Speech Therapy
Foam Shapes

Foam shapes are one of my FAVORITE speech therapy materials. They are lightweight, versatile, and cheap!

Watch the video below first to get some new ideas on how to use foam shapes and then keep reading for some extra ideas.

Where to buy foam shapes

I bought these shapes from super duper years ago. However, if you don't want to buy these exact shapes, that is okay. You can find these foamy things at Amazon, Target, craft stores, or anywhere.

They key is to find different colors and even shapes. If you are short on time, click below and order some from Amazon.

Speech Therapy Foam Shapes: Language

Concepts: Toddler to Early Elementary

Below are some other ideas that I didn't include in the video. Young children can use these foam shapes to learn a variety of skills such as:

Matching: Use the word "match" when you find a matching piece.
Same: Use the word same when you find two pieces that are the same.
Different: Use the word different when you pick two pieces that are different.

For more info on vocabulary learning, check out toddler and preschool/elementary vocabulary learning.

Social Skills

Another idea, which I use ALL the time for my social groups, is to challenge the group to build ONE tower using the foam shapes and see how high they can make the tower without letting it fall.

This game requires the students to talk to each other, take turns, plan, and discuss how to build the tallest tower. The best part is that when it falls, it is quiet. This can be crucial for children with sensory needs.

Reinforcement/Generalization

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these foam shapes for generalization of almost any speech and language skill.

Some of my favorites include:

Articulation

During a structured conversation, give a foam shape to the student every time he/she says a target sound correctly. Other than that, no other feedback is given. Count up the shapes at the end to see how many correct sounds were produced.

Fluency

Give a student a foam shape every time he/she uses a fluency strategy to avoid a stuttering moment (a shape for every sentence with no dysfluencies) or give a shape every time a student uses a stuttering modification strategy to "get out of a stutter."

Grammar

During a structured conversation, give a student a foam shape every time he/she uses a desired grammatical structure.

Okay....you get the idea! The main idea here is to encourage self-correction and production of target speech and language skills during connected speech. The goal is to replace cues provided by the parent or clinician clinician's part with a "slight" visual cue within an "unstructured" activity such as conversation.

Want more free speech therapy ideas?

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Bridget is an ASHA certified, practicing speech language pathologist. She is passionate about providing parents with information on child speech and language development as well as provide functional, easy activities to do at home! Parents have the power to make a real difference. Follow Bridget at Facebook and Pinterest for more fun!