "plane", you say, "see plane" or expand to three words by saying, "see plane fly".
4)Introduce a new word each day and encourage children to use it throughout the day. This can help them build their vocabulary and learn new words in a fun and interactive way. You can also incorporate this strategy into daily routines such as snack time or bedtime.
Wait and Pause Strategy to Support Language Development
Strategy to support language development: Wait and Pause and give the child time to respond during play activities. When you ask a question, make a comment or give directions, wait and pause for the response. Make sure to also pause after your child speaks.
During play, as you are talking, pause where there is a word you want the child to say.
Description:
Pause and give the child time to respond during play activities. When you ask a question, make a comment or give directions, wait and pause for the response. Make sure to also pause after your child speaks.
During play, as you are talking, pause where there is a word you want the child to say.
Click here for the Full Resource of Speech and Language Strategies for Early Childhood
Examples:
1) Build a block tower: As you place each block on top say "block on" at least 3 times, on the fourth time say "block" and pause for the child to fill in the word "on", wait 3-5 seconds and say the word if the child does not. Continue each time you place a block on.
2)Hide some toys around the room, and have your child cover their eyes. Repeat phrases such as, "Where is it?" or "Where are you?" as the child is looking for the toys. Repeat the phrases several time and pause after at least 5 trials and shrug your shoulders and pause to see of the child will say "where". Continue to repeat the activity.
3) As you are reading a book point to the same item on each page of a book and say or sign the word (i.e. car). After at least 3-5 trials, point to the car and pause for the child to say or sign the word.
Speech Therapy Tips for Minimally Verbal Preschoolers
How do I get my child to talk? What can I do at home to help my child communicate what they want and need? If my child isn’t talking, is there anything I can do?
These are some initial questions that I hear when I first see a minimally verbal child for a speech and language evaluation. Although it is important for intervention (speech therapy) to be tailored to the individual child, there are some intervention techniques that are helpful for all children.
How do I get my child to talk? What can I do at home to help my child communicate what they want and need? If my child isn’t talking, is there anything I can do?
These are some initial questions that I hear when I first see a minimally verbal child for a speech and language evaluation. Although it is important for intervention (speech therapy) to be tailored to the individual child, there are some intervention techniques that are helpful for all children. Some experts (Fish, 2016; Velleman, 2003) suggest intervention for young children include the following (modified from article by Megan Overby, PhD, CCC-SLP original article Sharon Gretz, M. Ed.):
Learning to imitate gross motor skills
Large motor movements (such as clapping, hands up to be picked up)
Actions with objects (banging two blocks together)
Imitating vocal play (i.e. raspberries, tongue clicks)
Imitating oral-facial movements (i.e.,puffing cheeks out, blowing kisses)
Vocalizing visible early sounds such as /m/, /b/, or /d/ (e.g., /mmmm/, “muh” or “buh”)
Vocalizing to get attention (e.g., “uh” and pointing to a cookie)
Sound effects: animal noises (e.g., “grr” for a tiger, vehicle sounds)
As children start using more of the above and begin to use more sounds imitatively and spontaneously, focus can include more functional vocalizations:
Words with distinctive pitch patterns (e.g., “uh-oh,” “wow,” “whee,” “yay”)
Words with strong emotional meaning (“no”, “up”)
Vocalizations that can be paired with actions (e.g., “whee” as a car goes down a track, “hi,” with a wave and “oops” when an object falls)
Sound effect words (e.g., “woof’, “beep,” etc.). There are great books that use sound effects (see Blog post, 13 Tips for Choosing Books for Preschoolers)
Verbal routines and singing (e.g., songs like “5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed,” favorite predictable books like “Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do you See”) : (see Blog post, 13 Tips for Choosing Books for Preschoolers)
Words with very early consonants and simple syllable shapes (e.g., “hi,” “me”, “mama”, “oh no”)
Some helpful speech therapy tips:
Use sounds already in the child’s repertoire to build simple productions (e.g., if a child has /p/, can they learn to say “pop” “up,” or an approximation of those words)
Hold toys or objects of interest near the speaker’s mouth to direct the child’s attention to mouth movements during imitation tasks.
Use movement during practice (push a car down a track to work on “wheee” or build a tower and place block on top and practice “up” then “uhoh” when they fall down.
Make it fun and incorporate play with stuffies or whatever the child is interested in to elicit speech and language (i.e. let your child see you “hiding” toys in the room and have them find them)
Books and music are extremely helpful to facilitate skills.
Keep in mind, once a child begins to use sounds, it is more important to expand their sound and syllable repertoire than to have them accurately produce the sounds ( that will come later!)
The more repetitions you can get the better! Using target vocalizations in play is not only fun for the child, but also encourages the most engagement and in turn increased repetitions.
The primary goals for children who are exhibiting minimal communication skills are (modified from Davis and Velleman, 2000):
Help the child establish a consistent form of communication. This could include sign language, pointing to pictures, using approximations of words, pointing to what a child wants, gestures and facial expressions (or a combination of these!). It is important that the child and the people in their environment agree what a gesture, sound, picture, or word approximation represents or means.
Using alternative communication such as sign language, gestures, or pictures can help move a child toward verbal communication by relieving frustration and establishing a consistent, reliable means of communication (Fish, 2016).
Once my child/student starts vocalizing, where do I go from there?
A hierarchy is suggested for working on production of syllable shapes for children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (modified from Fish, 2016 and Velleman, 2003) but can also be applied to minimally verbal children. I have include the initial steps in this hierarchy:
CV (Consonant plus a vowel) (“me”)
VC (vowel plus a consonant “up”)
Reduplicated CV.CV (“bye-bye” or “no-no”)
CV.CV with a vowel change (“mommy”, “nehnuh”)
Variegated CV.CV (“bunny”)
CVC (“pop”)
CVC with different consonants (“top”)
These are techniques and suggestions that speech language pathologists use in therapy and caregivers can use at home to elicit some speech and language skills. If you are concerned about your child’s speech and/or language development, it is recommended that you contact a speech-language pathologist through your local county or early intervention or preschool program to have a thorough communication evaluation to determine if speech therapy is required.
Visual Speech Sound Cues
Cueing in speech therapy can really make a huge difference in the speed of progression!
Cues in speech sound therapy (articulation, phonology and childhood apraxia of speech) are important to provide assistance with accurate speech sound production.
Cues can include:
1) Visual (pictures and hand cues)
2) Auditory (Verbal Model)
3) Tactile (touching)
I use all three of these cues together to optimize the time have in therapy with my students. I usually begin with visual speech sound cue cards that represent the consonant or vowel sound that the child is working on. These sounds each have a name and a “hand cue” to go with it. For example the /p/ sound can be called the “Popcorn Sound” and I use an open hand a the the lips and push it away from my lips when I say /p/.
The Popcorn Sound
By providing the child with the auditory model paired with the movement of the hand cue and the visual picture the child is more likely to make an association with the correct way to make the sound!
Visual picture cues paired with the auditory model can be incorporated into classroom reading programs, drill articulation work and play-based therapy. The visual cues are environmental sounds that the child is familiar with (like the /k/ sound for “coughing” or the /sh/ sound as the “quiet” sound).
Speech Sound Cue Cards
The /k/ or the “Coughing Sound” and the /sh/ or the “quiet sound” with descriptions of hand cues.
The Speech Sound Cue cards work well with children exhibiting Childhood Apraxia of Speech CAS). A motor based approach for CAS is critical for facilitating motor planning and sequenced motor movements with combined sounds. Pairing a consonant with a vowel card (i.e. the “quiet sound” /sh/ with the vowel sound /u/ as in “shoe”) and modeling the motor sequence helps the child make that neural connection. Moving your finger (or the child’s finger) from the consonant to the vowel cue card incorporates the fluid movement intended for the sound sequence.
Children with CAS many times exhibit vowel distortions where the hand cues imitating the lip and jaw shapes can assist with the correct vowel movements.
Children with Phonological Processing Disorders (or when a child makes a predictable patterns of speech sound errors) also benefit from therapy using speech sound cue cards. For example, if a child is working on “Fronting” (producing velar sounds in the front of the mouth), the velar speech sound cue cards can be used together to target the /k/ and /g/ sounds. Often I target several words in play-based therapy for children with phonological processing disorders and have the speech sound cue cards in the vicinity of the toys we are using to refer to when the child’s target word comes up.
For easy storage of the cue cards, I punch a hole in the corner of each card and put them on a circular ring binder clip. The target sounds can be easily removed for use in therapy. I’m always on the go, so this storage method works for me. I’ve also seen therapists store the cards in a binder in baseball card plastic pockets for easy access.
The Speech sound cue cards can also be utilized as a tool for emerging literacy, early acquisition of speech and for traditional articulation therapy
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Animals shoving and pushing each other targeting the phonological process of “Stopping”.