At Your Pace Speech Pathology

This Monster game has been a real hit! It is a great motivator and lends itself to work with speech sounds.

Today we practised words starting with bilabials - we selected a toy, said the name of the picture we revealed, placed the toy on the tongue.. once all toys were placed on the tongue (amd words practised) we played the game 🙂

So excited to have completed the 28 Orofacial Myology course:"From basics to Habituation". The course was set for the US time zone, which was 1am to 11am my time! But it was truly worth it!

I have learned so much and can't wait to start integrating MYO work into my speech pathology practice!

I love Lego! Especially Lego people and accessories! Why?
~ they're highly motivational
~ they're small, so easy to transport
~ there's such a variety, so you can find almost anything
~ you can purchase individual pieces via sites like bricklink, so you can expand your collection or purchase missing pieces

I often use Lego people and accessories when working on articulation, pronouns, possessives, story telling, play or general vocabulary work.

How do you use Lego in your therapy sessions?

Another one of my favourite books when working with young kids! I like to collect related manipulatives or toys for each story, which I use for labeling, matching, story retell, free play etc.

I was so happy when I found this duplo compatible chicken sitting on eggs! It's perfect for this story 🐔 🥚

Stuck for ideas for artic practice? These activites were made for a client who is learning to say the /l/ sound. The different activities target the same words starting with /l/.

There's the:
- chain making activity
- putting leaves in the tree
- pegs on the card

Made using (and the trusty laminator!)

I love lego! And I love using it in my therapy sessions! I especially love collecting lego accessories, animals and people! They are durable, easy to wash and easily replaceable if lost by purchasing individual items from sites like

They can be used for a wide range of vocabulary based activities. Scroll across for some ideas!

Make your own fishing game!

It is SO easy to make a fishing game for your target words or sounds!
I made these up via , but you could use any pictures you already have.

Cut out and laminate your pictures, add on a metal paper clip to each picture and that's it!

I fish up the cards using a fishing rod I have from a fishing puzzle game I purchased from . Alternatively you could make your own by tying some string to a magnet.

Making an interactive sentence strip book based on the Dear Zoo book.

Getting the velcro dots is key 🙂

⬅️ hook side on the pieces that get pulled off
➡️ smooth side on the book page

Here's my hack for getting the words to line up: put both sets of dots on the sentence strip, place it on the page, then cut the words apart.

Delivery Day is always a Happy Day!
I decided it was time to top up my book collection. These were purchased intentionally to target a range of themes and vocabulary, such as emotions, reasoning, rhyme, adjectives and comparisons.

Can't wait to use these in sessions! 📚

Do you have this book?

I purchased it a while ago and found it very helpful for teaching feelings and emotions. So I put together a resource designed to pre-teach and engage children in conversation about different feelings and emotions illustrated in this book.

You can get a copy of the resource from my TpT store https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/At-Your-Pace-Speech-Pathology

You see a wrapped toy?

I see an opportunity to teach core words like 'open', 'help', 'stuck', 'rip', 'pull' as well as more specific vocabulary 'apple' and 'plastic'.

I purchased these toys a while ago from and each one was wrapped in plastic. Rather than unwrapping them before the session, I turned the unwrapping into a highly motivational therapy activity.

You can easily recreate this activity by wrapping individual toys in paper or putting them inside screw top jars.

When your child reaches out to you or hands you the toy, simply model the selected words, e.g. 'help' or 'open', a number of times as you assist.

Easter eggs are not just for Easter decorations - they are a great tool for teaching your child to ask for help.

How?

1. Hide a small toy inside each egg - miniatures, Duplo or Lego work well.

2. Place the eggs in shredded paper or a fabric bag.

3. Open one of the eggs to show your child that something exciting is hiding inside. Let them choose an egg.

4. When they can't open the egg, model words like 'help' and 'open'. You can use Key Word Sign as you say these words.

When your child initiates the request for help with sign or speech, open the egg to reveal the surprise. If they initiate it with gesture, model the word and offer help.

If your child can open the eggs on their own, place the eggs inside a clear screw top jar, allowing them to request help with opening the jar.

Here is a fun game that you can play as a whole family!

Call out an item function or attriribute (e.g. colour), and everyone has to go around the house to find an item that fits the description. Add a time limit for or reward the person who comes back first!

After each round discuss how the found items are similar and different, e.g. all of these items are red, but this one is a truck for playing, this one is a brush for brushing hair etc.

See next image for some questions suggestions.

As a speech therapist there are a number of things I look for in a children's story book and the 'Macca the Alpaca' series by Matt Cosgrove tick all my boxes. They contain:

✅ a fun and engaging story line
✅ rhyme
✅ interesting vocabulary
✅ opportunities for making inferences and predictions
✅ examples of emotions and feelings
✅ clear illustrations

Plus they are readily available at a reasonable price from and other book sellers.

What's on your 'must have' list for a book to make it to your 'good story book' collection?

I'm loving this new resource I purchased for working on verbs and tenses. It includes a boom and paper version of the cards, so you can use it in both in person and telehealth sessions. It also has an interactive book option (great for those 'hands on learners' or for using with younger kids) and worksheets.

The individual cards can also be used for story sequencing and prediction (e.g. What will happen next?).

(This resource is called: "Past tense verbs pack! regular & irregular". It's made by 'cat says meow', and purchased via the 'teachers pay teachers' store. Not a sponsored post. I just think it's a great resource!)

Is your child saying "lellow" for 'yellow'?

I use a little trick when teaching kids to say this word correctly.

If the child can say 'yes' and 'low' correctly, I will pair these words with a gesture (head nod for 'yeah' and hand swoop down for 'low'). We will practise saying 'ye' and 'low' (with actions), until the word is mastered.

I like using pages from colour books like this one, when working on the phase and sentence level.

If you have concerns about your child's speech and language skills, contact us for a consultation or to book in an assessment.

Did you know that you can turn simple pantry items into a speech therapy activity?

A bowl or two, a paper funnel, spoons or scoops and rice/beans/lentils.

That's all you need for a fun, engaging activity, where you can work on:

- turn taking
- commenting (Wow! Look at this!)
- requesting (I need more, Can I have)
- phrases and sentences (pour -> I am pouring)
- labels (cup, bowl, spoon, rice etc)
- describing words (hard, smooth, messy)
- colours, shapes, numbers
- verbs (pour, scoop, mix, spill)
- articulation and specific sounds (e.g. /s/ blends - scoop, scrape, smooth, spill)

If you have concerns about your child's speech and language skills, contact us to book an appointment!

Does your child enjoy colouring? ✍
Use it as a motivator for completing speech activities!

1. Use the coloring activity for making requests and choices, labeling colours, turn taking and describing.

OR

2. Use it as a motivator!
e.g. when working on articulation, colour in one part of the picture after you say the target word/phrase 5 time. This approach also works well for language based activities.

✏ When selecting a picture for colouring in, choose one that has small areas to colour in, so that the colouring doesn't become the primary activity.

This activity was completed via during a telehealth session

Working on body parts via telehealth. I drew on the screen while my client drew his version of the person on paper. We incorporated other language areas into this activity, such as giving directions, spatial concepts, number and size.

This activity was so engaging, he requested to draw both Mum and Dad!

Shredded paper artic!

Practise your /g/ and /k/ sounds as you find the bugs and frogs in the shredded paper.

I bought these small animals from , but coloured bug and frog paper cutouts would work as well.

You don't need to be an artist to use drawing during your therapy sessions! It works great in face to face sessions, as well as via telehealth.

Here we worked on giving/following directions and vocabulary. I used the annotate option in zoom, while my client and his mum drew the pictures at home.

What an awesome view from the office this morning! 👌

The people have come out to play! This resource is great for sorting according to colours, type, size etc. Also great for using when working on prepositions or play!

At Your Pace Speech Pathology updated their phone number.

Play is a powerful therapy tool! It gives you endless opportunities to model things like vocabulary, sentence structures, speech sounds, turn taking and object functions.

When using a play based approach keep the activity fun for your child by letting them lead the play. That includes letting them play with the items the way they choose!

Do you incorporate play based activities into your speech therapy sessions?

Play based activities don't need to be predictable or boring. Select the toy items based on the target sounds or vocabulary you wish to model/practice and let your child play creatively with the items. Use play opportunities to model the target vocabulary. Encourage imaginative play! Follow their story line and add new scripts.

Can you see the lava coming out of the volcano? What will the dinosaur do? What a creative way of incorporating the train tracks!

🖐 put your hand up if you have ever used the pictures from the Jumbo Artic book?
…
I think this book is one if those speechie 'must have' items - do you agree?