Best Speech Therapy Games to Keep Students Engaged and Learning
- alykomerch
- Mar 3
- 4 min read
Posted on March 3rd, 2025

Keeping students engaged during speech therapy sessions can be a challenge, especially when working with young learners or students with varying attention spans. One of the best ways to keep therapy fun and interactive is by incorporating games! Not only do games make learning exciting, but they also provide opportunities for students to practice important speech and language skills in a natural, motivating way.
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Below are some of the best speech therapy games that can help target a variety of speech and language goals while keeping students engaged.
1. Jumping Jack
Targets: Turn-taking, requesting, expanding utterances, articulation practice
Jumping Jack is an exciting game where players take turns pulling carrots from a hill until the bunny jumps! This game is perfect for turn-taking practice and helping students use functional language like “My turn,” “I want the carrot,” and “He jumped!” It’s also great for reinforcing articulation targets by having students say a word or sentence before taking their turn.
Get the Jumping Jack Communication Board HERE
2. Bubbles
Targets: Early communication skills, requesting, joint attention, articulation carryover
Bubbles are a simple but highly motivating tool for speech therapy. They encourage joint attention, and requesting with words or gestures. For articulation practice, students can say their target sounds before blowing bubbles. You can also work on expanding utterances by having students describe what they see (e.g., “Big bubbles!” “Pop the bubble!”).
Get the Bubbles Communication Board HERE
3. Pop the Pig

Targets: Sentence structure, vocabulary, turn-taking, articulation practice
In Pop the Pig, students roll a die, feed the pig burgers, and press on its belly until it "pops." This game is great for building sentences (e.g., "I fed the pig a red burger.") and describing objects (colors, sizes, and numbers). It also allows for articulation practice by incorporating speech targets into the game.
Get the Pop the Pig Communication Board HERE
4. Shark Bite
Targets: WH-questions, categories, sentence-building, articulation practice
Shark Bite is an exciting game where players use a fishing rod to catch sea creatures before the shark's mouth snaps shut! This game is perfect for practicing WH-questions (“What did you catch?”), categorization (sorting animals into groups like “sea animals” vs. “land animals”), and sentence-building (“I caught a red fish”). It can also be used for articulation practice by assigning a word or phrase before each turn.
Get the Shark Bite Communication Board HERE
5. Phil’ Up Chuck
Targets: Answering yes/no questions, describing, sequencing, articulation
Phil' Up Chuck is a silly game where players feed Chuck different food items until he "spits" them out. This game is great for describing textures, colors, and food categories. You can also work on yes/no questions (e.g., “Did you feed him a banana?”) and sequencing events (“First, I fed him a hot dog, then he burped.”). Articulation practice can be built in by having students say their speech sounds before taking a turn.
Get the Phil' Up Chuck Communication Board HERE
6. Lucky Ducks
Targets: Auditory memory, matching, turn-taking, articulation practice
Lucky Ducks is a fun memory and matching game where students pick ducks to find a match. It’s great for auditory memory as students recall where the matching ducks are. This game also supports turn-taking and can be adapted for articulation practice by making students say their speech targets before selecting a duck.
Get the Lucky Ducks Communication Board HERE
Targets: Cause-and-effect, turn-taking, core vocabulary, articulation carryover
The Ball Drop Tower is great for younger students working on cause-and-effect and early speech development. You can work on core vocabulary like “go,” “drop,” and “ball.” Students can also practice turn-taking by saying “My turn” before releasing the ball. It’s an excellent way to reinforce articulation practice in a fun, movement-based activity.
Get the Ball Drop Tower Communication Board HERE
8. Car Garage
Targets: Following directions, categorization, sentence expansion, articulation practice
The Car Garage toy is great for following multi-step directions (e.g., “Put the red car in the blue garage”), sorting by colors or vehicle types, and describing (e.g., “The big red car is fast!”). It’s also useful for articulation practice by incorporating speech targets into play-based therapy.
Get the Car Garage Communication Board HERE
More Fun Speech Therapy Games!
Here are a few more engaging games that can be adapted for speech therapy:
- Candy Land – Great for color recognition, turn-taking, and following directions
- Connect 4 – Perfect for articulation practice, describing, and strategy-based conversation
- Hedbanz – Fun for question-asking, inferencing, and vocabulary development
- Zingo – Helps with sight words, vocabulary, and articulation practice
Why Use Games in Speech Therapy?
Incorporating games into speech therapy sessions has many benefits, including:
✔️ Increased Engagement – Students stay motivated and actively participate.
✔️ Naturalistic Practice – Encourages language use in a play-based setting.
✔️ Turn-Taking & Social Skills – Games naturally reinforce important social communication skills.
✔️ Multi-Sensory Learning – Many games involve movement, visuals, and auditory components.
How to Adapt Games for Speech Therapy
To maximize the benefits of these games, you can:
- Incorporate speech sound targets before each turn.
- Use sentence starters to encourage expanded language.
- Ask WH-questions to reinforce comprehension and expressive language.
- Encourage students to describe objects, actions, and events.
- Modify rules to fit the needs of students with different skill levels.
By using fun, engaging speech therapy games, you can create a positive and motivating learning experience for your students while targeting a variety of speech and language goals.
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About the Author
Hi! I’m Kim, and I’ve been a licensed Speech-Language Pathology Assistant (SLPA) for nearly a decade. I have a B.S. in Speech-Language Pathology and have worked in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools, providing services to students in general education and special day classes. I created this blog to share my experiences and help other SLPAs navigate their school-based speech therapy journey.
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