How Activities & Games in Speech Therapy Help Children Learn
Improving your child’s speech through speech therapy sessions doesn’t
need to be a tedious task! Using various age-appropriate games and
activities, speech therapists integrate therapy techniques into fun games.
Your child will have a blast, all while improving their speech skills!
Children learn the way of the world through observing the world around
them. By interacting with their world through games, children absorb
more and have improved speech skills. Speech therapy games and
activities entail various types of interactive games to improve your child’s
verbal, nonverbal, and social communication skills.
What are the Activities used in Speech Therapy?
In speech therapy sessions, your speech therapist will help design games
and activities to improve your child’s speech skills. Fun games to improve
language skills come in all different forms. After an assessment of your
child’s strengths and weaknesses, your child’s therapist will develop a
personalized plan.
Some activities used in speech therapy sessions focus on articulation.
Speech therapists use articulation games to encourage the production of
certain letter sounds. In addition, the therapist may use oral motor
therapy techniques.
In addition to articulation, speech therapy sessions focus on building
language skills. Using books or pictures, a therapist may create fun
activities to help your child engage in conversation. Picture games can
also help develop your child’s vocabulary and speech.
Speech therapists focus their games and activities on various skills, such
as:
● Improving social communication
● Strengthening oral muscles
● Stimulate language development
● Overcoming reading challenges
Examples of At-Home Games
Parent involvement in speech therapy games can help encourage even
more success for your child. Many simple games exist, without the need
for extensive materials.
Some of these games may already be your child’s favorite, or perhaps a
game you’ve played in the past. You may not have even realized the
ability of some of these games to help strengthen your child’s speech
skills.
Games for Pre-School Aged Children
Children in this age range of 4 or 5 years of age love to play games! These
speech therapy games for 4-year-olds are easy for parents to facilitate at
home:
● Alphabet Game: This game is perfect to play in various locations,
either at home or in the car with your child.
In this game, your child attempts to find every letter of the alphabet on signs or items. This type of alphabet game is a fun game that encourages your child’s language development through pronunciation and articulation.
● Reading a Book: Believe it or not, reading to your child is the perfect
way to encourage their progress in speech therapy. Using
age-appropriate books, reading to your child helps strengthen their
language and speech by exposure.
● Wooden Blocks: Using wooden blocks with color, make blocks extra
exciting by incorporating speech games. Blocks with letters can be
used to encourage word games, teaching new vocabulary and
language as your child builds. Your child may even ask questions as
they improve their language skills while they play with blocks.
Tips for Parents Using Speech Activities and Games At-Home
To make speech therapy games fun, parents should keep the following
tips in mind:
● Focus on your child’s strengths, rather than their areas of
improvement. A strength-based approach often encourages more
positive results.
● Watch and Listen: Let your child work through the games at their
own speed, without rushing them.
● Ask Clear Questions: Wait. Let your child set the tone for positive
responses.
● Limit background noises: Distractions often get in the way of a child’s
success. Play speech activities in quiet environments for best
success.
How to Make Speech Therapy More Fun (At Home or in Therapy)
The goal of speech therapy sessions is to help improve your child’s skills.
Children who enjoy speech therapy sessions often get better results. TO
make speech therapy more fun, consider these tips and tricks:
● Use Movement in Speech Therapy: Children love to run, jump, and
play. Using movement or physical activity in speech therapy can help
change things up. For example, many speech therapy sessions
feature outdoor or yoga speech therapy activities.
● Focus on Child’s Interests: For example, does your child love arts and
crafts? Finding ways to incorporate speech therapy activities into a
child’s interests make speech therapy more fun.
● Give Praise: Continue to give your child positive encouragement and
praise throughout these games and activities. Positive assurance can
look like simple, encouraging praises throughout activities.
To learn more activities for at-home speech therapy games, ask your
trusted speech therapist for more suggestions. At The Therapy Place, our
expert speech pathologists offer many materials for parents to advance
their child’s progress at home.
Our speech therapy services improve speech intelligibility, language
processing, auditory processing, and other essential speech skills.
Schedule an evaluation today to see how speech therapy can help your
child.
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