If you've been reading my blog for a while, you likely know that I love barrier games. I have been using them for years.... make that decades. Students seem to love them and in a group they can be a barrel of laughs. Just try having several students give directions/descriptions while 1 draws. I've had middle schoolers rolling in the aisles (well, almost). Barrier games with drawing or building are an exciting way to enhance language and listening skills in speech therapy. This interactive setup involves placing a barrier—such as a folder or board—between two students so they can’t see each oth ..read more

More no-cost therapy ideas still coming. This is #4. I hope these are helping you keep the stress out of your therapy room. Category sorting with classroom or household items is a simple yet powerful activity to promote language and cognitive development. This engaging exercise helps kids understand how to categorize everyday objects, a key skill for organizing their world and expanding vocabulary. To get started, gather a range of items from different rooms—like a notebook, blocks, pillow, or clock—and ask students to sort them by basic categories, such as "things found in the kitchen" versus ..read more

Hope you're all surviving the busy season! Here's my third idea for no-cost speech therapy activities.  "Simon Says" is a classic game with surprising versatility, especially in speech therapy where it can be customized to support language development and listening skills. By using specific action words in "Simon Says," therapists can help children learn verbs in a hands-on, engaging way. Begin with straightforward commands such as "jump," "clap," or "stomp" to reinforce common verbs. For older children or those ready for a bit more challenge, try incorporating two-step instructions like ..read more

Here is my 2nd post all about no-cost/low-cost language activity solutions for your therapy room. Taking a little stress out of your season. Using DIY Story Cubes in therapy is a wonderful way to nurture language and narrative skills through creative play. To make story cubes, you can repurpose regular dice or make cards, decorating each side with pictures of animals, places, weather, and objects. When children roll the cubes or draw cards, they can build a story around the images they see, sparking curiosity and imagination. This open-ended setup invites kids to think freely, creating unique ..read more

"I Spy" games are a fantastic, low-prep way to engage children in language-rich activities while developing core language skills in a play-ful setting.  "Tis the season of spending money on gifts, buying toys for children, and generally going "all out." But your speech therapy sessions don't need to be a costly experience! By setting up "I Spy" with a twist on traditional categories, we can make the game more dynamic and effective. Start by choosing an item within the room, but this time focus on categorizing it by colors, shapes, or textures. For example, “I spy something soft and blue ..read more

Today, I am relying on the work of Geist, Erickson, Greer, and Hatch; (2020) to give you a few ideas for integrating AAC and early communication into the classroom and therapy room. The following is a summary of an article they published in April, 2020 in V30 of Exceptionality Education International. Many students with significant disabilities have complex communication needs. They may not yet be able to communicate using speech, sign language, or other symbolic methods. Instead, these students rely on non-symbolic ways to communicate, such as facial expressions, body language, and vocal ..read more

Presume they can. Let's start a new school year off with that mantra.  We must always assume capability for an individual with communication challenges. Presuming capability impacts our decisions regarding AAC. It alters how we offer chances and entry to vocabulary, communication functions, and the alphabet. Far too often I've seen, heard, been told, "He can't do this," "He's too low functioning," or "That's beyond his skill set." Hogwash! (that's the clean version) Everyone communicates. There are NO prerequisites to using AAC. Let's all remember that, please. Augmentative and Alternativ ..read more

This is our 2nd week of phonological awareness tasks.  If you missed week1 (rhyming) go back and read the previous post.  If you missed the introductory discussion of phonological awareness, go back 2 posts. This week I’m talking about blending, segmenting, and deleting syllables in words. One of the simplest and most effective ways to introduce segmenting words into syllables is during routine classroom activities, such as taking attendance. Many teachers find this strategy particularly useful during circle time when each student's name is called or displayed on a name card. By addi ..read more

Phonological Awareness: Let's Start with Rhyming Last week, I introduced the concept of phonological awareness and promised a month of skill-building activities. If you missed that discussion, check out the previous post for a deeper understanding. First Up: Rhyme Have you ever noticed that many preschool books are filled with rhymes? Dr. Seuss, for instance, was a master of this craft. From “two fish... blue fish...” to “wocket in my pocket,” his rhyming books captivate children and make reading fun. However, some children need explicit instruction to recognize rhymes. They need help notici ..read more

When I was in grad school, nobody talked about SLPs needing to involve themselves in literacy skills activities. That's changed, and rightfully so. And so, I am reviving and revising some old posts about literacy skill deficits and skill building at school and at home. ASHA's stance: "The SLP may help to prevent such problems, identify children at risk for reading and writing difficulties, and provide intervention to remediate literacy-related difficulties."  "Given the fact that SLPs possess a great deal of knowledge of both spoken language (listening and speaking) and written langu ..read more