When your toddler is ready for speech therapy, it’s important to ensure that you have the right tools at hand. These apps are essential for parents who need resources and support in this process.
The following are some of the best speech therapy apps for toddlers:
- My Baby Monster
This app is designed to be fun for toddlers so they don’t know they’re practicing speech with each activity. When your child goes through My Baby Monster, they can not only work on their verbal skills but also build their fine motor skills as they play different games in the app.
- Speech Blubs
Speech Blubs was developed by parents who have children with speech delays, so it has been designed with the needs of parents and toddlers in mind. The app features more than 350 videos that are fun and engaging for toddlers while helping them learn how to speak properly.
- Articulation Station Pro
This app is one of the most popular apps available for working on toddler speech skills. It has more than 4000 words, so you can easily find the words that are relevant to your child’s specific learning needs. Plus, it’s easy to share your child’s progress with their therapist through this app as well!
- PraxiLingua
Helps toddlers learn different vocabulary words to improve their language skills.
- Articulation Station’s activities
Help toddlers learn how to pronounce difficult sounds.
- SoundingBoard
Has many pre-made social stories that can be used by therapists or caregivers to engage with toddlers and help them understand nonverbal cues.
- SoundAbout Pro
Allows parents and caregivers to direct the child’s attention toward what they should be looking at when they are trying to speak with someone else in public places like restaurants or doctor’s offices.
- 3D Animated Phonics
This is another app that focuses on teaching children proper phonics and pronunciation through colorful games and activities. The app takes kids through three levels of phonetic learning—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—so they’re never too overwhelmed by unfamiliar concepts. Kids learn by watching cute 3D videos that demonstrate how sounds can be combined in different ways to make new words.
The best speech therapy apps for toddlers will vary in style, but all share two characteristics: they are designed to be age-appropriate and they include the option to import custom images.
In the case of toddlers, such as little ones aged two or three, it’s important that the games and activities be simple. In addition to this being a good fit for the child’s mental development stage, toddlers tend to have short attention spans. When selecting speech therapy apps for toddlers, you may want to test them in advance. If a toddler can’t figure out how to play within 20 seconds, it’s likely not a good fit.
For children with unique needs, such as those who are non-verbal, the ability to customize an app is critical. Speech therapy apps should include the option to import custom media—images that are of interest to your child. This will help bring out their communication skills and help them grow more quickly.