Easy Therapy for Preschool SLPs

Many of you have asked… Is SLP Now appropriate for preschool SLPs?

Now you don’t have to take my word for it! Kayla from Kayla SLP is guest blogging today to share how she uses SLP Now materials with her preschool caseload.

My caseload is made up of one-third preschoolers. This means, at any given time, I am planning speech and language activities for 20 three-to-four-year-olds. It can be a little overwhelming! Preschool requires a very different style of activities than my older students.

As you may already know, I am an SLP Now subscriber. I use materials from the site with almost every single student on my caseload, preschool included.

I’m here to tell you my favorite ways to use the SLP Now membership with my preschoolers.

1. Books and Companions

I often use books with my preschool students. SLP Now has tons of book suggestions appropriate for preschool, along with book guides and activities.

Let’s say you’re using themed therapy, and your current theme is bugs.

SLP Now has a book guide and activity pack for In the Tall, Tall Grass.

I typically spend one session just reading the book and talking about it with my students. We look at the pictures together, talk about the vocabulary, make our own sentences (“I see the ___ in the grass”), and describe the characters. Oftentimes, I will have the students take turns retelling the book by flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures. (I love hearing their storytelling abilities, and they love getting to “read” the book back to their peers.)

During the next session, I will bring out the comprehension activities in the book guide – answering wh- questions, sequencing the story, and doing a craft (as time allows). Sometimes I carry the craft over into a third session.

Speaking of crafts…

2. Crafts

In my opinion, the best preschool therapy is hands-on. One easy way to make therapy hands-on is to use crafts. The crafts on the website are themed to match the books and other activities, so you can build your therapy around a topic.

For example, let’s continue with the bugs theme. You can use In the Tall, Tall Grass craft alone or in conjunction with the book activities. If you read the book first, you can carry over the craft into the next session and send the finished product home as extra practice. The students are able to keep their hands busy while working on sequencing, vocabulary, articulation, and more! This makes the session more engaging for everyone!

3. Extension Activities

Finally, I tend to also use the extension activities with my preschool students. These activities are also hands-on and are a good way to continue building upon your theme.

Continuing with the bug theme, there is an extension activity for a scavenger hunt. Depending on your preferences, you can go on an actual bug hunt outside, hide printed bugs around the room, or hide plastic bugs in a sensory bin.

The extension activities are what I use for carryover. Students are able to use what they learned during previous lessons during a less structured activity, and we all know how important carryover is!

In summary, there are tons of ways to use the SLP Now materials with your preschool students. You can use the themes as a whole, or use bits and pieces of each theme, depending on your students and their needs. Either way, there’s plenty of activities that both you AND your preschool students will love!