Therapy in Routines

Oftentimes, when parents hear “speech therapy”, a few things pop into their mind – flashcards and games.  While these activities can be helpful for a child to learn new words/sounds, there are also many other ways in which families can work on their therapy goals throughout the week! My personal favorite is simply work our practice into our daily routines!  As a parent, I know first hand that time goes fast with little ones at home and sitting and doing flashcards or “play” for hours is not always possible! As humans, we are creatures of habit and have routines built into our days to help us stay organized.  We can use these routines to work on language and speech just as easily and it can help with generalization of the skills as well! Below are a few examples of routines that many of us do each day and a few ideas on how to work on language and speech within them!  

Getting dressed  

• Offer choices of shirts/clothes that focus on colors, pictures, etc.   
• You can also talk about where those items are and where they go on the body 
• “I want __” 
• Offering choices and working on “yes/no” 

Brushing teeth 

• Talk about what you are doing and the order you do it in (sequencing) 
• Talk about the color of the toothbrush and toothpaste and the flavor/texture 
• Talk about how long to brush for and where you are brushing (top/bottom/front/back) 

Eating 

• Talk about what you are eating and the textures/taste/smell 
• Talk about what everyone likes/dislikes at the meal 
• Talk about what you did during the day (highs and lows) 
• Talk about who is eating what kind of food and where they are sitting 

Riding in the car 

• What do you see outside (weather, animals, colors, signs, cars, etc.) 
• Sing/make up silly songs 
• Talk about where you are going and what you will do there 

• Make rhymes about what’s outside 

Bath time 

• Talk about the temperature of the water 
• Use animals/toys to talk about actions they are making or where they are going 

• “Pop” the bubbles with silly words 
• They can tell you body parts to wash 

These are just a few activities that are done in routines and a few ideas to get you started on how to use more language in them! Therapy does not always have to be in play or in flashcards! We can use it throughout our days as well! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions on how to address language/speech in your own routine!  

-Amber