Build Communication Through Play

Children learn best when they’re engaged and having fun, so we also try to make speech therapy look and feel like playtime. We’ll select activities that both encourage communication and follow your child’s interests, such as blowing bubbles or playing with toy animals. Throughout the process, we’ll engage with your child to further support communication skills, such as practicing turn-taking or modeling simple words and short phrases.

Focus on Core Words

We also introduce core words early in therapy. These are high-frequency words that children can use in many situations. Examples include words such as “more,” “go,” “help,” and “want.”

Why focus on core words? A child who learns the word “more” will have plenty of opportunities to use it: they might request another round on the swing set or another peanut butter cracker, for example. This flexibility allows children to communicate successfully in many different settings.

Use PECS to Encourage Requests

If your child’s spoken language is still developing, they might benefit from the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), which teaches kids to communicate by handing a picture of a desired item or activity to another person. The program is designed to support functional communication while helping reduce frustration associated with communication difficulties.

For example, a child who wants a cookie would hand over a picture of a cookie rather than becoming frustrated because they can’t express their needs.

As a child’s communication skills develop, PECS grows with them. For example, they might start choosing between different options, answering questions, or building sentences with pictures.

Model Language Throughout Daily Activities

Children learn language by hearing it used over and over in everyday routines. That’s why our therapists typically model words while describing what the child is already doing. For example, if a child is jumping on a trampoline, we might say, “You’re jumping!”

This technique gives children many chances to hear language without feeling pressure to respond. We also encourage parents to use the same strategy during meals, bath time, walks, and play.

Expand What Your Child Says

When a child uses a word or short phrase, our therapists gently build on it.

For example, if a child says “Car,” we’ll expand to include more information about the car, such as “Fast car” or “Blue car.”

This natural language expansion introduces new vocabulary and sentence structure while keeping communication enjoyable.

Encourage Gestures Along With Speech

Communication includes much more than spoken words, and speech therapy reflects that reality. Throughout the process, we often encourage kids to use gestures to communicate, such as pointing, waving, or shaking their head. This gives them a way to express themselves before speech becomes consistent. However, gestures also strengthen the connection between language and meaning, which supports later spoken communication.

Create Opportunities to Communicate

Children are more likely to communicate when they have a reason to do so, so a big part of speech therapy involves setting up situations that encourage interaction. For example, we might offer two snack choices or place a favorite toy slightly out of reach, which encourages kids to ask us to move it closer.