Favorite Speech Therapy Toys
What Are a Speech Therapist’s Favorite Toys for Speech Therapy?
When it comes to educational toys, Speech Therapists often have many favorite toys they use for their Speech Therapy practice. Parents and caregivers often ask me, “What should I get my child for their birthday/special occasion?” or “What are the best speech therapy toys for my child to use at home?”
Hi, I’m Ashley, and I am a Speech Therapist and the owner of For Goodness Speech, which provides speech therapy for kids between the ages of birth to 18.
Before I recommend any toy specifically, I always inform parents/caregivers of three important things to keep in mind when picking out toys for their children:
- The toy doesn’t have to be fancy!
- Toys without batteries are preferable.
- Find a toy that can be used in a variety of ways.
First and foremost, the toy does not have to be fancy. Do you know how long I have played with and how much language I have elicited from a child with a simple tube of bubbles? A LOT! Any item can be used when doing speech therapy for kids because language/communication is EVERYWHERE!
Secondly, I prefer toys without batteries. I have an entire social media post about this topic; you can check it out here. If a toy lights up and makes all sorts of noises, what is left for the child to do? When doing speech therapy for toddlers, the point of the toy is to get the child to animate, narrate and use their imagination. If the toy is doing all of that for them, then they don’t need to make a sound. If you have toys that have batteries, instead of just getting rid of them, I recommend just taking the batteries out!
Lastly, I recommend toys that are open-ended and can be used in a variety of ways and allows the child to use them as they grow and develop. They also promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills!
Okay, on to the toy recommendations! I have listed my favorite toys to use when doing speech therapy with kids and included a brief description of how to use them to work on specific concepts.
Potato Head
Potato Head is a great toy to teach little ones about labeling and identifying body parts. You can work on them receptively (“Where is the eye?”) or expressively (“What is this?”). Following directions is also an easy concept to target by giving directions such as, “Give me the mouth” or “Put the nose on.”
Play-Doh
Play-Doh is always a hit with kids when doing speech therapy! You can model various verbs during play, such as “squish, squeeze, push, pull, cut, rip, roll.” Imitating actions is also an easy thing to target with this activity. See if they can copy what you are doing/making with your Play-Doh!
Kinetic Sand
Kinetic sand is much like Play-Doh; you can work on all the same concepts. Some kids don’t love the texture of it, but I find it much more tolerable than real sand (and less messy), which is always a bonus!
Toy Barn
A toy barn is a must-have when doing speech therapy with toddlers. Children typically learn how to make simple animal noises before they imitate longer words. Having play animals available with this activity is advantageous! During play, model the use of various animal noises and add a lot of inflection to your voice to make it more enticing and fun to imitate. Imitation is also a key concept to work on. See if you can get your child to imitate what you do with the animals. If you put them on top of the barn, will they do the same? Imitating with objects is the first step (and a prerequisite skill for verbal language) in learning how to use words. You can also model simple, early vocabulary concepts such as “on, off, up, down, help, eat.”
Play Food/Mixer/Kitchen Set
The use of play food and any play kitchen items are great ways to target early language concepts such as “eat, all done, more, want, open.” You can also introduce and discuss categories and sort the various food items/utensils by type or function. If you have multiple people or stuffed animals around, you can give simple instructions to follow “Give bear the blue cup and apple.”
Stacking Blocks
You can find this activity in multiple different formats (cars, dinosaurs, etc.) Use these stacking blocks to focus on prepositions “on/off, in/out, up/down,” and colors. You can also incorporate following directions and ask each other to put the car in a specific garage.
Puzzles
Puzzles are also a go in my home and when doing speech therapy. You can use these to work on requests such as “me” or “more.” I typically hold all of the pieces in my lap and work on having the child use their sign/word to request which one they want. You can also work on labeling by the word or the sound of the pictured piece (“beep beep” for car or “neigh” for horse).
Car Ramp
Another great way to target prepositions such as on/off or up/down. Early sounds are another great concept I often work on when doing speech therapy for kids. Model “weee” as the car goes down and “crash” when they bump into each other. This is also a great toy to teach cause and effect.
Bubbles
I use bubbles ALL the time in speech therapy, and I have never met a child who doesn’t love them! I love to use this to work on requesting. I take the wand out, blow some bubbles and then close it back up. Once the bubbles are popped, I have the child ask for “more,” or “me,” or “open” to get me to blow some more bubbles. I also try to get them to imitate actions by seeing if they can pop the bubbles by pointing, stomping on the bubbles, kicking the bubbles, or clapping the bubbles.
Water Table
I love to use a water table in two ways, as a water table and also as a sand table! Some days it’s just too cold for water, but sand is a great alternate option. I buy cheap kitchen items/utensils at the dollar store and let the kids have a blast! During the winter, I also use raw pasta in a smaller Tupperware container and let my kids do the same. They love using the kitchen utensils to play because they always see parents/caregivers using these items in the kitchen!
Spray Bottle
A very simple but engaging activity is just an old-fashioned spray bottle from the dollar store. I fill it with water and let my kids go to town spraying anything they want outside. You can use it for free play, or you can use it to target specific concepts. Work on identifying and teaching body parts, “Can you spray my feet?” or following directions, “Go spray the flowers.” You can also target verbs such as “spray” and “wipe” or concepts such as “clean” and “dirty.”
Magnet Tiles
Magnet Tiles have become a recent hit when doing speech therapy with kids. They enjoy using them to be creative and use their imagination. I use these similarly as I use the puzzle. I keep some pieces to myself and work on requesting additional pieces for their masterpiece! Since the tiles are all different colors and shapes, you can target these early academic concepts too.
I hope this list was helpful and had something for everyone! These toys are simple, encourage use of imagination, and can be used in many ways. They are also budget-friendly! I use them ALL of the time when doing speech therapy! Some of the items can even be found at the dollar store and will engage your kiddos while working on various early concepts.
Happy shopping!
-Ashley-