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!

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.

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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 🍁

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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Understanding Communication Milestones: A Guide to Speech and Language Development for Young Children

“NOT ALL CHILDREN MASTER SKILLS AT THE SAME AGE”

Free Milestones and Tips

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When it comes to young children's communication milestones, understanding typical speech and language development is key. As parents, caregivers, or educators, it's essential to know what to expect as children grow and develop. Monitoring these milestones can help you recognize if your child is on track or might benefit from the support of a speech-language pathologist or audiologist.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) provides valuable developmental milestones handouts that outline what most children achieve at specific ages. These handouts cover both communication and feeding/swallowing skills, giving a comprehensive view of a child's development. However, it's important to remember that these milestones are general guidelines. Not all children will master these skills at the exact same age, and that’s perfectly normal! The goal is to observe continuous progress in speech and language skills over time.

Key Points to Remember:

• General Guidelines, Not Strict Rules: Milestones are not a diagnostic tool. They're a helpful reference to guide you in understanding typical development. Each child is unique, and variations are common.

• Look for Continuous Development: Rather than focusing solely on specific ages, consider the broader range of development that may happen before and after the expected age. This holistic approach allows you to see a clearer picture of your child's progress.

• Know When to Seek Guidance: If you're ever concerned about your child's communication or feeding skills, don't hesitate to reach out to a professional. Early intervention can make a significant difference in helping children reach their full potential.

“GET TEXTS ABOUT MILESTONES, SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES AND WARNING SIGNS OF A SPEECH OR LANGUAGE DELAY”

Resources for Parents and Caregivers:

ASHA has partnered with Bright by Text to provide free, expert-backed resources and tips directly to parents and caregivers of children ages 2-6. By subscribing, you'll receive text messages with practical activities and advice tailored to your child’s age. Content is sourced from trusted organizations like PBS and Sesame Street, covering topics from language and early literacy to health, safety, and behavioral tips. You can get texts about speech and language milestones, suggested activities and warning signs of a speech or language disorder or delay. Text TALK to 274-448

For more detailed information on communication milestones and to access ASHA's developmental handouts, visit ASHA's developmental milestones page. These resources are designed to empower you with the knowledge you need to support your child’s speech and language development effectively.

How much of my child’s speech should I be able to understand? Click here for guidelines.

Remember, every child’s journey is different. Celebrate the progress your child makes, and don't hesitate to seek support if you have concerns. Together, we can ensure our children grow into strong communicators, ready to engage with the world around them.

Creative Speech Therapy Ideas: Using Stickers for Articulation, Apraxia and Language Goals

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……

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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:

1. 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!

2. 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.

3. 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!

Using Power Words with Minimally Verbal Children

POWER WORDS

“Starting initially with a selection of 3-5 power words lays a sturdy foundation for accelerated progress and nurtures the child's communicative confidence.”

The use of "power words" in speech therapy for emergent talkers can make a big impact on communication and confidence!

So, what exactly are power words ? In speech therapy, power words are those functional vocalizations that empower children to control their environment with minimal language. They serve as essential tools for communication, aligning closely with the child's interests and needs.

It's important to recognize that what constitutes a power word for one child may not necessarily hold the same weight for another. Personalization based on individual preferences and family input is paramount.

Picture this: a child who struggles to articulate complex sentences or express their desires suddenly finds their voice through a simple, yet powerful word like "go" or "up." These words are not chosen at random; they're carefully selected based on what matters most to the child and their family. From "me" and "my" to "stop" and "push," each power word holds significance, serving as a bridge between thoughts and actions.

Starting initially with a concise selection of 3-5 power words lays a sturdy foundation for accelerated progress and nurtures the child's communicative confidence. Initiating with sounds within the child's phonemic repertoire ensures that their utterances remain intelligible, fostering successful communication exchanges. The Apraxia Cards BUNDLE of visual cues for many of these words can help elicit production.

To illustrate the practical application of these concepts, here are some power word suggestions along with simple activities that can be seamlessly integrated into therapy sessions or at home::

1. Me: Encourage the child to point to themselves in a mirror or in photos while saying "me." or while using Magnet tiles, as you put a tile onto a tower, continue to model the word “me” each turn.

2. My: Have the child bring personal items like a favorite toy or a family photo album while labeling them as "my” or  stick stickers all different places on you “my hand”, “my nose” then on the child continuing to use the word “my”.  Use “my” during turn taking while playing indicating it is “my” turn.

3. Animal sounds: “moo”, “quack quack”, “meow” count as words and are fun for children to say. Most of these sounds have a CV, VC or CVC pattern perfect for children with apraxia of speech (Visuals for animal sounds can be found here)

4. Go: Set up a simple obstacle course or use toys that move (e.g., cars, trains) and prompt the child to say "go" as they navigate through or initiate movement. 

5. Up: Incorporate actions like jumping, stacking blocks or pillows, or lifting toys into containers while encouraging the child to say "up." This activity reinforces spatial concepts and enhances motor skills.

6. Come: Utilize games where the child needs to come to you or follow simple instructions like "come here" while using preferred toys or activities as motivators or you run across the room and run to the child while modeling “come”.

7. No: Introduce scenarios where the child can express negation in a silly way using "no," such as putting a shoe on your head or pretending to eat a toy. 

8. Stop: Incorporate activities involving movement (e.g., dancing, playing catch) and prompt the child to say "stop" to pause or end the activity. 

9. In: Create opportunities for the child to place objects into containers or hide toys in designated areas while labeling the action as "in." This activity reinforces spatial understanding and enhances object manipulation skills.

10. Poo: Introduce simple bathroom routines or use picture cards depicting toileting activities while encouraging the child to say "poo." This fosters functional communication related to toileting  and promotes self-care skills.

11. Push: Provide toys or objects that require pushing (e.g., toy cars, buttons) and prompt the child to say "push" as they engage in these actions. Using a balloon pump where the child says “push” while you pump the balloon to inflate it.

12. Exclamatory sounds: “ohuh”, “oh no” and “weee” count as words and these have tons of uses in daily life. Try dropping items on the floor and modeling “uhoh” or “oh no each time” (visuals for Exclamatory words can aid with production of words).

These suggested words are often words that young children use daily, they are functional and they are powerful! But remember- your child’s power words may be completely different and it is important to consider the child, their phonemic repertoire and their environment. 

These activities serve as starting points for incorporating power words into therapy sessions, fostering meaningful communication exchanges and supporting the child's overall development. Moreover, the journey begins with sounds that a child can already produce, ensuring that their utterances remain intelligible. By using sounds within the child's phonemic repertoire, we lay a solid foundation for clear and effective communication exchanges.

Targeting /s/ Clusters for Children who are Exhibiting /s/ Cluster Reduction

As speech language pathologists, we see many children in speech therapy with specific predictable patterns of errors or phonological processing disorders, with /s/cluster reduction being a frequent challenge, and one that I love to work on because of the quick increase in intelligibility!

“Cluster reduction” involves the systematic omission or simplification of consonant sounds in clusters, significantly impacting speech intelligibility. Specifically, our focus lies on the complexity of producing /s/ blends –  combinations of consonants like ST, SN, SM, SP, SW, SK, SL, where the initial consonant is an /s/. You might hear a phrase like “Let’s go play in the no” instead of “Let’s play in the snow”, “Top the car” instead of “stop the car” and “I pilled my juice” instead of “I spilled my juice”.

Cluster reduction featuring /s/ should ideally be eliminated by the age of five, but there are considerable individual differences among children. The American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) reports that the average developmental age of elimination for cluster reduction with /s/ is 5 years old and Shriberg and Kwiatkowski (1980) reported that 4-year-olds correctly produced 90% of consonant clusters in spontaneous speech. Understanding these age-appropriate expectations is important so we can get an idea when children should be producing the correct /s/ cluster, however, if a child can correctly produce both the sounds that are in the cluster separately, it is a good indication that they can produce the cluster with help. 

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/k and g/ Velar Fronting
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I have found that addressing /s/ cluster reduction with children is often dependent on their receptive language skills; how well they can understand the hand cues, picture cues and movement from one sound to the next. 

The Traditional Method involves working on one sound at a time, progressing gradually from isolation to conversation. 

The Cycles Approach targets each different phonological process that the child is using for a specific amount of time and “cycles” through other phonological processes. This works well for children exhibiting many phonological processes. Hodson and Paden (1983, 1991).

Minimal pairs Approach, where words differ in only one phonological element, prove effective in honing in on the target sound with the meaning of the words being different. Think of the words “snow and no”, they only differ by the /s/ sound but they mean completely different things. I found that children really love the silliness of using the minimal pairs approach (i.e. “you want a nap?” oh you need to snap!”). When they can assign meaning to the words, they work to say the correct words.

How to help with /s/ cluster production:

1. Within the minimal pairs approach for /s/ cluster reduction I use speech sound picture cues to name the sounds, children have a visual cue for production paired with a hand cue. We call the /s/ sound the “snake sound” and use our hand and arm moving outward like a snake as a hand cue. 

2. When the child is elongating the /s/or the “snake sound” and using their hand during the vocalization, they land on the next sound in the cluster (it will sound like “sssssssssst or ssssssssnnnnn”). 

3. Movement is the key for the child to understand the elongation of the /s/ moving into the next sound. I often use a wipe board and draw a line from a snake while the child is vocalizing the /s/ then move the marker to the rest of the word- and I draw a picture of the minimal pair word (ie. ssssss–Knees for “sneeze”). Breaking down the /s/ blend into smaller parts, such as 'sss”  'm is the key. If you are looking for minimal pair words for /s/ clusters I have a Don’t Break the Ice for /s/ Cluster Reduction printable activity that the kids have been asking for over and over!

10 Games and Activities for /s/ Clusters

1. Any game with a spinner is great where kids have to say “my turn to “ssssspin” for each turn working on the /sp/ cluster. 

2. “Spot it” Games where you have to find 2 of the same pictures on 2 cards. Encourage kids to day “I spot___” to work on /sp/ cluster.

3. “I spy” games and “Where’s Waldo” books work for working on /sp/ in the word “spy:

4. “Stop/Start” Motor Activity where children “stop and start” when the caller says the words,then the child becomes the caller.

5. Try Don’t Break the Ice /s/ cluster Minimal Pair Game with pictures of all those /s/ clusters and their errored pair.

6. Board games can target the /sp/ cluster (like Candy Land)- “Move one space”

7. Stepping Stones are fun to incorporate movement into the session  while also working on the word “step”.

8. Digital activities like Phonological Processes Play Scenes and Brush Your Teeth for Articulation are no prep quick activities 

9. Play open ended activities and incorporate a target /s/ cluster into play (ie. pirate play: skull, stick, scrape, swim) (ie. Vet play with stuffies: sleep, scale, skin, snout, swab, stray) (play house: school, sleep, snuggle, spoon, stairs).

    10) Read books with /s/ clusters embedded in the story (ie. The Snowy Day, Sneezy the Snowman, Space,

The Very Busy Spider, That’s Not a Stick).

Teaching Production of the /k/ and /g/ Sounds in Speech Therapy

If a child is making errors on the /k/, /g/ and /sh/ sounds and producing sounds like /t/, /d/ and /s/ consistently instead, this is called fronting. Speech therapy can benefit children who are exhibiting the phonological process of fronting after age 3 ½. With children who are continuing to exhibit fronting, you might hear “o-tay” instead of “ok”,  “I want the tea” instead of “I want the key”, “pet the dod” instead of “pet the dog” or “Let’s do” instead of “let’s go”.

As children are developing their speech sound skills when they begin talking, they make predictable errors patterns (called phonological processes). As kids develop, these processes are expected to extinguish naturally. When children continue to exhibit fronting after age 3 ½, intervention may be required (Bowen, Caroline, 2011. Elimination of Phonological Processes in Typical Development).

I love working on /k/ and /g/ because once children get these sounds, their intelligibility increases dramatically. That’s not to say working on these sounds isn’t tough at first, but the work is worth it!

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HOW TO PRODUCE A /k/ sound:

The back of your tongue will touch your soft palate (velum), the tip of your tongue will stay down.( If your tongue tip goes up, you will end up saying the /t/). Then release a burst of air.

HOW TO PRODUCE A /g/ sound:

Same as the /k/ only you turn your voice on! (if your tongue tip goes up, you will end up saying the /d/)

I usually start with the /k/ sound and often, once kids get the /k/ sound, it gengeneralizes over to the /g/ sound and we don’t even have to work on it!

1) ELONGATE THE VELAR

Start with elongating the /k/ or /g/ sound (sounds a bit like you are clearing your throat). I call the /k/ sound the coughing sound and the /g/ sound is called the gulping sound in my speech sound cue cards resource. We are showing the child what a “back” or velar sound feels like as opposed to the sounds produced in the front of the mouth.

2) ADD A LOW VOWEL

Try to add a vowel to the /k/ or /g/ like the sound a crow makes “caw”. With the word “caw” the tongue doesn’t require much movement between /k/ and “aw” and the “aw” sound helps facilitate the child to keep their tongue tip down and mouth open.

If the /k/ or /g/ plus the vowel seems to be too difficult, try starting with the vowel and ending with the /k/ as in “aaak”. The positioning between the “aaaa” and the “k” is similar and again, both sounds require the tongue tip to be positioned down and the back of the tongue raised.

3) GET AS MANY REPETITIONS AS YOU CAN

Whichever combination of vowel-consonant (aaa-k) or consonant-vowel (k-aw) works with the child, try to get in as many repetitions as you can for that motor movement. Use activities with crows, and crafts to elicit “caw” as many times as the child will allow. There are many activities with food you can use and have the child say “aaak” for foods they think are yucky. Try my Velar Mini Books for practicing in speech therapy and at home!

4) ADD MORE VOWEL SOUNDS

After the child has these VC and CV combinations try using different vowel sounds in combination with the /k/ and /g/. The vowel sounds that work best for children who have difficulty with the velar sounds are “low front and back” vowel sounds (meaning the vowel is produced with the tongue at a level close to the bottom of the oral cavity and the jaw may also be lowered). This position of the tongue assists the facilitation of the /k/ sound that is paired with it. The vowels that I find work best are “aaa” (as in back), “aw”(as in bought) and “ai” (as in bike). After the child is able to use these vowels in combination with the /k/ sound, add different vowels like “uh” as in up and “E” was in “bet”.

5) USE REAL WORDS

When the child has some good /k/ sounds in combinations with vowels, try moving to real words using those “low” vowels again. Words like “bike”, “back”, “kite” and “caught”. These Velar Sound Mini Books work great for practicing real words including nouns and verbs!

6) USE MINIMAL PAIRS

I usually use a minimal pairs approach when working with children who are using front sounds /t/ and /d/ for back sounds /k/ and /g/. A minimal pairs approach takes two words that are similar but has a one sound (or phoneme) difference like “tape and cape”, “bite and bike”, “go and dough”, “bud and bug”. This technique helps children understand that speech sound errors they make change the meaning of the words they are trying to produce.

1) PROVIDE A TACTILE CUE:

Even with the above facilitating contexts, the child cannot produce the /k/ sound, we may need to assist them with keeping their tongue down. I use a spoon and have the child open their mouth and place the spoon on the front-middle of the tongue and ask them to say the /k/ sound. Sometimes the child really pushes up on their tongue trying to get that tongue tip up! I have also used a gloved finger, tongue depressor (but I myself am not a fan of the feel of a tongue depressor in my mouth), popsicles and lollipops to hold the tongue tip down which can work well for motivation. Visual Cues such as Speech Sound Cue cards work well for naming the sounds (the coughing sound or the gulping sound) and allow children to associate a hand cue and picture to the sound they are learning.

2) LET GRAVITY HELP

I have also had a child lie down flat on the floor face up and attempted production of the /k/ or /g/ sound. In this position, gravity will take the tongue to the back position, which can help in production. 

3) KEEP THE TONGUE TIP DOWN

Can use cereal like Cheerios,or fruit loops and have the child hold the piece of cereal with their tongue tip against their front bottom teeth:

This will help kids keep their tongue tip down where it is supposed to be 

Same thing with the /g/ just tell the student to turn on their voices

IF THE CHILD IS NOT READY

Sometimes I have put the production of velars on the back burner and worked on other sounds because the child was not ready for work on these back sounds. 

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.

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

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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!

What Counts as a Word?

As a speech-language pathologist, when evaluating children for speech therapy I have to ask the parents, “How many words does your child have?” Then we talk about what actually counts as a word? This post will answer that question!

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“Words need to be consistent, independent and intentional.” 

1) Consistent: Children use this sign, vocalization, sound for the same thing over and over. They might say “beep beep” for car. If they use this sound always to indicate a car, then this counts as a word!

2)Independent: Children spontaneously use the word. They use the word by themselves without directly imitating an adult or another child. If they repeat what you’ve said, it does not count as a word yet.

3)Intentional: It counts as a word if a child uses a word, sound or sign for a specific reason. They might use the sign, vocalization or sound to request an item (looking toward a juice and saying “mmmm”, to comment (pointing at a car and saying ‘beep”), to label (seeing a broken toy and saying “uh oh”) or negate (i.e shaking their head no when asked if they want to nap).

So let’s see what counts as a word:

Do exclamatory sounds count as words?

YES! A child may say “uhoh” when they spill their drink, or when they fall down. They are using this as a word because they are spontaneously using the sounds over and over for a specific event. Often exclamatory sounds are the first sounds that children use. These words do not demand as much motor speech control as other words and they are fun to say! Some other examples of exclamatory sounds are “wheee”, “yummy”, and “Boo”. I developed  a set of 21 EXCLAMATORY SOUND PICTURE CARDS to use during play activities or use as flashcards to facilitate production of these early words.

Do animal sounds count as words?

YES! Animal books, puzzles and figures are early learning toys that can promote production of animal sounds like “quack quack”, “meow” and the sound a pig makes (not necessarily “oink”, but the intake of air through the nose). All of these vocalizations count when they are consistently used for the same animal. These ANIMAL SOUND PICTURES CARDS can assist with facilitation of production of animal sounds!

Do word approximations count?

Yes! Remember, if the approximation is intentional, independent and consistent it counts as a word, even if the word does not sound like it should. When beginning to talk, children often use words that might sound a little like the “real” word but not exactly. A child might say “mu” for “more” or “ow” for “outside”, but this still counts as a word. As a child’s speech and language develop, these words should become closer to sounding like the true word, and if they don’t, that may indicate that there is a speech or language delay or disorder.

Do gestures and sign language count as words?

This answer is yes and no.

If we are talking about intentional communications or messages that the child is using, then the answer is yes. The child might use the “eat” sign for food consistently and intentionally. This would count as a “message”. 

If we are talking about vocalizations that the child is using, then sign language or gestures would not count as words. That is not to say that gestures and sign language are not important  communication methods. Gestures and signs should always be encouraged and are a part of meaningful communication and can also augment or assist verbal communication.

I often categorize a child’s messages into groups:

1) Vocalizations (what a child says verbally)

2) Gestures or sign language 

3) Using pictures for communication. 

This classification system helps determine the method a child is currently using to get their message across to a peer or adult. 

Does pointing to or giving pictures count as a word?

Again, the answer is yes and no. 

When counting messages or communicative instances, then yes, pointing to a picture to request or comment would count. A child may use AAC (augmentative/alternative communication) to point to or access a picture to communicate their message. If children are having difficulty using spoken language, AAC is an important tool for the child to be able to communicate.

If we are talking about verbal words, then no, pictures do not count as vocalizations. Using the classification system I mentioned above is important so all messages are “counted” in some way. 

Do letters and numbers count as words?

They can, but it depends on the scenario. If a child is rote counting or saying the ABC’s one after the other, then no, that does not count as a word.

If a child is using the word “one” to indicate “one more”, or “two”  to indicate that they want  “two cookies” then it would count as a word. As far as saying the name of a letter, this gets a little tricky. I may count a letter as a word if they are requesting a specific letter (but I would not count each letter as a word because that would inflate the child’s communicative word count).

What counts as 2 words versus 1 word?

Words that are often chunked together with one meaning like “all done” or “Thank you” would be counted as 1 word (even though they have 2 words in them).

Two words that each hold different meanings in the message count as 2 words, for example, “go out”, “my cup”.

Beginning words are an important milestone for children and now you can answer the question “How many words does your child have?” with more confidence!

Top Children’s Books for Speech and Language Development

“Remember, the best part is not just reading the books but also engaging your child in conversation, asking questions, letting them add to a story with words and phrases and creating new language with literacy.”

As a speech-language pathologist, I get to dive into the magical world of children's books every day, and if my bookshelves could talk they would tell you I have a bit of an obsession! 

There's something about watching kids light up as they explore the wonders of language through books. Not only do I love books, but I love sharing them with friends!

I'm excited to share some of my top picks for children's books that nurture speech and language development. I have divided them into categories that promote engagement and language learning. (Amazon affiliate links included on titles)

BOOKS WITH INCORPORATED MOVEMENT

Who says reading has to be a sit-still activity? Incorporating movement into storytelling is a genius way to keep those little minds engaged. So, get ready to wiggle, jump, and roar as you read some fantastic books that'll have your kiddos imitating animal moves and dancing with joy!

Movement helps kids attend to longer stories. By incorporating movement it builds imitation skills and assists with memory or concepts.

1. Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia

2. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Rosen and Oxenbury

3. Press Here by Herve Tullet

4. Is Everyone Ready for Fun? By Jan Thomas

5. I’m a Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian

6. Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia

7. Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia

8. Plinka Plinka Shake Shake by Emma Garcia

9. 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Eileen Christelow

10. Stir Crack Whisk Bake by America’s Test Kitchen Kids

BOOKS WITH REPETITIVE TEXT

Children's books with repetitive text are like musical earworms that stick in your head (in the best way!). They'll have your little ones predicting what comes next and filling in the blanks like pros. So get ready for some rhyming, rhythmic fun!  Familiar text  helps children comprehend the story and remember due to repeat phrasing.

1. Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson

2. Too Many Carrots by Katie Hudson

3. The Seals in the Bus by Lenny Holt

4. The Bear Came over to My House by Rick Walton

5. Today is Monday by Eric Carle

6. Thank You Mr. Panda by Steve Antony

7. Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle

8. Polar Bear Polar Bear by Eric Carle

9. The GingerBread Baby by Jan Brett

10. Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

11. Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

12. Pout Pout Fish books by Deborah Diesen

13. Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough

14. Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw

15. I say Ooh You say Aah by John Kane

LIFT THE FLAP BOOKS

Surprise! There's nothing quite like the excitement of lifting a flap to reveal hidden treasures within a book. These interactive gems not only captivate kids' attention but also help target important language skills like answering questions, predicting what's behind that flap, and learning about "open and close" concepts.

1. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

2. Oh Dear by Rod Campbell

3. Peek a Who by Nina Laden

4. Open the Garage Door by Christopher Santoro

5. Find Spot books by Eric Hill

6. Do Cows Meow by Salina Yoon

7. Gotta Go Buffalo by Haily Meyers

8. Tree by Britta Teckentrup (Peek through book)

9. Inside Outside by Lizi Boyd (Peek through book)

10. How Does Bunjee Feel?: An Interactive Lift Flap Book by Josie Mott

INTERACTIVE BOOKS

Moveable parts and tasks to complete during storytime? Yes, please! These interactive books keep those little hands busy and their minds buzzing with curiosity.Interactive books keep kids engaged and moving with moveable parts. Kids love to have a task during book reading!

1. Nita’s Day by Kathy McMillian (sign language)

2. Nita’s First Signs Kathy McMillian (sign language)

3. Find the Duck by Stephen Cartwright

4. Find the Puppy by Stephen Cartwright

5. All Better by Henning Lohein

6. The Cheerios Play Book by Lee Wade

7. Print and Laminate Books by SpeechieTrish

8. Hey, Seymour Books by Walter Wick

9. Drive the Firetruck and Drive the Car by Dave Mottram

10. Poke-a-Dot: Construction Vehicles (Board Book with Buttons to Pop) and other “Pop” books by Melissa and Doug

11. Hi-Five Farm! (A Never Bored Book!) by Ross Burach

CHAIN OR CIRCULAR STORIES

Wait, did the story just go back to the beginning? You bet! Chain or circular stories are like literary roller coasters that take you on a looping journey. Not only are they entertaining, but they also help reinforce storytelling skills and make kids feel like master storytellers themselves.

The storyline is linked so the ending goes back to the beginning in these books. 

1. The Napping House by Audrey Wood

2. If you Give a….. Books by Laura Numeroff

3. I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a …Books by Various Authors

4. Little Blue Truck Books by Alice Schertle

5. 5 Little Ducks  by Various Authors

6. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

WORDLESS OR LIMITED TEXT

Who needs words when pictures can speak a thousand of 'em? Wordless or limited text books are a feast for the imagination. They encourage kids to create their own stories, build vocabulary, and improve their narrative expressive language skills.

1. Carl’s Birthday by Alexandra Day

2. Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

3. Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis

4. Mix it up By Herve Tullet

5. Moo Baa La La La by Sandre Boyton

6. Maybe by Chris Haughton

7. Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

8. Flashlight by Lizi Boyd 

9. Big Bear Little Chair by Lizi Boyd

10. Let’s Go Puppy by Holly Rosensweig

11. Wishy Washy: A Board Book of First Words and Colors for Growing Minds by Tabitha Paige

12. Gravity by Jason Chin

 Let the language adventures begin!

Remember, the best part is not just reading the books but also engaging your child in conversation, asking questions, letting them add to a story with words and phrases and creating new language with literacy. Happy reading! 📚✨

Movement Activities in Speech-Language Sessions: Boosting Engagement and Language Skills

Get those bodies moving and minds buzzing with excitement in our speech-language sessions!

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Why is it helpful to incorporate movement activities in speech-language sessions? Let’s explore why adding motor movement can be beneficial for children with communication impairments. Here we go…. jump right in!

Research-backed Reasons to Get Moving:

• Increased Attention and Engagement: We all know how tricky it can be to hold a child's attention during therapy sessions. Integrating movement activities captures kid’s focus and boosts active participation. When children are physically engaged, they become more invested and motivated to learn and the activities become more functional!

• A Calming Touch: Have you ever noticed how certain movements have a magical calming effect? It's like waving a wand of tranquility. Pairing learning tasks with motor movement helps children stay calm and relaxed. Those rhythmic motions, like rocking or bouncing, work wonders in reducing anxiety and promoting a sense of peace. This can work especially well for our autistic clients or children with sensory disorders.

• Increased Cognitive Skills: Let's give those brilliant minds a workout! Movement activities stimulate various cognitive processes, from problem-solving to spatial awareness. By engaging the body and mind together, we can enhance overall cognitive development  (including communication skills)and critical thinking skills.

• Help Decrease Behavior Problems: Frustration and difficulty expressing themselves can lead children with communication impairments to act out. Movement activities offer a constructive outlet for releasing energy and emotions. This, in turn, reduces behavior problems and promotes self-regulation.

• Boosting Memory: Ever wish there was a way to make those therapy sessions stick? Research suggests that movement helps facilitate memory formation and retention. By linking speech and language tasks with specific movements, children are more likely to remember and apply what they've learned.

10 Beneficial

Speech and Language Activities Paired with Movement:

1. Obstacle Courses: Create interactive obstacle courses that include language-based challenges. Children can identify objects, follow directions, and describe items along the way. Adding speech sound cards to the path provides motivation to get all those trials in!

2. Dance and Sing: Combine language-rich songs with dance movements to target vocabulary, sentence structure, and expressive language skills. Get those little feet tapping!

3. Yoga for Speech: Blend speech and language tasks with yoga routines to promote breath control, body awareness, and language expression.

4. Imitate Book Actions: Bring books to life by acting out characters' and objects movements, using gestures.  Watch comprehension and expressive language soar! I have an engaging book companion to the book “TipTip Dig Dig”, “The Napping House” and “Dinosaurumpus” and kids can act out what items and people are doing in the story (i.e.” tip like a dump truck”).

5. Ball Toss Games: Spice up ball toss games by incorporating speech and language targets. Children can say words, answer questions, or use target sounds before throwing or catching the ball. Write or draw target words or sounds on those plastic beach balls with dry erase markers and wherever the child’s hand is they say that sound or word.

6. Puppet Play: Unleash the power of puppets! Engage children in conversations, role-playing scenarios, and narrative development. 

7. Sensory Bins: Dive into sensory adventures by incorporating language-based tasks. Children can explore textures, categorize objects, describe items, and engage in meaningful conversations. I use sensory bins ALOT and have themes bins with book companions in my store.

8. Action Songs: Teach children catchy songs with accompanying movements that target specific speech and language goals, such as articulation, phonological awareness, or grammar. It's like a musical language extravaganza! Think 5 Little Monkeys Jumpin’ on the Bed, while kids jump off a mini trampoline acting like those monkeys.

9. Feed the Animal: Use target cards for kids to feed an animal, puppet or monster! Use cut out animals with holes for mouths that kids can drop cards into.

10. Ball poppers with targets: Attach articulation cards to binder clips to create a target to hit with a ball popper. 

If you want children to choose activities like ball poppers or swatting cards with a fly swatter, I have a free choice visual that children can use for what to do with speech sound cards.

Customize these activities to suit the unique needs and goals of your little communication stars. 

So, let's get those bodies moving and minds buzzing with excitement in our speech-language sessions! Embracing movement activities opens doors to dynamic and effective learning experiences, empowering our young heroes to communicate with confidence. 

Tips for Making the /s/and /z/Sounds in Speech Therapy

As speech therapists, we encounter various challenges when helping children achieve correct articulation of specific sounds. The /s/ and /z/ sounds are particularly tricky, with errors ranging from lisps to phonological processes like stopping.

HOW DO YOU MAKE AN /S/ and /Z/?

As SLP’s we know this, but here’s a review and a simple way to explain it:

Understanding Correct Tongue, Lip, and Jaw Positioning:

1. The lateral sides of the tongue should be elevated and touching the sides of the upper top teeth, specifically the upper molars. This positioning creates a narrow passage for the airflow.

2. Funnel-like Tongue Shape: The middle of the tongue forms a slight groove or funnel, allowing the airflow to travel smoothly through the oral cavity. The tongue tip should lower just slightly to create a channel that facilitates the passage of the airflow.

3. Jaw and Lip Positioning: The jaw should be in a high position, but it may shift forward slightly during the production of the /s/ sound. This subtle movement contributes to the precise articulation of the sound. The lips should be slightly relaxed and parted, allowing a smooth airflow.

4. Forward Airflow: The airstream moves forward and out of the mouth during the production of the /s/ and /z/ sounds. The airflow should continue while the tongue remains in place, ensuring a clear and crisp sound. 

COMMON ERRORS WITH /S/ and /Z/:

• Frontal Lisp/Interdental Lisp: This occurs when the tongue protrudes between the front teeth, resulting in a "th" sound instead of the /s/ or /z/ sound. The “typical” lisp.

• Lateral Lisp:  Air escapes over the sides of the tongue, creating a "slushy" sound rather than the crisp /s/ or /z/ sound. I have found that this can be really tough to remediate, especially with younger children!

• Stopping: The phonological process of stopping involves substituting the /s/ sound with a stop sound like /t/ or /d/, resulting in words like "sun" sounding like "tun." This is really where those picture and hand cues can be effective!

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR ELICITING /S/ and /Z/ SOUNDS:

1. Tongue Placement Similarities: The initial tongue placement for the /t/ and /s/ sounds is the same!  Encourage the child to produce a "long" /t/ sound, with the tongue lightly touching the alveolar ridge then elongate that sound (like the /ts/ the end of the word “cats”). Calling this a “new sound” can eliminate the child’s attempts to correct an errored sound.

2. Mirror Work: Incorporate the use of mirrors during therapy sessions. This enables children to visually observe their tongue placement and make necessary adjustments for correct /s/ and /z/ sounds.

3. Tactile Feedback: Utilize foods like popsicles or lollipops to provide tactile feedback. Instruct the child to touch the tip of their tongue to the alveolar ridge where the food is placed, reinforcing correct tongue positioning.

4. Forward Stream of Air: Particularly for lateral lisps, encourage the child to visualize using a "forward stream" of air (or making the air come out of the front of the mouth instead of the sides). Explain that this helps prevent air from escaping over the sides of the tongue. Using a straw on the middle lower lip and instructing the child to make the air come through the straw can help for more feedback.

5. Visual Cues and Gestures: Use visual cues (picture of a snake for /s/) and name the sound as the "snake sound" for /s/. Accompany the cue with a hand and arm movement resembling a snake, moving up and down. This adds a multi-sensory aspect to the therapy, aiding in sound production.

   
   Helping children produce the /s/ and /z/ sounds correctly can be challenging but with the right strategies, patience, and practice, success can be achieved. Remember, each child's progress may vary, so adapting these strategies to suit individual needs is crucial for optimal results.

For activities to elicit the /s/ and /z/ sounds check out some of my resources below:

SPEECH SOUND MINI BOOKS FOR PRACTICE

S’MORE ARTICULATION CRAFT AND ACTIVTIES

Supercharging Speech Therapy with Sensory Bins: Boosting Communication Skills and Beyond

Are you ever stuck wondering how to make your therapy sessions more engaging and effective? 

Lemonade Sensory Bin filled with play-do, plastic cups, spoons, limes, and lemons (plastic ice fruit shapes) and fruit coasters (all from the Dollar Store)

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Get ready to supercharge your speech therapy toolkit with the power of sensory bins! In this blog post, we're diving into the incredible world of sensory bins and how they can solve the age-old problem of finding engaging, functional activities to target speech sounds, motor speech movements, phonological processing disorders, expressive and receptive language goals, social communication and play skills. 

It does take initial work in the beginning adding items to the bins, but after you can pull them out year after year with no prep.

WHAT IS A SENSORY BIN?

It is a container filled with a variety of fillers like beads, sand, water, rocks, dried pasta, dried corn. Within these bins you can add small toys, spoons, cups, little people, storybook props, tongs, and scoopers.  You can fill your sensory bin according to themes like dinosaurs or sharks. I like to use plastic containers with lids so I can store my bins year after year.

Gardening Sensory Bin filled with green dyed pasta for grass, plastic flowers, flower pots and carrots, scoopers and herb markers.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SENSORY BINS?

• Enhanced Sensory Stimulation: Children with sensory processing deficits often struggle with communication due to sensory challenges. Sensory bins provide the extra stimulation needed to activate their senses, kickstarting the brain and central nervous system for optimal communication development.

• Memory Activation: Our senses are memory superheroes! When we engage multiple senses during therapy, we unlock more opportunities for memory activation and retention. Sensory bins create memorable experiences that help children recall and apply speech and  language skills long after the session ends.

• Joint Attention and Social Interaction: Building connections goes hand in hand with building relationships. Sensory bins foster joint attention, turn-taking, and social interaction as children explore and play together. They're not just mastering language, but also honing crucial social communication skills during play.

• Building Brain Connections: Research confirms that sensory play, including sensory bins, builds strong connections in the brain's pathways. These connections enable children to tackle complex learning tasks, opening the door to remarkable progress in speech and language development.

• Descriptive Vocabulary Expansion: Step into the sensory bin wonderland, and watch descriptive vocabulary flourish! As children immerse themselves in the sensory experience, they explore colors, shapes, textures, and sizes, expanding their expressive language skills and painting vivid pictures with their words.

 WHAT GOALS CAN I TARGET?

1. Articulation and Apraxia: Say goodbye to dull articulation drills! With sensory bins, we can transform speech practice into a thrilling treasure hunt. Imagine burying small objects or pictures with target sounds and having your little ones search for them while practicing their speech.  Use a child’s one, two or three target words over and over forming those motor neural brain pathways for tons of trials for kids with apraxia. It's interactive, engaging, and super effective in improving speech intelligibility and motor planning.

2. Phonological Processing Disorders: Sensory bins provide a multisensory approach that works wonders for children with phonological processing disorders. Sorting objects based on initial sounds or creating new words by manipulating objects with target phonemes takes learning to a whole new level. The tactile experiences and hands-on exploration boost sound discrimination and syllable awareness, helping children conquer phonological challenges.

3. Expressive and Receptive Language Goals: Sensory bins are a goldmine for expressive and receptive language development. Whether it's using prepositions, expanding sentences, or describing objects with vivid descriptors, sensory bins provide the perfect backdrop for language growth. The best part? Joint attention and social interaction come naturally as children engage their senses, fostering communication skills while having a blast.

HOW CAN I USE THEM?:

• Have the child find small objects or pictures that contain their target speech sounds and use them in sentences or short stories.

• Encourage the child to bury small objects in the sensory bin and practice saying target words or sentences while retrieving them.

• Use objects with different textures, shapes, or sizes in the sensory bin and ask the child to imitate specific motor movements, such as sliding, twisting, or pushing, while describing their actions aloud.

• Introduce objects with different initial or final sounds and ask the child to sort them into corresponding containers.

• Use objects with target phonemes and have the child manipulate and combine them to create new words or syllables.

• Incorporate prepositions by placing objects in different locations within the sensory bin and asking the child to describe their position (i.e.., "The lemon is under the cup").

• Use action verbs related to the sensory bin materials and encourage the child to act them out or create sentences using the verbs (e.g., "The dinosaur is roaring," "I am pouring sand into the bucket").

• Expand sentence length and complexity by encouraging the child to describe the objects using descriptors (e.g., colors, sizes, textures) or by combining multiple sentences into a cohesive narrative.

• Use them with paired books and props and have children retell the story with the props in the sensory bin.

Sensory bins provide a versatile and engaging platform for targeting a wide range of speech and language goals in children. By harnessing the power of tactile experiences, therapists, teachers and parents can create a multisensory environment that promotes articulation, motor speech movements, phonological processing skills, as well as expressive and receptive language development. 

The possibilities are endless when it comes to sensory bins. Let your creativity shine, and watch your therapy sessions transform into captivating adventures that leave a lasting

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.  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. 

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13 Tips for Choosing Books for Preschoolers to Encourage Communication Skills

1) Creative engaging illustrations: pictures with bright colors and actions on the pages. Many times the simpler the illustrations, the more drawn the child is to examining the details of those simple pictures. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and The Snowy Day are great examples of classic children’s books with very simple illustrations. Although these books have colorful illustrations, the pictures are not too “busy” and allow children to focus on specific elements. The Pout Pout Fish, a book series by Deborah Diesen is another book that has engaging illustrations with detailed emotions in the sea creatures faces.

2) Select books that are relatively short and tell simple stories (or make a longer book short!). Because a book may have more text than a preschool child can sit for, doesn’t mean you need to read ALL the text. If a page maybe has 5 sentences, the adult can summarize the text for the child to keep their interest. A “picture walk” is a great way to preview a book or simply talk about what you and the child see in the pictures. The Three Pigs when read fully can be too long for some children, but can be easily shortened by the adult reading or summarizing the story but using repeated text throughout (“I will huff and puff” is an example of that repeated text).

3) Books that have limited or no text: Inside Outside by Lizi Boyd, Gravity by Jason Chin is about the advanced concept of gravity that can be simply understood. We talked about the word gravity and dropped items including the book. The kids had a blast! Carl’s Birthday by Alexandra Day is a series with limited text that contains pictures that tell the story of a dog’s birthday. 

4) Books with Repetitive phrasing or pictures:  Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do you Hear? And most books by Eric Carle have the quality of repetitive and memorable phrasing. Children really love this predictable text. 5 Little Monkeys and  It’s Mine by Leo Lionni are also examples of books that contain repetitive scripts. Repetitive phrasing allows for practice of motor speech movements for children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

5) Rhyming, song or rhythm in the text is appealing to young children and invites them to join in with the story.  Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson contains the repeated word “more” on each page. This can be used to teach specific sign language or vocabulary on augmentative and alternative communication devices. 5 Green and Speckled Frogs, and Dinosaurumpus by Toni Mitton also have captivating rhythms. Books where animals or people make certain sounds to imitate Moo, Baa, La La La are great for kids with limited verbal production.

6) Hidden pictures on pages entice a child’s curiosity. Dear Zoo is one of my favorites for this. Children open a flap to reveal a zoo animal that is not appropriate to take home. An easy way to make your own hidden picture book is to cover pictures with sticky notes. Children can make guesses as to what is underneath. Find the Duck and Find the Puppy by Felicity Brooks have pictures that children have to locate on each page. Hidden pictures are great for targeting answering “where” questions and preposition use (i.e “the duck is in the sink”).

7) Humorous books always encourage tons of language (think poop, body noises, silly things). Hey Bruce and other Mother Bruce Books by Ryan Higgins have children turning books upside down, wiggling and “pushing buttons” as part of the story.  Duck In the Truck by Jez Alborough is a humorous story about a duck who gives his other animal friends some big problems. 

8) Movable books/pages, tactile books and Books that Encourage Children’s Movement like  Press Here by Herve Tullet where children follow directions to push, shake, and tilt the book to make things happen. Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia is another book where children can imitate the vehicle's movements and move their bodies in similar ways. 

9) Books that are of high interest to the child are important to consider. Little Mouse, Big Hungry Bear and the Red Ripe Strawberry by Don Wood is fun for children who love Bears or How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen for kids who know all the dinosaur’s names. Sometimes books that are interesting to the child or character books that they have seen on videos or TV are great to explore with your child or student. If a book is motivating for the child, that book is valuable!

10) Award winning books (Caldecott or or other author/illustrator medals), and book by familiar children’s authors The Napping House  by Audrey Wood, The GingerBread Baby by Jan Brett, The Very  Busy Spider by Eric Carle are all Caldecott Winners for good reason!

11) Books that mimic real life events All Better by Henning Lohein about getting “boo boos” and making them feel better. Thank You Mr. Panda by Steve Antony about a Panda giving presents to all of his friends who are not grateful. 

12) If you can extend the theme of a story with more activities it  expands vocabulary and learning! As an example, with the book  Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni, you can measure items in the room, your arm, a banana! Extending a book’s lesson, language or theme is a perfect way to extend that language to “real life”.

13) Be sure to think about books that are appropriate for your  child’s fine motor skills: (Board books, larger pages, thicker paper and tiny hand held books). Although Pop up books are fun, they are very tempting to grab and pull the pop ups for little hands!

Be sure to check out my Book Companion Bundle and other Book Companions in my TPT store for some props and activities to use with some of the above mentioned books!

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Top 10 Recommended Toys for Speech and Language Development

Top 10 Recommended Toys for Speech and Language Development

As a speech language pathologist, I am often asked what toys or activities I recommend for speech and language development for speech or language impaired children ages 2-5. In my previous Blog Post I talked about toy selection. I wanted to provide you with some toys and links that I use in my therapy sessions and that I find work well in eliciting receptive and expressive language skills. The toys I have chosen for this list are open ended, play based and can target many goals at one time (including speech sound and language goals!)

Included in this list are some of my favorites (I could list 50 more!). You know your child best and as I said in my previous post you are your child’s BEST toy, and you know your child better than anyone. Consider your child’s interests and use their curiosity in specific toys and activities to steer your decisions. 

(**Some of the toys contain small parts for 2 and 3 year olds and must be supervised by an adult).  

ALL PICTURES ARE LINKED Soooo… Click on a picture to see more about the specific toy

(Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any purchase made through these links will award me a small commission -at absolutely no extra cost for you)!

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1) Farm set

Farm Sets with animals and people are great to work on prepositions like “in, out, up, down” and verbs “eat, go, come, stop” in addition to animal labels and sounds. Children who are minimally verbal can often imitate animal sound and this provides them with a play based opportunity for that!

2)Blocks

Any type of block set provides an open ended learning and communication experience for your child. I really like these soft blocks to reduce noise and injury and kids love to put the round peg blocks through the holes encouraging verbs like “through, out, in, stuck”. With colored blocks you can also work on sorting, naming and pointing to colors, shapes and sizes. Some early core words and sounds to work on are “uhoh” when pushing a tower over or “up” or “on” each time you put a block on the tower. A great storage option is in old comforter bag or a pillowcase with a tie!

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3) Play House with People and Props

Similar to the farm, a play house with people can target prepositions  (in, on, out, up, down)and verbs (go, come, stop, pee pee, poop, eat, sleep….). With the different people you can also work on pronouns (he, she, they, him, her, them) and family members names (Daddy, Mama, Grandma, and proper nouns -the names of sister, brother, friends). A playhouse also lends itself to learning names of rooms and furniture in the home. There are tons of playhouses with people on the market!

4) Potato Heads

I like to find these at yard sales and online mom’s groups. I get collections of different potato head items all around (even the Dollar store and pharmacy stores have them). Try to get them with a case for storage or pick up a plastic container to store all the potato extras!

These are great for working on pronouns, body parts, family names, and sizes. To work on specific sounds, I name each potato with a sound that the child is working on (i.e working on the /k/ sound, I might name one of the potatoes “Ken” and the other “Kiki”). Kids also work on fine motor skills pushing the body parts into the holes on the potatoes.

5) Cars with Garages or Ramps

You can get cars and ramps pretty much anywhere there are toys. I like the above set for the variety of language it can elicit. Kids love to hide items inside of containers and this set works great for that in play. Originally intended to work on numbers, colors and sizes, you can also work on putting different color cars into the garages and work on “no”, “yes”, and  “uhoh”. Take a book or box and make a ramp for cars to “go” “down” and “up” to work on those concepts. Stacking the garages on top of each other and “pushing” down is so fun for kids in addition to playing hide and seek with the cars and the boxes.

6) Play Food set or Baking Set

You can find play food sets all over the place. I like these sets particularly because they have velcro so the child can cut and put back together to work on those fine motor skills. Working on naming and pointing to foods kids love to make meals for adults. Some core words to work on are “cut, push, pull, make, on, off, open, close, out, in”. It’s fun to pair adult real cooking items in play (a big pot, wooden spoons, spatula) and real foods (potato, apple etc.) and make soup!

7) Baby Dolls and Accessories

You probably already have this toy (Baby with accessories), but I had to include it! It’s perfect to work on verbs  “eat, poop, pee, sleep, drink, clean, change”, vocabulary like “stinky, help, see, bath, bottle, spoon…”, and body parts. This also encourages pretend play!

8) Ball poppers

This is a great stocking stuffer and there are all kinds of animals you can choose from for these ball poppers (The balls are quite small so this needs to be monitored by an adult). Simple words that can be worked on are “pop, push, squeeze, up, out, go, where…”. I often pair this toy with bubbles when working on the /p/ and /b/ sounds with minimally verbal kids. 

9) Learning Resources Toys Picnic Basket, Surprise Party Presents, Rock and Gem Surprise

These Learning Resources toys and activities are so engaging for kids and target numerous goals through play. Here we are with the toy inside a container again- and kids LOVE it. My kids have really enjoyed cracking open the rocks to reveal the gems. Working on colors and shapes with all of these toys as well as prepositions, new vocabulary (foods, animals) and core words like “open, close, help, out, hide and find”. The language opportunities are endless!

   10) Magnet Tiles 

Magnet tiles are like blocks: open ended, tons of language opportunities and fun. This set is one of many that I found. I even saw some at Aldi’s grocery store this weekend. You will want at least 32 pieces for building. Kids can make anything from boxes to castles. I love to hide things inside the boxes. You can also use washable markers to write on the tiles and work on specific sounds. Shapes, colors and sizes can be targeted also. I recommend buying a plastic storage container to keep them all in one place!

11) Critter Clinic

Ok- I know I said Top 10 toys, but this one is a bonus! I picked mine up at a yard sale years ago! Different color keys open up different color doors and you can put anything you want the child to work on inside the doors. This toy is a favorite of speech pathologists because of the versatility of it. It is intended to be a vet clinic, but you can make it whatever your child is interested in (i.e. a school, a barn, a house, a town).Vocabulary that this can elicit includes “open, close, stuck, hide, in, and out”. You can put speech sound picture cards in the doors also to work on your child’s targeted sounds

Since I wanted to keep the list short, I won’t add anymore now (maybe in another post,      

But…. I can’t make a list for the Top Recommended Toys for Speech and Language  Development without mentioning these:

Books

Puzzles

Bubbles

Play do

Balls

Tunnel

Play kitchen

Pots, pans, spoons, cups, tongs

I will be doing another Blog post about some of these toys and activities also, so stay tuned and check into my Blog often!

  Thanks for being here!

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SpeechieTrish