Games And Books To Make Speech Therapy Fun!

My Students

As an SLP, I see students between 3 and 12 years old. They come to me at different levels, with different life experiences, and different needs. Many are embarrassed to come to speech at first, but when they see bright, fun, and current games in my office, they become excited to come play and learn.

I work in a school where 88% of my students receive free and reduced price lunch.

At least half my students are still learning English, and many are dealing with situations at home which make focusing at school difficult. Even with all this, my students love to learn and explore. I serve a caseload of 45 students each year, who range in age from Pre-K to 6th grade. They may be working on pronouncing their sounds better, minimizing a stutter, learning social skills, or understanding and using language. With such a wide variety of targets, I need to have a wide variety of books, games, and toys to draw and keep their attention. Many times, we have offices full of books and games from many years ago. While the concepts in them may still apply, the pictures and experiences in them don't reflect the current diversity of the students I see. When they can see themselves in their materials, there is a big difference in their ability to engage, and it greatly increases their confidence in school.

My Project

For students who are working on articulation, it includes a lot of drilling. They may be saying the same sound 200 times in one session. Without simple turn taking games like Connect 4 and Candyland, this can be a very boring process and lead to the student becoming unwilling to work on their sounds. For students who are working on social skills, turn taking games are a huge help. I may teach a lesson on how to play a game, and the students will be able to tell me the importance of good sportsmanship, taking turns, and following directions. However, once the actual game comes out, it is much harder for them to put the skills into practice. Having a wide variety of games helps translate these skills into real life. Many of my students have language goals, such as identifying main ideas and details, making predictions and inferences, and retelling stories. Having a wide variety of interesting books such as Mo Willems "Piggy and Elephant" books makes this process much more engaging.

Many of my current games and books show the wear and tear of 100's of students over the years playing with them.

Current, up to date, engaging materials such as Operation featuring the popular "Minions" characters or Olaf the Snowman from "Frozen" make coming to speech feel like a treat, and not something to be feared or embarrassed about. I serve many of my students all the way from kindergarten to sixth grade, so being able to offer new activities from year to year will help them stay engaged.