Fun Indoor Speech Tools!!!

As we hopefully are closing out these colder days of being stuck indoors here are some fun way to refine speech and language skills while confined inside.

First up, Buzz Blast. Kids will delight in the timed task of coming up with original answers to four challenges: describing the differences between two pictures in “Check and Double Check,” filling in the blanks on “Silly Sentences,” answering abstract questions in “Brain Play” or blurting out their “Tongue Twisters.” Kids will feed on each other’s creativity as they give an answer, pass the Buzz Blast timer to the next player, and continue generating original answers until the buzzer goes off—oops, you have to talk fast so you’re not left holding that buzzing buzzer! Kids need to think in categories, describe, “How is a window different than a mirror?” use abstract reasoning, “Name a way you are like a pencil” and compare. You get the most for your money with this set of 4 games. Because this game involves abstract reasoning, it is definitely a challenge! Buzz Blast gets the conversation moving while building critical language skills:

• categories
• association
• similarities and differences
• abstract thinking
• can be used in later stages of carryover for articulation therapy

Next up, Chuggington’s Traintastic Cargo Game. Hang on to your conductor’s hat for a clever, multi-leveled, game of fun, strategy and learning. Drive your favorite Chuggington train into the depot to load up your boxcars, making sure your cargo is in the proper order. Spin to determine what boxcar to open and select tiny cargo pieces based on their color, shape or number. Faced with several options, players must decide what category to pursue to sequence their cargo pieces, matching a chosen Vee card. Ensuring that different ages can play together, the Vee cards are as simple as a sequence of five colors, or as difficult as ordering a combination of 5 numbers, shapes and colors. Kids will love opening the game board boxcars to retrieve their cargo, requiring an element of memory as players try to remember what car holds which cargo. All bets are off when a player spins “Move the Train,” and the circular board rotates to mix up the boxcars and their loot. Language is strengthened while kids learn early categories of color, shapes and numbers, as well as use the words to sequence their cargo–first, second, third, last–and pick up some emergent literacy skills while matching and ordering game pieces. This high quality game is enhanced by the packaging, providing a detailed town around the inside of the box to create more opportunities for talk. Language learning:

• vocabulary: colors, shapes, numbers, first/next/last
• learning sequences
• can be used as a reinforcing game for articulation therapy