Speech Therapy
Hedbanz

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these speech therapy HedBanz ideas for many reasons which I will share with you right now.

Either watch the video below or keep reading to learn effective and fresh speech therapy ideas.

I can use Hedbanz for almost any child, ages 1-99. Seriously!

Both adults and children enjoy playing this game. However, I will not review how to play the game as intended. Instead, I will review how I adapt this game to work on almost any goal for any age.

Disclaimer - This page is NOT an ad. I am not promoting Hedbanz for money. I just LOVE IT and want to share it with you. There is an affiliate link on this page. If you click the Amazon link and end up buying it, I will receive a few cents.

Moving on.

Toddlers: Late Talker

These ideas are for toddlers who:

Aren't talking yet
Need to increase vocabulary
Are working on labeling objects (receptively or expressively)
Are working on turn-taking
Need to produce 2 word phrases

Idea Number 1: Find the "food" cards and feed a stuffed animal a card. You can work on:

Labeling the picture (first words)
The verb "eat" (tell the bear to "eat" the card)
The word "yummy" (have the bear say "yummy" as he eats)

Idea Number 2: Turn over 3 or 4 words (face-down). Take turns turning over a card to find a pre-determined picture. This works on:

Receptive language (finding an object)
Expressive language (child says the word when he/she finds the card)

Preschool: Language Skills

These ideas are for preschool children who need to work on:

Categorization
Expressive/Receptive Vocabulary
Following Directions
Grammar

Idea Number 1: Turn over 10 cards. Tell the students to take turns turning over one card to try to find a card that matches a predetermined category/vocabulary. If they find a card that fits in the category, they keep it. The one with the most cards wins. This works on:

Categorization: Let's say you choose the category "animals." Children have to flip over a card and determine if it fits in that category or not. The directions to this version will depend on the child's specific goal.
Vocabulary: Children have to name the picture as they turn them over.
Following Directions: Children have to follow directions to play and work on the concepts over, turn over, flip back.
Grammar: Have the child say a full sentence which includes his/her specific goal. Let's say the goal is pronouns. The child has to describe the picture using the correct pronouns. The directions to this version will depend on the child's specific goal.

Elementary Age Students

These ideas are for children who need to work on:

Vocabulary development
Categorization
Grammar
Following directions

For speech therapists, I pair these ideas with Expanding Expressions Tool. If you are a speech therapist, you know what I am talking about. If you are a parent and do not understand what I am talking about, don't worry. You don't have to! Let me explain.

EET is basically a multi-sensory tool to help children learn vocabulary. It breaks down a new vocabulary word by:

Category
Function
What it looks like
What it is made of
The different parts
Where you find it
Fun facts/personal information

How to play: One person pulls a card from the pile and doesn't show it to anyone. Then the player has to answer each question above. Make sure he/she includes a fun fact so the child ties background knowledge into defining the word. The other players listen to all the clues and then guess the card. That's it.

This works on:

Defining vocabulary words
Categorization
Word finding
Oral grammar

Click here for a copy of the EET cards

Articulation

These ideas are for children who need to work on:

Saying sounds
Saying sounds at the phrase, sentence, and connected speech level

How to play: Think about your child's target sound. What is he or she working on? Once you define that, get creative! Create a phrase which contains the target sound. Each player has to say the phrase before taking a turn.

Examples:

S - Is my Something.......?
TH - Is my something.....?
N - No

Need Hedbanz?

If you need Hedbanz, you can pick up a copy at Amazon. Just click the link below.

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!