Resources:

Speech Works know that we need to keep a child engaged in our speech and language therapy sessions and the best way to do that is to keep it fun! So we do this using toys, games, worksheets and Apps. Many of these resources, toys and games can be found on Amazon and other retailers. Also, we do love Pound Stores where you can find lots of hidden gems to use in therapy.

It is a good idea to have a variety of different useful therapy resources to hand. The activities listed here are by no means exhaustive or in any specific order and the references are only suggestions. Please note that it is not essential that you buy these as resources can also be made. Useful resources that we have in our box of tricks are:

• Feely bags (i.e. opaque material bag)

• Post boxes

• Boxes of different sizes and colours

• Dolls and teddy bears

• Doll’s house furniture

• Playmobil® toys

• Toy food

• Coloured counters

• Dressing up clothes or toy clothes

• Animal toys

• Puzzles

• Toy vehicles

• Puppets

• Lego

• Common objects e.g. cup, pencil, hat, key, spoon

• Board games e.g. Snakes and Ladders, Orchard Games®

• Building bricks

• Musical instruments

• Pens and paper

Winslow Catalogue® – www.winslow-cat.com

1. Sequencing pictures

2. Opposite pictures

3. Emotion cards

LDA Catalogue®-  www.ldalearning.com

1. Action cards

2. Things that go together puzzle

Laminator: This is a really useful resource and great for keeping symbols, visuals and anything for a long time.  The thicker 250 micron laminating pouches are best as they last longer but check your laminating machine first in case the thick pouches are unable to be fed through. You can also get it laminated at many stationary stores or you can buy the machine cheaply online.

Orchard Toys® – These are a very useful resource as they can be very versatile and very educational. Orchard have also released a range of mini games which are great. They can be used for speech activities, vocabulary development, as reward games if the child has completed a small step in therapy or as motivating activities and so on.

Stickers:  We always have a bank of stickers in our bag as many children love receiving these rewards at the end of the session. It is always useful to have different types of stickers such as super-hero, animals, princesses, unicorns or general well done stickers. However, we find that most older children prefer to get house points, table points or specific reward systems that the school uses.

A three-numbered dice: This is really useful because a 6-numbered dice means that games are often over too quickly, whereas a dice with only three dots/numbers on them is a useful resource to make games last longer!

Please feel free to contact Speech Works for more ideas.

For your convenience we have provided you with external links where you can find more information about speech and language therapy and the role of  a speech and language therapist.

Speech Works is not responsible for any content of any external links:

• Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

• Health Care Professions Council

• Giving Voice

• I CAN

• Afasic

• National Autistic Society

• The Children’s Trust

• Dyspraxia Foundation

• Down’s Syndrome Association

• British Stammering Association

• Communication Matters

Speech Works input can include one or more of the following approaches depending on the child’s needs:

• Parent- Child Interaction

• Attention Autism

• PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System)

• Intensive Interaction

• SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, Transactional Support)

• Social Thinking

• Lego Therapy

• Colourful Semantics

• Shape Coding

• Narrative Therapy

• Michael Palin Parent Child Interaction Therapy

• Makaton Signing