10 Speech Therapy Activities To Keep Home Practice Fun

Here's some ideas to keep kids motivated when doing speech therapy practice with your child at home.

​During your 15 minutes speech therapy weekday practice you can play 2 or 3 games or repeat the same activity each time.  Choose what interests your child.  All you need are your speech therapy practice cards.
 
Tip: Have a special box of toys used just for speech therapy practice to keep your child’s interest and motivation high.
 
1) Mailbox Posting: Cut of posting hole into the lid of a shoe box to make it like a mail box.  Get your child to turn over a card, say what it is and then post it into the mailbox.
 
2) Cars: Spread the cards out to look like a road.  Drive matchbox cars over the cards. Have your child say each word before they drive the car over it.
 
3) Sandpit Hide ‘n’ Seek: Do your therapy outside in the sandpit on a nice day.  Laminate the cards and cut them out so you can hide them in the sandpit and your child has to say the word when they find the card.  Alternatively, fill a deep tray or bowl with rice and hide the cards in the rice.
 
4)  Hungry Puppet: Spread the pictures out on the floor or table, and have a puppet eat each card as it is said by your child.
 
5) I-pad Game: Say 5-10 pictures (e.g. eye, fie, vie, sty, lie) then have a turn on a quick game on the i-pad.  Repeat this activity until all the pictures have been said.
 
6) Clothes Line: Peg each picture onto a toy washing line.  Your child names each picture before he/she pegs them on the line.
 
7) Spot-light: Stick the pictures on your child’s bedroom wall or ceiling, and ‘spot’ them with a torch at night, while lying in bed.  You can spotlight your child when they’re saying the word.
 
8) Hide ‘n’ Seek Cards: Hide the cards around the room. Each time your child finds a card they tell you what’s on the card.
 
9) Pop-Up Pirate or similar game: Put the swords out on the pictures.  Your child has to say the picture before they get to put the sword in.
 
10) Ten Pin Bowling: Use Blue Tac to stick the pictures to each pin.  Your child has to roll the ball and knock over the pins.  He/She says the name of the picture on the pins knocked over.
 
By Sarah Creagh,
Private Speech Pathologist
Speech Smart Therapy