Reading can be a great speech therapy activity
Preschoolers can experience a variety of speech delays that require speech therapy. Typical delays include articulation problems, language disorders and stuttering. Speech therapists can help preschoolers speak in a way that is understood by other people so the children will feel more confident and capable.
Speech Therapy Through Play
Preschoolers learn best through play. Play can be used as a tool in speech therapy in a variety of ways. Many pretend play activities encourage conversation between the speech therapist and the preschooler. When the speech therapist determines what sounds a preschooler needs help with, she can devise play activities that incorporate those sounds. Preschoolers who are having difficulty with the letter "b" can be given toy birds, butterflies, bugs, bees and others that begin with the letter "b" and be encouraged to label each toy as they play with it. Nonsense words can be used effectively in play speech therapy by giving names to the toys such as "buzza" or "baba."
Speech Therapy Through Art
Art can be used in speech therapy by encouraging preschoolers to discuss what they are doing as they work. Speech therapists can give children a variety of materials to use in an open-ended art project and ask the children to explain what they are doing. For example, a child who is gluing feathers onto a piece of paper could give step-by-step explanations of the process, such as "I am putting the blue feather below the yellow feather."
Speech Therapy With Books
Books are a wonderful resource for parents of preschoolers with speech delays and for speech therapists. Therapists can give the parents suggestions for books that use lots of the sounds that the preschooler needs to practice. Children should be encouraged to label items in the book with the sounds they are practicing. Practicing letter sounds through reading holds a small child's attention better than some traditional speech therapy methods.
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