February & March Favorites Roundup
I’m sharing a roundup of my February & March speech therapy favorites. These books, games, and activities have been fan favorites over the last two months. I’ve listed recommended ages and a few ways I incorporate these activities in therapy. However, please keep in mind that each activity should be adapted to meet the needs and goals of every kiddo. Whether you’re an SLP looking for therapy ideas or a parent in need of activities that support your child’s speech and language development, I hope this post serves as inspiration!
Books
Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang
Ages: 3 - 7
How I incorporate this book in therapy:
Understanding facial expressions and body language as they pertain to emotions (e.g., smiling for happy, shoulders down for grumpy)
Answering wh- questions
Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham
This book is the most beautiful and kid-friendly reflection on the pandemic. If you’re unsure of how to talk with your kids about COVID, this is a wonderful springboard. The following is a note included by the author:
“Nearly every face painted in this book is inspired by a real person, from people in the news to family, friends, and neighbors. The images inside the hospital are based on real events: a woman giving birth while suffering from the virus, an older woman, isolated from her family, celebrating her birthday with kindly nurses the day before she died, the grateful man showing through the hospital windows his love for the nurses who saved his wife’s life. Stories that moved me found their way into my drawings. One of the most difficult spreads for me to create was the one explaining why we sacrificed as we did. It features real people who were in most danger during the time – some who have either survived or succumbed to the virus – and includes friends who have lost loved ones. Knowing that every character is based on someone real gives me both joy and pain.
My career has been devoted to drawing the world as I would like it to be, my version of a happy world. This is the first time that I have cataloged the world as it is. It is a recording of the daily acts of kindness and humanity made by everyday people. And there was so much happening, so many good deeds, that I simply couldn’t find space in these pages to record it all. This book is a time capsule of our moment in history, when the world came together as one to do the right thing.”
Ages 3 - 6
How I incorporate this book in therapy:
Talking about and reflecting on the pandemic
Describing picture scenes
Identifying emotions (e.g., sad, lonely, scared)
Donut Chef by Bob Staake
Ages 3 - 7
How I incorporate this book in therapy:
Comparing and contrasting (e.g., how the competing chefs are similar and the ways in which they differ)
Identifying items based on semantic features (e.g., “I wonder if you can find the star-shaped donut with vanilla frosting”)
Answering wh-questions
Describing picture scenes
Retelling events in a story
Pandas Love Pickles by Liz Lynch
One of my families had this book and I loved it so much that I ordered a copy for myself! The illustrations are beautiful and I love that there’s just one picture on each page (i.e., an animal eating a particular food).
Ages 2+
How I incorporate this book in therapy:
Describing picture scenes using short, simple phrases (e.g., “He’s eating a pickle!”)
Modeling core vocabulary (e.g., “Look,” “Eat,” “Like,” “Turn,” “More”) for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users
Sound-letter correspondence (e.g., “P is for panda”)
Games & Activities
Ages 8 - 11
How I incorporate this game in therapy:
Asking and answering questions
Descriptive language skills
Goals related to game play (e.g., turn taking, making comments, initiating questions, etc.)
Teletherapy
Articulation Jeopardy by Chatterbox Charlie Speech Therapy
How I incorporate this game in therapy:
Working on initial, medial, and final /r/ at the word and short phrase level (e.g., “What is a scooter?”)
Basic inferences (e.g., a flower you give on Valentine’s Day)
Simply Speaking SLT St. Patrick’s Day Cariboo
Ways I incorporate this game in therapy: Brooke Dibley, the creative behind Simply Speaking SLT, creates the most engaging games for teletherapy. This St. Patrick’s Day version of Cariboo has been a hit with my kiddos! I often play the open-ended version (i.e., play the game without edits) and ask kiddos to describe the image on the door they’d like to open (e.g., “The leprechaun holding a horseshoe in one hand and a shamrock in the other hand”). I then guess which door they are describing before we switch roles (i.e., I describe an image and the kiddo guesses the corresponding door). This is a great activity to work on using semantic features (e.g., shape, color, etc.) to describe objects, identifying items based on description, and making comments.
What have been some of your recent favorites?