Fun & Fresh Ideas for Your Speech Therapy Sessions

Hey friend! 👋🏼 

If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for fresh, engaging ways to make your speech therapy sessions fun and effective. Whether you’re working with little ones or older kiddos, keeping things exciting can make all the difference. So, let’s dive into some of my go-to books, favorite activities, and creative ways to blend speech and language goals into play and learning!

Books That Work Wonders in Therapy 📖

I love incorporating books into my sessions—they’re a fantastic way to target a variety of goals, from articulation and vocabulary to comprehension and social skills. Here are a few favorites that never fail to get kids engaged:

• “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” by Lucille Colandro – A great pick for sequencing, predicting, and repetitive language.

• “The Mitten” by Jan Brett – Perfect for storytelling, expanding utterances, and describing.

• “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” by Mo Willems – A fun book for working on negation, emotions, and perspective-taking.

• “Bear Snores On” by Karma Wilson – A great way to target vocabulary, rhyming, and early inferencing skills.

• “Rosie’s Walk” by Pat Hutchins – A simple yet effective book for targeting prepositions and spatial concepts.

These books are not only engaging but also provide tons of opportunities for interactive discussions, WH-questions, and language-rich play extensions.

Go-To Activities and Games 🎲

Sometimes, all you need is a good game or hands-on activity to bring energy into your sessions. Here are a few of my tried-and-true favorites:

1. Sensory Bins

Sensory play is magic for engagement! Fill a bin with rice, beans, kinetic sand, or water beads and hide picture cards, mini objects, or toy animals inside. Have kids dig through to find their targets, then practice speech sounds, naming, or expanding sentences.

2. Pop the Bubbles

Who doesn’t love bubbles? Whether you’re working on requesting, turn-taking, or articulation, bubbles are a fantastic motivator. Have kids pop a bubble for each correct production or request using full sentences (“I want more bubbles, please!”).

3. DIY Obstacle Course

This one is great for getting those wiggly kids moving while targeting language goals! Set up a simple obstacle course using pillows, chairs, or tape lines on the floor. Give directions like, “Jump over the pillow, crawl under the chair, and touch the blue tape!” to work on following multi-step instructions and prepositions.

4. Roll & Say Dice Game

Grab a die and assign each number to a different speech or language task. For example:

• 1 = Say your target word 3 times

• 2 = Describe an object in the room

• 3 = Answer a WH-question

• 4 = Act out an emotion

• 5 = Tell me a short story

• 6 = Pick a word and use it in a sentence This game is adaptable and keeps things fresh every time!

5. Hidden Object Guessing Game

Hide an item in a bag or under a cloth and have kids ask yes/no questions to guess what it is. This is a fantastic way to work on turn-taking, vocabulary, and critical thinking skills!

Bringing Play into Speech Goals 🧸

If there’s one thing I believe in, it’s that play-based learning is the best kind of learning. Speech and language skills naturally develop when kids are engaged, so here are a few ways to turn play into therapy gold:

• Pretend Play – Set up a play kitchen, doctor’s office, or grocery store to work on social interactions, sequencing, and vocabulary.

• Puppets & Stuffed Animals – Let kids use them to practice conversational skills, storytelling, and expressive language.

• Building with Blocks – Work on following directions, concepts like “tall” and “short,” or even basic problem-solving skills.

• Art & Craft Activities – Have kids describe what they’re making, follow multi-step directions, or practice core vocabulary while getting creative.

Keep It Fun & Flexible

The best speech therapy sessions are the ones where kids don’t even realize they’re working! By using engaging books, interactive games, and play-based strategies, you can make therapy a time they look forward to. Remember, flexibility is key—if one activity isn’t working, don’t be afraid to switch things up and follow the child’s lead.

Got a favorite book, game, or play-based strategy? I’d love to hear about it! Drop your go-to therapy ideas in the comments and let’s share the inspiration!

Happy speeching!