Have you ever wondered, "How do I target prosody in Apraxia of Speech?".
I have listed some easy activities that you can incorporate prosody into your speech therapy sessions with preschoolers, toddlers, kindergarteners and early elementary students. The best news is that you can use games, toys, and activities that you already own
Finger Plays: This is a great way to incorporate all aspects of prosody. Songs such as Five Green and Speckled Frogs are super engaging and fun for young learners. Pair them with finger puppets for even more fun!
Sing a song: Singing is a great way to target prosody! To mix it up, sing songs really slowly, quickly, quietly, or loudly. If your student can't sing the words, use a simple syllable, such as na, to sing along with the tone of the song or have the student fill in the blank in familiar songs. Simple nursery rhymes are great since they are very playful and repetitive. Super Simple Songs for Kids are my favorite!
Use instruments: Bang out the syllables in a word and model which syllables are stressed.
Up and Down Toys: Use any toy (e.g. a car going up or down a ramp) to show the child how pitch can go up and down.
Toy Animals: Play with quiet and noisy animals.
Figurines: Use Little People or Puppets and assign each character a voice. Remember to use a variety of different voices (high/low, loud/quiet, fast/slow). Use these voices while playing with the toys.
Read a story: Read a story using different voices for characters. Encourage your students to repeat after you or fill in the blank. Books with varying emotions, such as the Three Little Pigs and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, are great for this.
Just be silly: Take turns saying your words using different voices. So simple but kids LOVE it. You can use family members, favourite tv characters, or different animals.
Guessing game: Say words like a different animal. Take turns guessing what animal it is.
Telephone: Play a quick game of telephone. This is a great way to work on using a quiet voice.
Marco Polo: This is an easy way of practicing using a loud voice.
Emotion Game: Say words with a different emotion. Take turns guessing what emotion you are portraying.
Twenty Questions: This is a great way to work on upward inflection used in yes/no questions.
Change the Meaning: Take a sentence such as "I didn't do it" and change the stress on each word. Discuss how the meaning changes when the stress changes (e.g. I didn't do it vs I didn't do it).
Some students need visual supports to complete tasks and to understand what we are asking of the.
You can pair any of these activities with my Prosody Cards to help your students understand exactly what they are supposed to do.
You can also use them to provide feedback to let the child know how they sounded. You can check them out here!
Make sure to check out more Blogs from Anna Dee about Apraxia of Speech:
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