Have you ever tried to get a preschooler to sit still and focus during a speech therapy session? It can be a challenge, but incorporating fun and stimulating activities can make all the difference. That's where dinosaur-themed speech therapy comes in! By using activities like books, dinosaur word scavenger hunts, prehistoric sensory bins, and storytelling with dinosaur puppets, therapists can engage and motivate preschoolers while improving their speech and language skills. In this article, we'll explore five rawr-some activities to try in your next therapy session. Get ready to see your little ones' communication skills soar!
Dinosaur Books
Books are one of my favorite ways to use a theme and there's no shortage of amazing dino books out there! A couple of my favorites are How to Catch a Dinosaur and We Don't Eat Our Classmates, and I even created book companions for each. You can see more books and games on my Amazon list!
Dinosaur Word Scavenger Hunt
A fun activity to try is a dinosaur word scavenger hunt. This activity combines the excitement of a treasure hunt with the learning benefits of vocabulary building. To set up the scavenger hunt, the therapist can hide small dinosaur toys or pictures around the room or outdoor space, and provide a list of dinosaur-related words for the child to find and match to the corresponding toy or picture. This activity not only engages the child's attention and encourages movement, but also reinforces the association between words and their meanings, improving their language skills. If you need pictures or prepicked words, check out this resource.
Prehistoric Sensory Bins
Another creative way to incorporate dinosaurs into speech therapy is by using prehistoric sensory bins. These bins are filled with items and materials that allow children to explore their senses and engage in tactile play. The therapist can create a sensory bin with items such as plastic dinosaurs, rocks, sand, and leaves. They can encourage the child to touch, feel, and interact with the different objects while describing them and practicing language skills. These sensory bins can also be used to teach prepositions, such as “in,” “on,” and “under,” by asking the child to place the dinosaurs in certain positions within the bin.
This sensory activity can easily lead into the next activity, storytelling with dinosaur puppets. Encourage your child to use their imagination to create stories using the sensory objects from the bin and the dinosaur puppets. They can practice language skills by telling stories and describing the actions of the dinosaurs. With these fun and engaging activities, your child will be able to improve their language skills while exploring the exciting world of dinosaurs.,
Storytelling with Dinosaur Puppets
Encouraging children to use their imaginations is a vital part of speech therapy, and storytelling with dinosaur puppets is a great way to do just that. Just grab a paper bag and some construction paper! As children create stories with the dinosaur puppets, they can practice their language skills by describing the actions of the dinosaurs and telling engaging tales. This activity can be seamlessly integrated with the prehistoric sensory bin activity, serving as a natural continuation.
Dino Dig for Articulation Practice
Once your child is finished with the storytelling and sensory bin activities, it's time to move on to a fun and engaging articulation practice session. The Dino Dig for Articulation Practice activity is a great way to work on speech sounds while incorporating a dinosaur theme. To set up the activity, bury small toy dinosaurs or dinosaur figurines in a sensory bin filled with sand or rice. Then, have your child use either a small shovel or their hands to dig for the dinosaurs. As they find each dinosaur, they can practice saying the name of the dinosaur or work on specific speech sounds by saying a word that begins or ends with that sound. This activity offers a fun and hands-on way to practice articulation skills while keeping the dinosaur theme going. You can also utilize the speech sound worksheets here for carryover or additional practice!
Using Dinosaur Names to Improve Phonological Awareness
Another way to incorporate dinosaurs into your therapy is by using dinosaur names to improve phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken language, and it is an important precursor to reading and writing.
To incorporate this technique into your dinosaur-themed speech therapy sessions, you can start by introducing your preschooler to a few dinosaur names. Start with simple names like “T-Rex” and “Stegosaurus” and gradually introduce more complex names like “Triceratops” and “Pterodactyl.”
Once your child is familiar with the names, you can play games that involve identifying the first sound of each name or segmenting the name into individual sounds. For example, you might say, “What is the first sound in ‘T-Rex'?” or “Can you tell me all the sounds you hear in ‘Stegosaurus'?”
Incorporating dinosaur themes into speech therapy sessions can be a creative and effective way to engage preschoolers and improve their communication skills. By using activities like a dinosaur word scavenger hunt or storytelling with dinosaur puppets, therapists can make therapy sessions fun and engaging while still achieving important goals. It's important to remember that every child is unique and may respond differently to certain activities, so experimentation and flexibility are key. With the help of these exciting activities and games, preschoolers will be roaring with confidence in no time.
TLDR Links:
How to Catch a Dinosaur book companion
We Don't Eat Our Classmates book companion
Dinosaur Comprehension & Vocabulary activities
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