When you need an easy way to make your drill-based therapy fun, turn to the best speech therapy games!
I’ll admit it… I don’t do very much articulation therapy! Gasp! I’d say articulation is about 5-10% of my caseload at a given time, and I don’t do drill anything too, too often. However, when I do it, I love games! They make articulation therapy grab and go AND motivating! I often found myself relying on the same games over and over so I decided to make a list of all the best games for speech therapy I can easily use for drill, especially articulation. Can you use pretty much any game for this? Yes, yes you can. But the BEST games are one that are easy to learn, with fast turns, and where there are multiple opportunities to earn pieces or turns providing repeated practice opportunities! The best of the best seech therapy games are one where my kiddos earn their pieces (blocks for Jenga) and their turns (pulling the blocks out) but doing practicing their sounds.
Below are my favorites, sorted by age. Obviously there is a lot of flexibility in these age recommendations! Many of my kiddos play any and all of these games!
AGES <4
AGES 4-6
AGES 6-8
AGES 8+
There you have it! What games you do LOVE for drill?
Leave a comment with your favorite game (or 2) for drill along with the age you use it for! I’d love to hear!
{thanks for reading}
I love those games! Hisss, Cariboo and Pop up Pirate are a few of my favorites. Have you ever used Zingo or Snail’s Pace Race with your elementary crowd? My kids love them!
I have. Had snails pace race forever- dice is so worn colors are almost worn off :). Have an electronic spinner with the same colors- kiddos like this also.
Candyland for 4-7 year olds & Don’t Spill the Beans is loved by my 4-12 year olds
Cariboo is always a hit! I love Zingo, Barnyard Bingo, and Lucky Ducks for younger kids, too.
I love Zingo. It is easy to find at thrift stores for a very little money. I also like fishing I make my own fish and string a large magnet to the a piece of doweling. The kids love the game.
One of my recent favorites is “War” with any deck of regular cards. I’ve found that it works best with the 8+ crowd, but if you remove the J, Q, K, and A cards, it can be easier for the younger ones to understand. I love it because each turn only takes a few seconds, leaving a lot more time for artic practice! This has been a hit with my kiddos recently, especially since I was able to snag a deck of “Frozen” cards at the dollar store!
I’ve used the card game “war” with my kiddos recently using a “Frozen” card deck, which my students love! I love it because each round only takes a few seconds, leaving more time for extra practice!
I love Snails Pace Race, Animal Buddies, and Candyland for the younger ones.
What a great list! I use Jenga, Kerplunk, Hungry Hippos (the app is a little less noisy), Jolly Octopus, Topple.
I use Cariboo, Pop up pirate and chipper chat a lot with elementary school kids. I also like Angry Birds toss game and Snail’s pace race.
These are all great games! Another favorite of mine is good old dominoes–they love to line up the ones they earn while I move on to drill the next student. It’s even better when they decide to collaborate to make a longer domino trail : )
Great suggestions! I use several on your list. I also use “war”, barbecue party, chipper chat & animal buddies with my elementary kids.
Currently working with a 7 and 8 year old who both love candyland and chutes and ladders! Have to ask for many repetitions for each turn though!
Both my elementary and middle schoolers love Go Fish(sh), Sorry (particularly good for s-six, seven, sorry, switch, slide), Kerplunk, Connect 4, and Artic a Bingo.
i like to use Grannies Candies, Silly Socks, and bowling (I tape their artic pics to the pins).
I usually stick with Connect 4, Honey Bee Tree, and Jenga, but especially love Jumpin’ Monkeys!
Great ideas! Shoot me an email at speechymusings@gmail.com for a product of your choice!
My kiddos love Wormy Apples, Cookin’ Cookies and Pen the Pig. Those are my most requested games.
Love your list! I generally do artic/phonology solely for 25% of my caseload, so games are a go to, at times! I also love Suspend, it’s even great for perspective taking in social skills as we decide on options for balance! My other favorites, Topple, Toss Up (fits in your pocket), and Zingo! Thanks for posting and for the giveaway!!
Pizza Pile Up and Buckaroo for Pre-K Elementary
One of my favorite games for ages 6-8 or 8+ is Trouble. I modify the rules so that we only need to get one or two game pieces to the finish/home in order to win. I also use open ended game boards made by TPT sellers such as Carrie Manchester and Mia McDaniel. My students like that these games are often related to the season/holiday. The games are easy to carry back and forth to my schools. I mainly use these game boards for ages 6-8 or 8+.
I wasn’t sure that my other comment was submitted. I use Trouble for ages 6-8 or 8+. I modify the rules so that you only need 1 or 2 game pieces to get to the finish/home to win. I also use game boards from TPT sellers such as Mia McDaniel and Carrie Manchester. My students like that these game boards are related to the seasons, holidays, or favorite characters. The games are easy to carry back and forth to my schools. I use the game boards with ages 6-8 or 8+.
My little kiddos ( 3-6) really enjoy finding target cards (scattered about) with their flashlights! They also enjoy “Go Fish” games equipped with magnetic fishing poles!
My children love Qwirkle! Even my 5 year old knows how to play…and usually wins! I would love to know how to add it to practice articulation. Thanks for the great post.
I love using Secret Square because it can used to target both articulation and language depending on what you decide. The kids love hiding the chip and giving clues to help you find the hidden chip. I use it most with kids 7-9
I love Pop-Up Pirate, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Pop the Pig, Oreo Match Game, Ice Cream Scoops of Fun, The Cootie game (with dice adaptation), Pass the Pencil (from TPT), Roll and Color or Roll and Draw games, and adaptations of a game I found on TPT called “Gobble,” which is draw a card/match the letters game. I have also used MadLibs with my older kids, having them choose a word from the word list after a certain # of productions…they love those!
Honestly I use my articulation cards as go fish or memory match and that is always a hit! Otherwise my students love chutes and ladders also! Once they spin the spinner they have to say that many words before they can move!
i like Snail’s Pace Race for preschool and Kindergarten.
I like Kerplunk with elementary schoolers and I like Feed the Kitty and Chutes and Ladders with preschoolers!
Definitely Go Fish (by Mattel – suction cup fishing poles), Fisher Price Animal Crackers Game for the younger ones
Wooden Triangle Peg Board (try to get just one piece remaining), checkers, Topple (is fantastic!), old skool favorite is Tiddly Winks for older ones.
Articulation Chute is always motivating.
Hope those are new and different to you!
alewis725@msn.com
I think maybe the age-sorted app list links are broken? At least nothing happens when I click on or near them.
Opps, nevermind–I couldn’t see them because of my ad blocker. I’ll turn it off when I visit your site!
I had just purchased Pop the Pig for my younger clients and it was sitting on my desk. An 8th grade boy asked to see it and insisted that we play it (more than once) as we practiced his fluency activities.
He commented, “Miss Kathy, any time you want me to test your games, I will do it for free.”