Our philosophy here at Kid’s Creek Therapy is that parents and patients will find compassion, direction and be treated like family. One way we do that is to provide tips and ideas which are both fun for your child and support his or her therapy goals. Following are ideas for seven DIY speech therapy activities we love that you can try at home.
Sight Word Hopscotch
For this easy activity, all you need is some chalk and a rock or bean bag, and the game can be adapted to aid in recognition of letters, numbers, or colors, or to practice letter sounds, spelling, etc. BONUS: it’ll get your child moving, too! Find out more about sight word hopscotch here.
Penguin Memory/Describing Cards
Katie of Playing With Words 365 offers a FREE printable set that can be used with children as young as two up through elementary age. You can use the cards to work on same/different, vocabulary, articulation, grammar and syntax, describing skills, and asking and answering “wh” questions. Learn more and download her printable set here.
Articulation Towers
You can find several variations of what are called “artic towers” or “power towers” online, but the basic idea is as follows: get a bunch of small cups and write a word or letter (or tape images of words for younger kids) on the cups. Each time your child says the word on the cup, he gets to use the cup to build a tower. BONUS: stacking is good for fine motor skills, too! See one simple example here.
Learn and Play with Easter Eggs
Plastic Easter eggs are cheap and plentiful, so be sure to stock up this spring and use them to help your child with his speech and language development. Several ideas which promote letter and number recognition, sight words, word families, and even beginning mathematics can be found at this site.
Snowflake Gross Motor Learning
Another FREE printable from Katie of Playing With Words 365 is this simple snowflake set. She provides several ideas for how to use them to promote speech and learning through movement. Find out more and download her printable here.
French Fry Sight Words
Who doesn’t love french fries? This simple game uses popsicle sticks, a set of tongs, and a french fry container to teach sight words (although you could adapt it to focus on letters or numbers). The addition of the tongs makes this game a fine motor activity, as well! Check out a how-to on this fun game here.
Now go have fun, and let us know if you try any of these ideas at home!
Melanie McGriff, M.Ed., clinic director and speech therapist
