Many of the greatest minds in child development, from Jean Piaget to Maria Montessori to Fred Rogers have a similar quote with this overall message:
Play is the work of childhood…
It’s so simple yet profound. Children need to play. Their brains need play to practice new skills, to develop their problem solving, to learn how to socialize, and so much more. They need time to play, age-appropriate materials, and partners with which to play.
As SLP’s, here’s where we can help children and families grow their playful mindset. Nearly every SLP has heard their profession described as “just playing games” with kids. Let’s take that as a compliment. Therapy can be all about play – for all speech differences. Play can be at the heart of speech sessions for all ages. We can make an impactful difference in children’s and families’ lives by demonstrating the importance of play in our sessions in a way that can carry-over into their daily language, practices, and lives.
Play-Based Material
Board games, card games, and cooperative games are readily available for speech materials in the virtual format. There are subscription-based sites, web-based sites, and individual products that all are a great way to provide play in sessions.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that during virtual therapy, we can also break out the “real-life” toys and our students can see us play, tell us how to play, and learn novel ways to play all through the screen. Toys like bubbles, slime, and kinetic sand can even be sensory engaging online. Toys with pieces like puzzles, Mr. Potato Head, and Legos can elicit language and encourage repetitive practice in a play-based manner.
Make articulation speech drills into a playful game with these boom cards. Feed the animals while focusing on a speech sound. The crunching and munching sound effect the animals make will make repetitive speech practice into a silly and fun game.
Playful interactions
How we interact with our students can be the way therapy becomes about play. The simplest tasks can have play interjected into them by how we interact. We become the fun of the session with the words we choose. Jokes and laughter during therapy will engage the student as well as show that we are someone they can trust, someone who they can play with words, thoughts, and ideas.
Using materials in playful ways
Not all play is game-based and not all speech material is formatted to be a traditional game. That doesn’t mean it can be used in a playful manner. Virtual picture cards like these can become child-led therapy tools. Use stickers and gifs to make it play for students. Put the gif somewhere silly and see how the student reacts. There’s no telling what their next idea or request may be. It’s almost guaranteed to be engaging and playfully reciprocated by your students.
These techniques to increase play have been successful in use with all ages of students, especially when adapted to meet the student’s interests and level. Yet, the undertone to therapy sessions can remain play, which truly is the work of the child.
