SLP Resources: Favorite Books, Games, Toys & Online Resources

Are you looking for fun and functional resources to help you in your pediatric speech therapy sessions? We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite board games, books, toys, and online resources for SLPs.  

We love to support speech therapists, so we wanted to share some of our favorite activities and products with you! In our experience, one of the most important tools to use is motivation. You can’t expect your child to want to practice these skills if they don’t believe it’s important or fun. 

Board Games for Speech Therapy Sessions

Board Games: For any of these games, clinicians can change therapy activities, depending on age and therapy need.  

Therapy activities for any of the games listed: 

  • Identifying/labeling vocabulary associated with the game or tie in a related theme or category (ie- Chutes and Ladders-colors, desserts/candy/sweets, Shark Bite– summer/water vocabulary) 
  •  Answering “who” questions with the game characters (Who has the _____– can use themed mini objects and place them on the different characters to get more practice- who has the umbrella, who has the shark, who has the fish, who has the beachball, etc.) 
  • Pronouns- he/she (Tell me, who has the candy cane? HE does, SHE does) 
  • Practice articulation (with picture cards or throughout play with younger children)- With Jenga, you can tape laminated words/pictures on the blocks 
  • Requesting wants/needs to request game pieces, spinners, dice, etc.  
  • Pragmatics/Social skills- turn taking 

Best Children’s Books for Speech Therapy

We love books that target expressive and receptive vocabulary and WH-questions: 

Fisher-Price Little People: On the Farm Flap Book 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly! 

“Vehicles Go!” Series (Cars Go!, Trains Go! Boats Go!) by Steve Light 

Melissa & Doug Children’s Book – Poke-a-Dot: 10 Little Monkeys 

Where’s Spot? 

Little Blue Truck 

Fun Toys for SLPs

These toys work well with targeting language during play by modeling what you are working on with the child (exclamatory sounds, words, word combinations, requesting wants/needs, etc). 

Animal Farm Playset 

  • Targeting language during play 
  • Exclamatory sounds/noises- animal noises- moooo, baaa baaa, neigh, etc;  uh oh (if the animal “falls” over), shhhh or snoring (if animal is sleeping), yay! wow! 
  • Requesting– have animals in a clear bag, box and show the child or give to the child to set up the opportunity for them to ask for “help”, “open”, “cow”, etc. 
  • Combinations– pig sleep, sheep go,cow eat, horse drink, more pig, want cow, etc.  
  • Concepts- up/down, on/off, front/behind, etc. 

Mr./Mrs. Potato Head- 

  •  Identify body parts (ask the child to show you the arm, the eyes, the nose, etc.) 
  •  Following directions with cleaning up (hold open the bag and ask for specific item or two items, etc- can increase complexity and add concepts based on needs – put in the arm after the leg) 
  • Requesting wants/needs (I want ______ ) for body parts to build the potato head 
  • Target negation- show me everything that is not a mouth 
  • Target WH questions- What do you hear with? What do you eat with? What do we wear on our feet? 
  • Target pronouns if you have Mr./Mrs. Potato Head (Who has the ______? He does, She does) 

Veterinarian Clinic Play Set 

  • Targeting language during play 
  • Exclamatory sounds/noises- animal noises- meow, woof, etc.; ”shhhh” and “beat beat, beat beat” when listening to the animal’s heart with the stethoscope “shhhh, listen— beat beat, beat beat, beat beat” uh oh, yay!, wow! 
  • Requesting– key, open, more 
  • Word combinations- open, all done, puppy, kitty, puppy okay, kitty happy 

Bubble Machine 

  • Great for language motivators 
  • Exclamatory sounds- “Wow”, “Uh Oh”, “Yay” 
  • Requesting- “On”, “More” 
  • Word Combinations- “Hi bubbles”, “More bubbles”, “Pop, pop, pop”, “Clap hands”, “Stomp feet”, “All done”, “Big bubble”, “Bye bye bubble”, etc. 

Favorite Free Online Resources

The CDC has a page full of free materials, including: 

  • Printable children’s books 
  • Tips for engaging families in monitoring 
  • Tips for when there’s a developmental concern 
  • Tools to support milestones and screening 

Teachers Pay Teachers: What’s not to love about materials created by people just like you? 

Pinterest has tons of resources and ideas created by fellow SLPs 

ASHA is a great resource for up-to-date publications, special interest groups and other resources for SLPs. The ASHA 2022 Convention is also a great event to check out. Already registered for the 2022 ASHA Conference? Come visit the Total Therapy booth in the exhibitor hall! 

Rachel Ryan, MSEd CCC-SLP Sales Consultant
Rachel graduated from Buffalo State College in 2008 with her master’s in education (M.S.Ed.) degree in speech-language pathology. Since then, she has spent the majority of her career working in preschool and elementary school settings. Rachel also has experience working with the early intervention population, as well as with adults in skilled nursing facilities. Rachel lives in Wilmington, NC. When she is not working, you can find her spending time with her husband and three dogs. She enjoys going out on the boat, reading, and visiting family in New York.