Speech and language therapy is designed to help people with speech disorders produce sounds better. It also assists those who have difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate their ideas. One of the best ways to aid people with speech and language problems is by talking to them and interacting with them through a variety of activities.
Articulation Games
Since speech and language therapy is often done with children, they respond well to games. Some games to help improve articulation are word-card games. One such game is Memory Matching. This game allows participants to match up words. You write the same word on two different 3-by-5 cards. Do this with five words so you have 10 cards. Lay them face down on a table and mix them up. Then take turns turning over two cards and saying the words on the cards. Whoever turns over cards that match gets to keep the cards. The winner is whoever has the most cards after all the cards have been matched.
You can also play Hide & Seek with word cards. Hide a card and let the youngster look for it. You can use "hot" and "cold" hints to help him. Then when he finds the word, have him pronounce it correctly. Bean Bag Toss is another game kids enjoy. Simply place cards on the floor and then pick one as the target word. You then throw bean bags one at a time while trying to hit the target, pronouncing any other words the bean bags land on in the meantime.
If you have group, try Mystery Pick. In this game, the leader chooses a winning card and shows it while correctly pronouncing it. She then places the card in the deck face down. She has each person choose a word, show it to group, and pronounce it. The one who gets the winning card can either receive a prize, such as a sticker, or the reward of getting to lead the next game. Another entertaining group game is Pictionary, where you divide the players evenly into two teams and have them take turns drawing various words on the board for their teammates to guess.
Language Activities
To develop language, try Pick 2. In this activity, you have someone pick two word cards from a deck and then use them both in a sentence that makes sense. You might also try Simon Says with cards. Put either word or picture cards on the table and use directions such as "Simon says touch the car after you touch the house." Another activity for learning antonyms is using paper bags to make grouchy puppets who always say the opposite of the word on the card.
For a group language activity, try Clue. To play, place several word cards in a row and then give clues one at a time until someone guesses which card it is. The person who is able to guess correctly with the fewest clues is the winner. Another popular group game is Who Am I? In this game, each person has a piece of paper taped to his back with the name of a famous person or character on it. Then each person has to go around asking the other participants "yes" or "no" questions such as "Am I alive?" or "Am I a real person?" to determine who she is.
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