In our opinion, any toy, game or activity can be used for developing speech, language and communication skills. There are endless ways in which you can make games be full of language opportunities, which is why when working with children, we love to involve some fun games! We’ve been talking within the team about some of our favourite games and resources to use when practicing speech and language skills. These are our top 5:
- Mr Potato Head! This is a great resource which can be used in many ways. We often use it to develop vocabulary relating to body parts and clothes, both receptively and expressively. As children are beginning to label objects, you can hold up two of the parts/accessories and name them to your child; “Would you like the nose or the hat“, emphasising the key words for the child to choose from. You could also take photos of the different parts and use them for children to show you which part they would like. Mr Potato Head is also great for developing turn taking skills. If you can’t get your hands on an actual Mr Potato Head, there are lots of apps which follow the same idea!
- Shopping List! This Orchard Toys resource is used all the time in our schools. Children have to turn over cards with food items and can put them in their trolley if they’re on their shopping list. It’s another great resource for vocabulary development, with all the different types of foods: fruit/vegetables/meat/fish. The game also provides opportunities to develop semantic skills (‘Can you think of another green vegetable?’), sound identification (‘What sound did you hear at the start of that word?’) and rhyme (‘Can you think of a word that rhymes with this food?’). Other areas such as attention and listening skills and turn taking are also being developed with this game!
- Connect Four! This classic game, where you have to line up four coloured discs before your opponent, is a great therapy resource. It can be used for any speech and language activity, where the child can take a turn after every attempt at, for example, a specific speech sound, or creating a sentence. It also develops problem solving skills, logical thinking and predicting what might happen next!
- Bop It! We have recently seen this game being used in schools with small groups of children, and think it’s great! It’s an audio game where play consists of following a series of commands issued through speakers by the toy. There are multiple inputs including pull handles, twisting cranks, spin-able wheels, toggle switches, with pace speeding up and commands increasing as the player progresses. It’s excellent for attention and listening skills as well as auditory memory and comprehension skills.
- Honey Bee Tree! Another great game for turn taking and can be used as described above: children can pull out a leaf from the tree after every practice attempt. This is an alternative to the game ‘KerPlunk’ and can teach children about concepts (e.g. most/least, top/bottom) as well as developing problem solving skills and co-ordination/fine motor skills!
If you know of or have seen any other games being used in therapy sessions or to develop speech, language and communication skills, we would love to hear from you!
The Team @ Communicate! 🙂