Speech Therapy Candy

Speech therapy candy....a relatively free and easy way to target speech and language goals for both parents and professionals!

After yet another candy-filled holiday, it hit me, candy is a perfect speech therapy tool. It is cheap and is usually found in every home. 

Enjoy my speech therapy idea using candy!

I am not endorsing eating candy during therapy. We don't want over sugared children with all that processed sugar. However, I find, most children are engaged with the shiny wrappers and crinkly paper. Most aren't begging to eat the candy!

If you have a child with a sweet tooth, maybe they can earn one piece of candy by the end of the session 🙂

The possibilities of using candy are only limited by your imagination!

Sample Goals For Speech Therapy Candy

Articulation

1. /k/: Say "candy" as you throw candy in a "bucket" (two /k/ here!)
2. /th/: Say "throw" as you throw candy
3. "ch": Say "catch" as you throw and catch candy 
4. /g/: Say "go candy" as you push candy down a homemade slide with a book or box
5. /t/: Say "eat” as you feed a bear candy

Early Language Goals

1. Colors: Name colors of each candy wrapper
2. Directions: Give a direction to a hidden piece of candy, "look under cup"
3. Counting: Count the number of candies you can grab in one hand
4. Verbs: Practice "eat" as you feed candy to a favorite doll
5. Shapes: Name shapes of candies

Advanced Language Goals

Below are some great ideas to use for children who are working on later developing concepts.

1. Size: Organize candy by size (small, smaller, smallest)
2. Matching: Find 2 candies that are the same.Find 2 candies that are different
3. Soft Attribute: Put all the squishy candies in one bucket
4. Hard Attribute: Put all the hard candies in another bucket
5. Scavenger Hunt: Hide candies around the house. Give descriptive cues of where to find them

Following Directions: Preschool to Early Elementary

Following directions requires a person to know vocabulary, have working memory skills, and adequate attention.

Below are practice ideas for following directions while playing with candy. They are easy to come up with in the moment. Just pay attention to the "direction" words you are using, your child's vocabulary level, and attention (i.e., may want to to do one-step directions vs two-step).

Sequential: This direction is multi-step and something has to be done first, second, etc..

• First, find the blue candy and then the square one.
• First, throw a piece of candy. Next try to catch mine.

Before/After:  This is a temporal direction. Your child has to do something before or after he/she does something else. This is TRICKY!

• Before you put the candy in the cup, dump out this cup.
• Put the green candy here after you put the purple one here.

Spatial:  Give a direction with a spatial aspect (under, over, above)

• Put the small candy on top of the big one.
• Put the candy under the table.

Basic: Basic means one-step, simple directions. If your child is having trouble, start here!

• Give me a piece of candy
• Find a circle candy

Find some more speech therapy ideas for the home here!