What speech therapy materials do I need to work with kids?

What are the must-have therapy materials for speech and language?

Speech-language pathologists and assistants use a lot of tools and resources to teach speech and language skills to children.  What speech therapy materials and tools do we need to do our jobs?  And how can we find free speech therapy materials?  We all know we don’t have a huge budget (or any at all!).  This page will show you exactly what speech therapy materials you need as a speech-language pathologist along with links to our best freebies available.

Check out our speech therapy materials list below for our recommendations on what speech therapy materials and speech therapy tools that you need as an SLP or SLPA.

The most important thing you need in your therapy bag is materials that will allow you to teach specific skills. Since we work on communication (and communication happens all day long), it is possible to work on those skills without specific therapy materials. But our jobs become a whole heck of a lot easier when we have pre-made lessons already laid out.

Here are the areas you’ll want to make sure you have materials for:

Speech Sounds (Articulation/Phonology):

We work on teaching speech sounds a lot. The therapy can go much quicker if we already have pre-made worksheets that pictures of words that contain target sounds or minimal pairs for specific phonological processes.

Language:

Another essential speech therapy material is worksheets that will allow you target various language skills. We teach language skills by breaking them down into step-by-step plans and scaffolding our clients up to being able to do those skills independently.

Other Areas:

You also may need to treat other areas such as functional communication, social communication, fluency, voice, etc. Having pre-made materials for those areas can help as well.

Feeling overwhelmed?

That’s reasonable, there’s a lot we need to cover as pediatric speech-language pathologists!

Fortunately, here at Speech and Language Kids, we’ve created a Curriculum with every skill already covered!

We have pre-made lessons and teaching materials for every communication skill you need.

Subscribe today and have everything at your fingertips:

While we’re on the topic of therapy materials, let’s talk about how artificial intelligence (AI) can make this area SO much easier.

How to Use AI to Make Customized Therapy Materials in Seconds:

We live in a magical age where technology is advancing at lightning speed. And we can use those technological advancements to make our jobs easier.

AI tools can now generate customized therapy materials for you in seconds. As long as you know how to teach the skill (such as using the step-by-step lessons in our Curriculums), then you can ask the AI for an image, word list, story, or other material that targets the exact skill you need. PLUS, you can customize it to the client’s interests so you capture their attention as well! Clients make faster progress when we can connect their speech goals back to something they’re interested in.

Pre-Built AI Bots for Generating Custom Materials:

When you subscribe to our SLK Curriculum, you’ll also get access to our AI-powered speech bots that are pre-built to create custom therapy materials for you!

There are several different types of tools, equipment, and manipulatives that help us do our jobs as speech-language pathologists.  Here are a few of our must-haves:

Tools for Better Speech Sounds:

• Mirrors: These are incredibly helpful when showing children where to place their tongue, lips, and jaw to produce certain sounds.
• Tongue Depressors: Sometimes we need to give the child tactile feedback to show him where his tongue needs to touch/go.  Tongue depressors can be helpful for that.  They can also be helpful to getting a good look inside a child’s mouth to make sure the structures look the way they should.  You can even buy light up tongue depressors and flavored ones!
• Coffee Stirrers: If you find that those tongue depressors are a bit too big to get great placement, try coffee stirrers instead! These can function similarly to those Speech Buddy tools I was mentioning before because they are small enough that they can be in the child’s mouth while he/she produces the sound. For example, you can touch the tip of a coffee stirrer up to the alveolar ridge and have the child push his tongue forward along the roof of the mouth until he touches it. Then, have him say the sound while he keeps his tongue there (and you keep the coffee stirrer there as well).

Tools for Smoother Sessions:

• Dry Erase Board: I use these all of the time in therapy!  You can draw something you want the child to say or write things down to demonstrate or outline a concept for the child.  You can also use them to allow children to draw for some extra fun and motivation during your session.
• Clicker Counters: These are great for data collection AND for helping children catch their mistakes. If you are collecting data, grab two clickers, one for correct and one for incorrect. Click away while your client is practicing. To work on awareness, tell the child that you’ll click every time you hear an incorrect production. The audible click will serve as a reminder! Plus, it is somehow less offensive to many children for the clicker to tell them they were wrong than to hear us correct them over and over again.
• Visual Timers: Let’s admit it, our clients aren’t always thrilled to be with us. Sometimes, a visual timer can help them see exactly how much longer they have to work before they get to play.

Click Here to View All of our Recommendations for Tools and Equipment

The bulk of my speech therapy materials consist of games and general activities that can be used while I target various skills. I’m a big fan of “no-prep therapy” or “child led therapy” where I go into the session knowing what skill I want to work on but I let the child choose the activity. For that, I need toys, games, crafts, and other activities that keep us engaged and allow us to practice communication skills.

Here are some great ideas for toys, games, and other general activities for speech therapy:

• Toys and Games: I love having a collection of toys and games available in my room for children to choose from. Click here to check out my favorite toys and games for speech therapy.

For more information on how to organize all of your speech therapy materials, click here!

Hi, I’m Carrie! I’m a speech-language pathologist from Columbia, Missouri, USA. I’ve worked with children and teenagers of all ages in schools, preschools, and even my own private practice. I love digging through the research on speech and language topics and breaking it down into step-by-step plans for my followers.

Fun Fact: I feel the most at peace when walking on a trail in the woods at my local State Park.  There’s something magical about leaving the rush and hustle of modern life to spend time in nature.

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