5 Summer Speech Therapy Ideas

Popsicles, lemonade, hot dogs, IT’S SUMMER TIME!

You may be doing speech therapy indoors, but that’s no reason to leave the summer fun outside!

Here are a few ways to sprinkle in some summer fun into your speech therapy sessions:

Materials: Blanket, picnic basket, pretend food, plastic plates and cups, cutouts of popsicles etc.
Receptive Language Targets: Identifying objects and food, following directions (e.g. give me a cup, find the apple, put the orange in the basket etc.)
Expressive Language Targets: Labeling items and foods, expanding phrase length while commenting/requesting
Articulation Targets: Fill the basket with items with your client’s target sounds. As you take the items out of the basket, practice speech sounds!
Pragmatic Language: Practice social phrases (e.g. thank you, please etc.), practice turn-taking as you take items out of the basket
Check out the Basic Concept Summer Bundle for supplemental activities such as:

Materials: Beach bag, beach ball, towel, sunglasses, flip-flops, bucket, shovel etc.
Receptive Language Targets: Identifying objects, following directions (e.g. give me the sunglasses, find the bucket, put the shovel in the beach bag etc.)
Expressive Language Targets: Labeling items, expanding phrase length while commenting/requesting
Articulation Targets: Fill the bucket with items and/or pictures with your client’s target sounds. Scoop the items/pictures out of the bucket with the shovel and practice speech sounds!
Pragmatic Language: Practice turn-taking as you take items out of the basket, practice joint attention while playing with the beach ball
Check out the Basic Concept Summer Bundle for supplemental activities such as:

Materials: Plastic cups, pool ring, bean bags, bucket,
Receptive Language Targets: Tape pictures of receptive language targets on the bean bags; Have the child identify a target and then toss the corresponding bean bag into the bucket; Have your client follow a one step direction (e.g. Touch your nose, jump 5 times) then as a reinforcer they can toss the ring on to a cup
Expressive Language Targets: Tape pictures of expressive language targets on the bean bags; Have the child label a target and then toss the corresponding bean bag into the bucket; Tape pictures of expressive language targets on top of the plastic cups; Have your client label the targets then toss the pool ring on to the cups;
Articulation Targets: Place pictures of articulation targets on top of the cups and/or bean bags. Have your client practice the targets then take a turn with the game
Pragmatic Language: Target turn-taking
Check out the Basic Concept Summer Bundle for supplemental activities such as:

Materials: Create your own ocean with a clear container filled with water, blue food coloring, and gummy fish, gummy worms and gummy octopus
Receptive Language: Identifying objects, following directions (e.g. Put the fish in the water; put 3 drops of blue food coloring in the water)
Expressive Language: Label the items in the ocean, practice action words such as ‘swim’ ‘jump’ ‘dive’ etc.
Articulation: Have your client practice their target sounds and then add a drop of food coloring or a gummy fish to the water as they do their work
Pragmatic Language: Target turn-taking by taking turns putting the items in the water
Check out the Basic Concept Summer Bundle for supplemental activities such as:

Materials: Butterfly net, plastic bugs/butterflies or laminated cut-outs of bugs
Receptive Language: Identifying bugs/butterflies, following directions (ex. Catch the butterfly that’s under the table; Catch the bug that’s on the chair etc.)
Expressive Language: Label the items as they are ‘caught,’ practice expanding phrases (e.g. catch the ____; I caught the _____; let’s do it again! etc.) Use spatial concepts to describe where the bugs are (ex. The bug is behind the book).
Articulation: Have your client ‘catch’ picture cards of the words they are targeting
Pragmatic Language: Practice turn-taking with the butterfly net
Check out the Basic Concept Summer Bundle for supplemental activities such as:

Enjoy bringing summer in your therapy sessions these next couple of months and check out our Therapy Materials Vault for more fun summer materials!