The best thing about speech therapy is that it doesn’t have to feel like work. In fact, the most effective activities are ones that are fun and engaging. Whether you’re a parent or a therapist looking to help kids with speech issues, we’ve got you covered with this list of fun speech therapy activities. All of them are designed to help you improve your child’s communication skills while also having a blast.
Speech therapy is a great way to help someone improve their communication abilities. Even though the process of speech therapy is beneficial, it can be rather boring for the individual that is trying to improve their skills. If you are looking for some fun activities that you can do while you are in speech therapy, read on.
In this activity, you’ll use a buzzer or bell to get the attention of the person you’re working with. As they become more aware of their surroundings, reward them by ringing the buzzer or ringing the bell. You can also use different bells that make different sounds to see which kinds of sounds your subject responds to best.
This game is perfect for older children and adults who are learning how to pronounce words correctly. Use an alphabet chart and have your student choose letters that they’d like to work on pronouncing correctly. Then make up words using those letters and have them practice saying them correctly. To make it more challenging, you can also add in words that they might not be able to pronounce at first but will be able to once they’ve mastered their pronunciations of the other words in this exercise.
Here’s another one for older students or adults who have mastered basic pronunciations but still struggle with words that have similar-sounding endings (like “cat” and “can”).
Speech therapy is all about helping you get your communication skills to the place where you want them to be. You can do it with a therapist, but you can also do it on your own. Here are some fun activities you can do to continue working on your speech therapy goals outside of the clinic:
- Make up stories
The more fantastical the better! Give yourself lots of practice using the tricky sounds and words that you struggle with by making up fairy tales, explaining your favorite video games, or describing an imaginary world.
- Try tongue twisters
There are so many tongue twisters out there! Look for ones that have common problems like lisps and stutters, then practice saying them over and over again until they come easily to you.
- Practice singing
Singing is another great way to practice difficult sounds. Whether you’re going for a solo career or just trying to get through “Happy Birthday” without getting laughed at at the next party, singing is a great way to practice your pronunciation skills while having fun at the same time.
- Play a Game of Telephone
This game is super fun and will get your child thinking and talking. Here’s how it works: Say something simple like “I am hungry,” but whisper it into your child’s ear. He or she should then whisper what you said into someone else’s ear down the line until the last person says out loud what they heard. You’ll be surprised by how much can change from one person to another! The only rule? No peeking at each other’s mouths as they speak!
- Read Books Together
Reading books together is great for building both literacy skills and communication abilities in children who struggle with either one or both areas. Try asking questions about what’s happening in the story as you go along, or just talk about what you see on each page before turning to the next one.