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!

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!

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! 📚✨

10 Best Stocking Stuffers for Speech and Language Development

This list includes toys and items that are relatively low cost, small in size and perfect for eliciting speech and language development. I use all of these in my therapy sessions and have found their use extremely successful and highly motivating to my students. The more engaging an activity is, the more language it facilitates! Please check out my other BLOG POST about the Top 10 Toys for Speech and Language Development. I am linking all of the following on Amazon, but often you can find these at your local dollar store, pharmacy chain and even convenience stores!

***Keep in mind that many of these toys contain small parts and should be used with an adult next to the child. To elicit the best communication opportunities the adult should be playing with the toys alongside the child. As you play, be sure model your own language (i.e. “Let’s push the dough”, “uh-oh, the car fell!”) for the child to hear and perhaps imitate.

This list is my no means exhaustive and there are plenty more I could add- but these are some of my favorites that I use with my speech and language impaired students.

Sucking Slime Emoji

1) These gross SUCKING SLIME EMOJIS have been a huge hit for eliciting language for students with decreased verbal skills to students with more language. Targeted core words can include, “in, out, yuck, suck, squeeze, and push”. With gestalt language processors kids have developed new gestalts like, “thats disgusting”, “that didn’t work”, and “It’s not coming out”. They don’t last forever so buy a pack!

PAINTER’S TAPE

2) PAINTER’S TAPE: This seems like a strange gift, but it is hours of fun. To elicit language the adult is the holder of the tape. Children can work on requesting tape, asking for “short” or “long” pieces (great concepts), using prepositions (on, under, around). Kids can make roads for vehicles using the tape and capture items in the wall using the tape. With painters tape it wont peel your paint off!

WIND UP TOYS

3) WIND UP TOYS: Kids often require help winding these up which is a perfect opportunity to work on asking an adult or another child for “help”. Target core words can include “stop, go, fall, wind, up, and uh-oh”. Kids enjoy watching these toys fall off of ledges eliciting “uh-oh” or “ Oh no”. Speech sound targets can include /g/ for “go”, and /st/ blend for “stop”. Also you can name each toy with the target sound that the child is working on.3)

PUTTY SNOWMAN

4) This PUTTY SNOWMAN is fantastic for working on body parts and children add body parts to the putty to form a snowman. Forming the putty into balls for the snowman works on fine motor strength and coordination for later developing pencil grasp. Language targets include “in, on, out push, stuck, and pull” . You can also pair this with real snow in a bowl and work on those same concepts plus “melt, cold, warm, water”.

WATER PAINT BOOKS

5) PAINT WITH WATER BOOKS: I use these in my session when kids need a low key break from high energy activities. Kids can work on labeling or pointing to items on the pages and love to reveal the hidden objects after painting with the water pen. This activity also works on fine motor skills (paint brush grasp). Targeted language can inlcude, “look, I found it, where?, see____, there” and specific vocabulary depending on the theme of the book.

PULL BACK VEHICLES

6) PULL BACK VEHICLES: Kids pull back these vehicles then let them go on their own- like magic. This is great for encouraging the following core words: “pull, back, go, stop” in addition to the names of the specific vehicles. Kids can make car tracks by putting books together for a road and watching cars fall “off” or “stay on” the road. Stand books on the edges to make tunnels for cars to go “under” and “through”. You can also target functions of each and describing each vehicle. There are endless concepts to work on with these vehicles.

PLAY DOUGH

7) Play-do: Good old dough! Play-do or homemade dough works well for those fine motor skills (strengthening hands and fingers and coordinating the muscles of the hand) in addition to heaping kids develop speech and language skills. Verbs that can be worked on are, “push, squeeze, smash, poke, roll, cut, pinch”. Speech sounds like /p/ for “push” and “pop” can be elicited for minimally verbal kids. Use cookie cutters, bread knives and other kitchen tools with the dough to simulate making cookies and baking.

FUBBLE BUBBLES

8) BUBBLES: These are my go-to activity when kids are shy or reticent to participate in sessions. Bubbles usually can elicit participation and language quickly. Bubbles are great to work on early sound /p/ for “pop” and /b/ for “blow” and vowel-consonant combinations like “up”. It also elicits lip rounding while blowing which helps with straw use. I like these Fubbles containers because of the “no-spill” feature (I have spilled many a container of Bubbles before this was invented!)

STICKY CRAWLER BALLS

9) STICKY CRAWLER BALLS: It’s seriously magic how these balls stick to walls and crawl down! Words that can be targeted are “throw, high, up, down, stick, fall, stuck, uh-oh”. The vowel-consonant combination “up” is perfect for working on with these! They also facilitate work on descriptors like feel, color and shape.

NESTING FARM ANIMALS

10) NESTING ZOO ANIMALS: My students really enjoy trying to figure out how to put these nesting dolls back together. It is a great opportunity to work on sizes (big, small, medium, bigger, smaller) and to work on the concepts “top” and “bottom”. Some core words that can be targeted are, “on, off, pull, same, different” and descriptions and differences can be elicited also.

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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

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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!

CONNECT THROUGH PLAY

SpeechieTrish

Less is MORE: Toy Selection for Preschoolers

DUMP SCORE!

I found this wooden box of blocks at my local dump!

Ok, I admit it, I LOVE finding free stuff, especially at our local dump. As I was dumping my “way too full” trash, I saw this crate of wooden blocks, I have these exact blocks at home, but I grabbed them for one of my families.

Today I brought the blocks to that wonderful family (they have 3 children, 2 under 4).  The kids were so excited to start playing and building with the blocks and the Mom said, “I love these kinds of toys where the kids can use their imagination without it being in the cookie cutter way”. Brilliant!!! 

Bells, batteries and whistles vs. Blocks. 

The best way to choose activities to promote speech, language and cognitive development:

1) The best toys are not “toys” at all!

Oftentimes, regular everyday items that you have in your home make the best activities!  

• Think about covering a table or chair with a blanket. Bingo, it’s a cave for a bear, the bottom of a pirate ship or a tent for camping. This simple activity can target many goals to increase spontaneous expressive language.

• Grab some spoons, cups, pots and pans. Cook a pretend dinner, make some music, have a tea party!

  2) YOU (the adult) make a fantastic toy. 

• Sing songs

• Play peek-a boo

• Play hide and seek (with your self or items in your home)

• Bump your child up and down on your legs

  3) Using active play is always fun

• Run to the door and back

• Throw pillows off the bed and on the bed

• Hide under and behind furniture

  4) If you or your family buy toys, try to stick with the oldies!

  Some great ones are:

• Wooden blocks

• Balls and ball ramps

• Toy train tracks/ trains

• Doll houses with furniture and dolls

• Tea set

• Play kitchen and pretend food, cups, plates etc.

• Dolls, clothing, blanket 

• Dress up clothes  

• Potato Head

• Play-do with rolling pin and cookie cutters

• Puppets

• Books, books, books (books promote play, language and learning)

5) If you have tons of “bells and whistles” toys, consider swapping them out.

Maybe have one noise making toy out at a time with an “open ended” toy to balance. Those lights and noise making toys can be fun and can have a place in play, just have less at one time and balance their use. 

A study from the University of Toledo in Ohio (2017) pointed out that “an abundance of toys present reduced quality of toddlers’ play.” Having fewer toys can lead a young child to focus and engage in more creative, imaginative play, according to the study. Fewer toys, it turns out, result in healthier play, and, ultimately, deeper cognitive development. (Psychology Today December 2017).

SO……. have fun, keep your eyes open at the dump :-) and PLAY!!!!