After more than a decade of private practice, there are some “tried and
true” items that
I always go-to on my office shelves during a therapy session. In many cases,
they may not be the shiniest, loudest, or most trendy items (trust me, I like
those, too!), but they always win over my young clients time and time again. It
seems that no matter how old a client is or how exciting the latest, greatest
competing toy or electronic claims to be, these gems captivate their
imagination-- without fail, and make it to the top of the “must play” list
during our weekly appointments. They maintain interest. They motivate!
Since the key to an exceptional therapy session is maintaining a child’s
attention, interest, and motivation (so that you can elicit speech or language
targets and foster positive change), knowing which toys to use is one of the
most important bits of information a pediatric clinician can know. Let’s face
it, beyond motivation, on a very practical level, you can't pick up a new toy,
material, or game for EVERY single therapy session you have, nor should you.
What is it about these particular toys or games that make them stand out?
Simplicity and room for IMAGINATION!
The key to making it from a one-time “fun,” but forgettable toy to an
all-time “favorite,” is as easy as this: a toy must have a clear function with
an irresistible invitation to imagine something extraordinary.
It takes time for a toy, game, or activity to make it to this esteemed level
of distinction because a new toy will often do the trick in the short run, but
you’ll quickly learn over time, that a great toy is one that a child never seems
to be able to get enough of. Here are 3 of my favorites. Check them out!
-
Fisher-Price Roll-a-Rounds: Swirlin’ Surprise Gumball Machine
-
Beads, marbles, and gems (available at home goods or crafting
stores)
-
Cranium Cariboo
Fisher-Price Roll-a-Rounds: Swirlin’ Surprise Gumball Machine
This toy is geared for the early language learner, but you’d be surprised by
how well an older child may respond to this one as well! There are 2 different
ways to send the balls inside cascading down the track. With dozens of
peek-balls to choose from, this gumball machine never gets old. You can use
this toy for building early language, such as semantic relations or as a reward
for completing an articulation drill set. My favorite use is to set up a “candy
shop” using other pretend play items, such as aprons and shopping carts, and
allowing a client with a lateralized lisp, for example, to run a candy shop and
advise a new “customer” (me, the clinician) about which flavor gumballs I should
buy. You can easily vary its use to fit many articulation targets.
Sample semantic relations
- “ball +in”
- “ball +out”
- “go +ball”
- “eat+ candy”
- “yummy +candy”
- “yucky+ candy”
- “no (more)+candy”
Sample “Sh” target words (initial, medial, final)
- Shop
- Should
- Sean
- Sheep
- Machine
- Crashing
- Cash
- Push
- Dish
- Wish
Beads, Marbles, and Gems
I am constantly going for some kind of manipulative items in my therapy
sessions. Most often, I use them to track turns of provide feedback to a
child. They are so enticing, it’s hardly a sell to have any older child be
eager to explore or play with these. For a child who has the ability to play
with these little gems (without them being a choke hazard!), it can be a real
treat. They come in all different colors and shapes. My favorite gems are
actually diamond-shaped Christmas Tree ornaments I picked up from Pottery Barn
several years ago. I cannot think of something more motivating than collecting
diamonds of different shapes! My use for these tends to be simple, but always
highly effective. Here are some of the most common ways I use them in sessions:
Articulation
Counting productions- a child earns one gem for each word or set of words he
or she produces.
Counting erred productions- a child starts with a prescribed number of gems
and loses gems for erred productions (this is usually most appropriate in the
final stages of therapy, at the level of spontaneous connected speech.)
Pragmatics
Early Play Development OR Turn-Taking- a child takes turns dumping and
filling a bucket with these beads and dumping them into another container or on
the floor
Hide and seek- burying items within a container of beads
Pretend play- using the beads to represent something entirely different such
as “money” or “people” or “animals”
Please note: any of these items are intended for an older child who does not
mouth toys or non-edible items. Obviously, these manipulatives should never be
used with a very young child or any child when small toys are still a choke
hazard.
Cranium Cariboo
This game, hands down is my favorite. I love to play it and so do my clients
of any age, ranging between 2 ½ to 10 or even 11! Imagine this: There is a
secret treasure chest with a beautiful treasure locked inside. Your only way to
get to the treasure is by finding 6 brightly colored bouncing balls that are
hidden themselves, behind trap doors that only we can open with a special key…
if that’s not enticing enough, there is the promised treasure at the end of the
game which is worth the work of finding all of those hidden balls. It’s great
fun to watch children marvel at what they uncover with all of their hard work!
This game is so simple for children to play. Starting at a very young age,
kids can navigate the board, open the doors, and find the balls hidden inside.
Because it’s a cooperative effort you can easily make it a joint experience and
work together to find the balls, or for an older child with an appetite for
competition, you can play the game with the winner being the one who gets the
very last ball (as is suggested in the game instructions).
This is a magnificent tool for targeting so many skills; here are a few:
Turn taking (“my turn”/”your turn”)- relinquishing a turn, asking for a turn,
tracking turns
Articulation –after saying several target words, taking a turn in the game
Receptive language- listening to descriptions and finding the correct trap
door to open
Commenting- making comments about the outcome of your turn
- “Oh man, no ball!” OR “WOW, I got a ball!” OR “You did it !”
Requesting- prompting the child to ask for the key
saying, “I want the key!”
Joint referencing- once you’ve acquired all the balls, do something a little
silly and BOUNCE them all around. Have some fun together just celebrating the
victory and be a little silly together! This provides a perfect opportunity to
joint commenting through this zany break.
Expressive language- targeting specific grammatical morphemes, such as
Auxiliary verbs
- When opening a door eliciting, “I am opening a flower door.” “I am
opening a helicopter door.”
Irregular past tense
- “I found a ball!”
- “I saw one!”
- “I did it!”
- “It went in another door!”
Next time you are out looking for a few new items to play with for your
upcoming therapy sessions, remember to keep it simple. With just a few toys,
there are so many possible uses. Give these FAVORITES a try and you’ll be
amazed by how effective, yet simple they are! Send me a quick e-mail to let
me know how it goes!