I love to read books with my preschool speech therapy students. We all do, right? I also love to make the books meaningful by creating an engaging companion activity to go with it! I am not talking about a companion worksheet. These kiddos need movement, fun, and silliness! Keep reading and I will share my favorite books and free (ish) activities to do with your preschool speech therapy students!
“Devon Makes a Friend” by Jessica Davault, M.S. CCC-SLP
Worksheets and paper activities do not cut it for teaching younger learners social skills. When we read a story, our brains participate in the action in a safe space. They can imagine doing the actions and living the scenarios with none of the anxiety or social demands. This is one of many, many reasons books are great for teaching social skills. In this story, a little boy named Devon decides he wants to make a friend. He asks his mom for help and goes through the obstacles and trials of learning how to make a friend. This book was written by me, an SLP, so you know it was written strategically to be both functional and fun! Additionally, there is a free book companion that you can grab on TpT if you use this book with your groups!
“Oh No! Poo-Poo!” by Jennie Bjorem M.A. CCC-SLP.
What preschool student doesn’t love poop…and chocolate? This will soon become a classic combo you will love to pull out again and again! This book is great for targeting CVCV words, imitating sentences, answering “where” questions, following directions, and working on location words!
Activity Ideas
- Read the story. It is fun to have the student put the chocolate “poop” on the picture of the poop in the book.
- Answer questions like “Where is the poop?”
- Hide the “poop” around the room and look for it while practicing location words.
- Practice CVCV words or imitating sentences
- Eat the “poop”!!!
“Oh No! Pee-Pee!” by Jennie Bjorem M.A. CCC-SLP.
This book is similar to “Oh No! Poo Poo!”, but this story features a dog who tinkles everywhere! This one will be another great hit to add to your arsenal of speech materials! This book is great for targeting CVCV words, imitating sentences, answering “where” questions, following directions, and working on location words!`
Activity Ideas
- Read the story.
- Answer questions like “Where is the pee pee?”
- Make a dog or other stuffed animal “pee pee” around the room. Use this to target location words or answering questions
- Practice CVCV words or imitating sentences
- Have fun being silly!
“Don’t Push The Button” by Bill Cotter
This book is such. a. treat. Your preschool students will enjoy “breaking rule” as they push the buttons and follow the directions in these books. There are actually several of these books so you can pull them out for different seasons! There is the original, Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. These books are great for following directions, thematic vocabulary, and using/understanding the exclusionary word “not”.
Activity Ideas
- Read the story.
- Practice following the directions in the story.
- Practice giving and following directions that contain the exclusionary word “not”.
- Set up a pair or row of objects. Give the instruction “I need you to pick one of these toys. Don’t pick the _______”.
Karen Katz Lift-the-Flap Books
You may have heard of these. But on the off chance you haven’t, I would be remiss to not share them with you. Karen Katz has created an entire series of interactive books that your students will love exploring. She has one for vehicles, pets, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, Valentines, body parts, bath time, zoo animals, feelings, fall, winter, summer, and spring. So if you use any of these themes, with your preschool students, be sure to check these out! These books are great for targeting: thematic vocabulary, answering “where” and “what” questions, answering yes/no questions, and location words.
Activity Ideas
- Read the story. It is a quick read, so it is good for an intro activity or a review activity!
- Practice answering the questions in the story.
- Choose an object based on the theme of your story (i.e. pumpkin, turkey, eggs, valentine, car, etc.) Hide the object around the room and look for it. This activity is great for practicing “where” questions and location words!
Also-if you do happen to be looking for printable activity companions to go with these books, I have created one for Easter, Valentines, and Halloween!
Are you looking for other unique and engaging activities to use with your books in your preschool speech therapy sessions? Be sure and check out this page for more great ideas! (that don’t require you to buy anything from TpT 😉)
Do your students love to move as much as mine do? Yes???
Then your students will love this calendar with 21 FREE movement activities and you will love having 21 sessions planned for you!
If you and your students are like me and my students, these gross motor activities are going to be a huge hit in your speech room!