10+ Amazing Preschool Speech Therapy Games, Toys, and Activities
This blog post recommends 10 exciting preschool speech therapy games and toys to try with your students! Games can be a fun way for speech-language pathologists to target receptive and expressive language skills, as well as articulation skills. Simple games can provide engaging ways to work on joint attention, cause and effect, and new words. SLPS who co-treat with OT may also be able to choose games for use in therapy that can address fine motor skills while simultaneously addressing communication goals. There are many engaging suggestions on this list that could be used to motivate speech therapy students.
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5 Preschool Speech Therapy Games
These are my favorite games to use in speech therapy while targeting language development and speech sounds! Many are traditional board games, but there are also some suggestions for new games that you might like to try using with your students!
Read even more fantastic game suggestions for younger children, or check old these recommended games for older children.
Sneaky Snacky Squirrel
Looking for a fun and easy game to play with younger kids? Check out Sneaky Snacky Squirrel. It is a very popular game!
This game can be played in a small group, so social skills, such as turn-taking skills, can be targeted.
Spin the spinner and see who can fill up their log the fastest!
This game is a fun way to work on counting, colors, and answering basic wh- questions.
Hi Ho Cherry-O
This is another classic board game that can be great for a small group. 2-4 players are able to play this game at one time.
The game board contains a tree with fruit.
Students want to get the fruit off of the tree and into their basket.
The winner collects all of their fruit!
This is a colorful, hands-on game that is great for younger students who do not mouth objects.
The fruit pieces are definitely small!
Kids can learn skills such as following directions, turn-taking, and basic vocabulary.
Let’s Go Fishin’
This is a great game for practicing speech sounds!
Your student can practice a target word before catching a fish.
Turn it on and the fish begin to move around!
Your student has a small fishing pole that they can use to catch a fish.
The fish are extremely colorful. Many of my students like to pick a color to collect and try to catch during the game!
You could use the colors of each fish to represent a target word. For example, catching a yellow fish might mean they practice the word ‘key’ if you are targeting k words.
Basic concepts can easily be targeted using this game. For example, a speech therapist can discuss colors, quantity (I only have a few fish, you have so many!), and spatial concepts.
Lucky Ducks
This game is so much fun!
Each player is given a shape.
Place the ducks on the pond. The ducks move while players grab one at a time.
Each duck has a shape on the bottom.
Find 3 matching shapes to win the game!
This is a great way to work on sentence structure while discussing the matches made (or missed)!
Shoot the Poop
Okay, hear me out.
If you’re not okay (*or teachers or parents are not okay) with potty talk in your speech therapy room, then definitely skip this one.
BUT.
This game just has that funny gross factor that many kids will find amusing, so it’s worth considering!
Fun fact: It could also just make you the most popular SLP around.
It’s easy to play. Your student will literally try to fling #2s into a talking potty.
Be careful, this might become one of your favorite speech therapy games!
This open-ended game offers a fun way to address a variety of speech, expressive, and receptive language goals.
5 Best Toys for Young Children
These toys may be engaging to use in your speech therapy sessions. These popular choices will definitely become a hit in your speech therapy room!
Potato Toy
This is a classic game! Here is a link to the toy I like to use!
A speech language pathologist might like to work on following directions, core vocabulary, requesting, and increasing MLU (mean length of utterance).
Here are some carrier phrase visuals that could be paired with a toy such as this, or a similar toy.
They contain core and fringe vocabulary words that can be combined to create countless simple phrases and sentences!
For example, the carrier sentence “put it on” could be used while selecting a clothing item or body part to put on the toy.
Barn Toy
This barn toy is great for early intervention or preschool!
The barn can be opened and closed.
There are 9 animals included (sheep, horse, cow, donkey, pig, duck, chicken, goose, and rabbit). These animal toys double as finger puppets!
In addition, a farmer is included.
So many different receptive and expressive language skills could be targeted with this fun toy!
Working on a particular sound? Speech therapists can use a barn toy to target sound production.
Many early consonant sounds or syllable structures can be targeted using farm animals. It is a good idea to keep this barn toy in your therapy room!
A speech pathologist on new skills with speech therapy students, including commenting, describing, prepositions, imitating animal sounds, and a variety of basic concepts.
Toaster Toy
I love using toaster toys in therapy!
Here is a link to a toaster toy that is similar to the one pictured.
This toy is wonderful for working on core vocabulary and expressive language.
We work on lots of core vocabulary words, such as ‘turn’, ‘up’, ‘down’, and ‘go’.
Additional expressive language targets could include imitating exclamations, such as ‘wow’ and ‘oh my’!
If desired, you could pair these carrier phrase sentence strips with a toy such as this, or a similar toy.
Parking Garage Toy
This Parking Garage Toy is the best way to work on so many different skills in speech therapy!
I bought this toy for my own children.
It’s been a hit for many years!
You could use this toy to target labeling prepositions, creating sentences, following directions, and more!
When we push the car through the car wash, we talk about it.
We also discuss as the car goes up or down the elevator.
There are endless possibilities with this toy! Speech-language pathologists would enjoy pairing this toy with an AAC board or device while targeting core vocabulary.
Flower Toy
Build a flower garden with your preschoolers!
This toy is so much fun.
There are flower and stem pieces that can combined. They create a beautiful garden once completed!
Speech pathologists could also use it to target other receptive and expressive language goals, such as answering wh questions, following directions, and more.
Favorite Preschool Speech Therapy Activities
Are you looking for some more ideas for activities to try with your preschool speech therapy students?
Check out these 6 quick (and easy) speech therapy activities for preschoolers. They are the best speech therapy activities for targeting various speech and language objectives.
You’ll find links to the best activities for targeting minimal pairs, s blends, carrier phrases, and more.
In addition, the article discusses movement ideas and sensory play ideas.
If you want to go more in-depth on ways to engage your preschool speech therapy, make sure to check out the blog post!
Summary
In summary, there are many motivating preschool speech therapy games and toys to choose from!
Speech pathologists can scroll up to find a helpful list.
For more suggested preschool speech therapy games, toys, and therapy ideas, check out these related SLP blog posts:
- 6 Quick (and Easy) Speech Therapy Activities for Preschoolers
- Simple Minimal Pairs Speech Therapy Activities
- 15 Best Speech Therapy Board Games for Younger Students
- Children’s Books for Speech Therapy: The Ultimate List
- How To Do Apraxia of Speech Therapy Sessions with Preschool Students
Recommended SLP resources to pair with games, toys, and activities:
