BNM Professional Consulting Services, Inc.

Parents with school-age children tend to view summer a bit differently than the rest of the world. Where many see summer as a time for fun in the sun, parents see summer as that expensive time of year when they need to figure out day camps or temporary child care for three months. For parents of children who receive extra services in school like speech therapy, summer can also be a time of desperately trying to fill the gap.

We understand just how difficult it can be to keep your child’s speech therapy going at home without the help of a school SLP. That’s why we put together this list of at home speech activities that you can enjoy with your child on a daily basis.

Our best advice with any of these speech activities is to schedule them into your day. If you and your child get into a habit of doing speech activities when it’s convenient or when you think of it, speech therapy will quickly fall by the wayside. So figure out a time that works for you and your child and make speech therapy a priority.

Now, without further ado, here are some of our favorite, simple, summertime speech therapy activities:

1. Flashlight Tag

Write the words that your child is working on down on sheets of construction paper. Tape the words up around your home, then turn the lights off. Your child will have a great time searching the home with their flashlight to find the words. Practice saying each one out loud as it’s found, and when you’ve found them all, move them to new locations and start again! This activity is particularly great on those extra hot days when you need to escape the heat and stay inside.

2. Eye Spy

This classic game is a great one to play in the car. Look for things in the world around you, then give a clue – for example, “I spy something red.” Have your child ask questions to figure out what the object might be. Be sure to look for objects that utilize sounds your child is working on. This game is also great for practicing turn-taking, following directions, and critical thinking.

3. Recite Nursery Rhymes

Many classic nursery rhymes double as tongue-twisters, which can be great for practicing particular sounds or articulation. They’re also a lot of fun. Find a book of nursery rhymes you like and practice saying the rhymes out loud with your child.

4. Chalk!

Chalk is a wonderful toy to play with during the summer whether you’re two or seventy-two. You can come up with plenty of speech therapy activities using chalk. Create your own speech therapy hopscotch challenge, or simply practice writing out speech words. You can also play Pictionary with chalk and have your child guess which practice word you’re attempting to draw.We’d also like to remind you that you don’t have to go it alone over the summers. A Chicago SLP can come to your home as often as needed to work with your child and engage them in constructive play therapy. If you’re worried about backsliding or simply want to keep building on the progress your child made during the school year, give our office a call to find an SLP in Chicago who’s right for your family.