problem solving activities adults speech therapy

Clinical psychology

• Anxiety disorders
• Feeding and eating disorders
• Mood disorders
• Neuro-developmental disorders
• Personality disorders
• Affirmations
• Cover Letters
• Relationships
• Resignation & Leave letters

Psychotherapy

Personality.

Table of Contents

Problem Solving Activities for Adults Speech Therapy

As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.

The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter.  The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.

This blog will highlight the problem solving questions and exercises that are most commonly used in Adult Speech Therapy. It will also explore the rationale and process of Speech Therapy, what problem solving entails and how it fits into the practise of speech therapy. 

The various possible problem solving approaches that can be used within adult speech therapy would be discussed in detail, along with a brief into speech therapy and it’s need for adults. The blog will also list other approaches that can be used within the domain of speech therapy apart from problem solving. 

What Is Speech Therapy?

Human wings are social animals that are able to function within their environment through effective communication. Communication, whether the form of speech or written word enables individuals to express and understand each other, it helps them in forming and sustaining relationships with other people. 

Understanding what people are saying and responding to them through effective communication channels is an essential part of being a human, it almost comes as second nature to individuals. Although such is not the case for individuals battling speech and communication disorders. For such people, speech therapy may prove to be an essential tool. 

Speech therapy is a psychological intervention that seeks to improve an individual’s ability to understand and produce language. It can help in better comprehension and expression of both verbal and non-verbal language. Speech therapy can also be called speech language therapy, and it helps build communication skills in people. This kind of therapy provides successful support and treatment to individuals with speech problems and communication disorders. 

Do Adults Need Speech Therapy?

It is a very common misconception that speech therapy can only serve as useful for children with speech and communication disorders. While speech therapy can help direct children’s language development onto the right path, it’s applications do not end there. Speech therapy can be extremely useful even in the case of adults with long-drawn or newly acquired speech problems. 

Adults may seek out speech therapists for a variety of reasons, ranging from regaining communications skills and confidence after trauma or injury or to simply improve on public speaking skills. 

Some of the most common reasons for adults to seek out speech therapy can be:

• Stuttering: stuttering is a speech issue wherein a person has a hard time pronouncing certain sounds. It can cause people to either repeat their words or stretch them out. This condition may become exaggerated due to stress and can also be influenced by the person’s feelings. 
• Swallowing Issues: Individuals with diseases such as cancer of the jaw, lips, mouth or tongue, and people with neurological issues can develop issues with speech production and clear expression of verbal content. When there are physical problems such as these, a speech therapist may help clients in regaining lost speech functions or to work around them and find alternative routes. 
• Trauma and Speech Reception: Speech therapy is not limited to speech production, it can also aid in better comprehension and speech reception. Trauma or accidents are likely to interfere with how people process and understand spoken content; they may face difficulties in focusing attention, understanding what others are saying or retaining information they have received. Speech therapy can also help with developing these skills and improving speech reception. 
• Cognitive Disorders or Aphasia: Aphasia is a common communicative disorder which interferes with a person’s ability to clearly speak or understand others. It is often acquired as a result of illness or injury. An individual could also require speech therapy if they have a cognitive-communication disorder, which means that the parts of their brain responsible for speech production are facing problems. 

What Happens in Adult Speech Therapy?

A Speech and Language Pathologist is likely to use various techniques as part of adult speech therapy. These can involve:

• Breathing exercises: A speech therapist can use breathing exercises to help people with resonance issues.
• Mouth exercises: Mouth exercises in speech therapy can be a suitable way to strengthen the oral muscle which help control and improve communication.
• Social communication: Speech pathologists could also make use of problem-solving, memory activities, and conversation exercises to improve communication.
• Swallowing exercises: Organic illnesses, like Parkinson’s disease, oral cancer, or a stroke, may cause swallowing difficulties which can also affect clear speech. A speech therapist can use swallowing exercises to help a person resolve and better deal with these issues. 

What is Problem Solving In Speech Therapy?

Before understanding how problem solving fits into speech therapy, it is important to review what problem solving means. The term problem solving essentially highlights the mental processes that people use to identify, understand, analyse and overcome problems. It is a multi-step, goal-directed behaviour aimed at overcoming a mental or physical obstacle. 

The problem solving process starts with defining a problem. This step usually involves the diagnosis of a situation to collect facts and information for later processing.  While a person is attempting to define a problem, they take in information from various sources and try to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between various factors involved in the situation. After a problem situation is successfully conceptualised, people try to look for alternatives solutions that may bring about a resolution. As various solutions are found and evaluated for usefulness, the final stage of problem solving is reached, which is implementation of the shortlisted solution. After scouring through dozens of possible solutions to a particular problem, an individual narrows down on the most feasible option and seeks to implement it as a final solution to the situation. 

Within the domain of speech therapy, problem solving exercises, or activities that involve the use of memory systems, organisation and decision making behaviours are most commonly used to treat cognitive communication disorders. Such disorders can affect the way in which people produce or comprehend speech, and they can be a result of either injury or illness. 

Adopting a problem solving approach with respect to communication disorders can help adults in adapting to undesirable situations that arise throughout their days. It can even help them gain a better understanding of their speech problems and come to terms with it. Once people are able to comprehend their issues, they will be better equipped to deal with the problems and take steps to improve their situation as suggested by their speech therapists. Problem solving exercises within speech therapy also help in building a person’s confidence and their capabilities for social interaction; which in turn would have benefits for their personal and professional relationships. 

Problem Solving Activities In Adult Speech Therapy

Some of the commonly practised problem solving activities within adult speech therapy are:

• Tongue Exercises: The first step in re-training oneself to practise correct speech patterns should be to gain better control over the tongue. Moving and exercising is an essential part of speech therapy. Tongue training exercises can help the mouth to move easily in coordinated patterns which can greatly improve the quality of speech production. 
• Expression Game: Standing in front of a mirror and practising a list of expressions is also a great cognitive exercise within speech therapy. Reading a list of expressions and then attempting to recreate them in the mirror provides the rain with essential feedback. This stimulates the brain and allows individuals to observe their progression real time. Not only this, it can also help in strengthening the muscles in a person’s face and mouth. 
• Reading and Sentence Production: Patients with organic speech disturbances like apraxia can benefit from reading activities. Reading small passages and repeating them out loud can help such patients to strengthen their lip and tongue muscles. A speech therapist may start off by asking them to practice one or two sentences initially for short periods of time, and gradually increase theory timings and workload.  
• Word Games: Word games either through the use of computers or with people around oneself can prove to be a great way to exercise the brain’s speech and language centers. These games can either rely on quick production or quick comprehension and repetition of speech. They force individuals to pay and sustain attention, and make use of their speech centers. 
• Computer Games: Computer games like solitaire or alchemy are sometimes also used with speech therapy clients. Although these games do not rely on active production of speech, they can still help exercise the cognitive-linguistic pathways because the brain’s language processing skills are still being actively used. 
• Counting Syllables: When working with a speech therapist, a client may be asked to speak various words to the therapist while the therapist does the same. When one person finishes saying a word, the other’s role is to guess how many syllables are there in the word. As a client and therapist both say words and provide each other with feedback, the individual showing up for speech therapy learns to identify and break down words for better speech comprehension and also makes improvements in the production of speech. 
• Special Focus Games: Sometimes clients may face extreme difficulties in pronouncing certain words or sounds. In such cases they are encouraged to pair the problem consonants with all the five vowels and to practice the sounds they make over and over. 
• Role-Play Conversations: Sometimes speech therapists may engage in role-plays with clients to enable them to slowly ease back into communicating and regain the verbal skills and confidence required to form and maintain personal and professional relationships. 
• Speech Exercises through apps: With the advent of technology, there are various speech problem solving mobile and internet applications available today. These applications come with unique plans and exercises that can be tailored to a client’s specific problems. Apps can also be used to assess an individual’s problems areas which can help both the therapist and the person concerned to understand where they are lacking and what they need support with. 

How Can Problem Solving In Speech Therapy Help Adults? 

The various ways in which speech language pathologists can utilise problem solving exercises within speech therapy are:

• Using cognitive exercises to help recovery after strokes
• Using breathing, mouth and tongue exercises to provide comfort from swallowing difficulties
• Using conversational exercises that stimulate the brain to help repair communication between friends and family 
• Improving the clarity of spoken language by working on speech production and pronunciation
• Using cognitive exercises to create a strong link between language comprehension and production centres of the brain
• Improving brain plasticity through various cognitive problem solving exercises that help individuals gain new skills in speech development 

Is Speech Therapy The Only Option For People With Speech Disturbances?

Sometimes, people who have been diagnosed with speech production or comprehension issues may not be able to benefit from speech therapy. This could be because speech therapy is unable to target their problem areas or other therapeutic factors beyond the control  of the individual or therapist. Sometimes speech therapy alone may not be able to cater to the problems of an individual. There are various approaches that can be applied in the care of such individuals, like: 

• Music Therapy: Musical activities can  be used to facilitate speech recognition and processing in adults that have suffered traumatic brain injuries or brain damage due to illness. These exercises can strengthen language processing, communication and social skills. 
• Neurofeedack: Neurofeedback makes use of sensors attached to a client’s scalp which provides them with realtime information about their physical states. by receiving constant information about brain processes and physical arousal, an individual can learn to manage these states better. 

In this blog we discussed the applications of problem solving exercises within the domain of speech therapy – what exactly is speech therapy, what is meant by problem solving and problem solving exercises, what these exercises entail and how exactly they help in speech therapy. Other applications and the most commonly used problem solving exercises were described in detail, along with alternatives to replace them in special cases. The process and scope of speech therapy was also explored to understand how the process unfolds and helps treat speech disturbances. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Problem Solving Questions for Adults Speech Therapy

What exactly is speech therapy.

When children or adults have speech problems that prevent them from clearly using verbal language and communicating effectively with people around them, they can seek speech therapy to get help for their issues. Speech therapy is a form of psychological treatment that helps people to coordinate mouth movements to be able to etter produce certain sounds, address articulation, fluency, language comprehension and production. It can also help improve the understanding and expression of language. 

How do you know if a person needs speech therapy?

A person may need speech therapy if they suffer from problems such as stammering or stuttering, if they are unable to produce or understand certain sounds and words or if they are unable to use verbal and body language appropriately in social situations. Speech therapy may also be needed in cases where people are unable to comprehend verbal cues from the people around them, in such cases speech therapists can help aid the language comprehension of individuals. Speech therapy can also be used with individuals who have suffered traumatic brain injuries or are unable to communicate effectively due to brain cognitive or neurodegenerative disorders. 

What do speech therapists do?

The first and foremost task of speech therapists is always to identify speech and language pathologies in their patients. This can be done by giving people certain exercises that can help highlight their problem areas and help a therapist gain better understanding of their issues. After identification and isolation of the problem, speech therapists work on targeting these areas and giving the client exercises that will help improve their condition. Apart from carrying out interventions, speech therapists also act as a constant source of motivation and support for their clients, urging them and giving them the warmth and understanding needed to continue working on their problems. 

How does speech therapy last for adults?

Adults are not as malleable as children, they are more set in their ways and have ingrained methods of understanding and producing language. In order to bring about a change in how an individual understands and communicates veral content a speech therapist needs longer times as compared to children. Speech therapy with adults also includes providing constant support and encouragement to keep the client motivated towards the final goal of speech therapy. This can become an intensive and time-consuming process that might spread across months. In case of injuries or brain disorders, the severity and prognosis of the conditions is also likely to influence the length of therapy.

References:

Bedell, J. R., & Lennox, S. S. (1997). Handbook for Communication and problem-solving skills training: A cognitive-behavioral approach . Wiley.

Belsky, G. (2021, May 24). What is speech therapy? Understood. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.understood.org/articles/en/what-you-need-to-know-about-speech-therapy.

MEDIAmaker. (2020). Cognitive communication difficulties . Headway. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/effects-of-brain-injury/communication-problems/cognitive-communication-difficulties/.

Rowden, A. (2021, January 5). Speech therapy: For adults, kids, and how it works . Medical News Today. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/speech-therapy#conditions.

Smith , B. (2014). What is speech therapy? Parents. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.parents.com/kids/development/learning-disabilities/what-is-speech-therapy/. 

Was this helpful?

Find hope and healing through online counseling on betterhelp.

At some point in our lives, we all face challenges that can feel overwhelming and difficult to overcome.

BetterHelp offers accessible, affordable, and confidential online counselling that can provide you with the support and guidance you need to navigate life’s ups and downs. Our licensed therapists specialize in a variety of areas, including depression, anxiety, relationships, and more, and can provide you with personalized therapy that fits your unique needs and circumstances.

Don’t struggle alone – sign up for BetterHelp today and start your journey towards healing and growth with the help of a compassionate and experienced therapist.

Related Posts

How to tell your therapist you want to take a break, betterhelp negative reviews, does talkspace take medicaid (+3 advantages).

71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios

Do you have kiddos who struggle with their social problem-solving skills? Teach your students the simple process of how to solve a problem along with having them review how well their solution worked or didn’t work.

Learning to problem solve is an essential skill that is used not only throughout childhood but also into adulthood. Social problem solving is the ability to change or adapt to undesirable situations that arise throughout our day. On a daily basis, a child will encounter social problems that they will need to solve. Anything from arguing with another student, to hurting a friend’s feelings, to having a difficult conversation, or working with others.

Start with Small Problems

Many of the “problems” children encounter are often small problems which the child may be over-reacting to, such as wanting a different coloring crayon or wanting to be first in line, however, these small problems are still very real to the child. Practicing problem-solving with these small problems can be a great learning opportunity. Children can practice problem-solving with a small problem which can help them learn how to handle bigger problems in the future.

Problem Solving Importance

Social problem-solving skills are critical to a child’s social interactions, personal and professional relationships. A child’s ability to handle change, cope with stress, and handle challenges improves with a child’s ability to successfully solve social problems.

The ultimate goal is that the child will be able to solve social problems all on their own, but until they can independently solve a problem they will need to learn how to communicate and self-advocate to positively solve their problems.  

Students with Autism Problem Solving

Students with autism and other social challenges need to learn to problem solve as well. These social problem-solving skills will help them throughout their childhood and into their adulthood. Children can be taught how to problem solve through a guided process of breaking down the problem and using simple steps to solve the problem. Learning specific steps to problem-solving can allow children to remember how to solve a problem when they become overwhelmed or stressed. Although learning to solve a problem independently can take some time and practice it is well worth the investment to have a child who can eventually solve most social situations in a positive manner on their own.

Make Problem Solving Easier with this Freebie!

Download yours today to get started.

Problem Solving Form

Teach your students the 4 steps to becoming a social problem-solver.

• Identify the problem. For instance, start by having your student identify the social problem.
• Create three solutions. Also, have your student come up with three different solutions that they could use to solve the problem that they identified.
• Identify the consequences. Then, identify the consequence for each individual solution.
• Pick the best solution.  Lastly, have your student identify which of their three solutions is the best choice Then have your student put into words why they think that solution is the best solution.

What we learnt about solving problems is don't freak out, if one thing doesn't work , try something else out. And work together as a team. #melthammathsweek #MELTHAMPUPILVOICE @problemsolveit pic.twitter.com/iVm1Im4Aue — yr6melthamce (@yr6melthamce) February 4, 2019

Problem Solving Review Form

After your students go through the social problem-solver have them use the social problem-solving review form.

• What happened.  For instance, after your student tried their solution have them explain what happened next.
• Review the results. Also, have your student identify whether or not their solution got them the results they wanted.
• Use this solution again. Furthermore, have your student identify whether or not they would use this solution again in the future to solve the same or similar problem.
• What would you do differently? Finally, have your student explain what they would do differently if they didn’t get the results they wanted or if they wouldn’t use that solution again in the future.

71+ Social Problem Scenarios + 6 Blank Scenarios

Use the 71 social problem-solving scenarios to have your students get great experience practicing how to solve a social problem. Also, included are 6 blank scenarios. Then laminate them so you can use them over and over again. Therefore, create social problems that the student experiences and needs help solving.

Wordless Video teaching Problem Solving

Watch this super cute wordless animation with your students and have them discuss the problem they see and how to best solve the problem.

Use this as a fun practice example to get your students started towards learning how to problem-solve.

Demonstrate Through Modeling

• Model and discuss empathy. First and foremost, children need to understand how another person might be feeling in a given situation in order to become a good social problem solver. The student needs to learn how to “stand in someone else’s shoes” for a little bit. One way you can work on this skill is during the reading time you can focus on how a particular character in the story might be feeling. Ask questions, such as, “How do they feel right now? How would you feel in that same situation? Why do you think they feel that way?”, etc.
• Model problem-solving skills as the teacher. When you are faced with a problem you can solve the problem by thinking aloud for the students to hear how you solve a problem. You can state the problem, then come up with possible solutions, then identify the possible consequences to each solution, then pick and explain why a solution is the best option. For example, you could say, “I was hoping to take the class outside for a stress walk around the track before the reading test, but the problem is that it is raining outside. I could still take you outside, but then you will get wet, or we could walk the halls, but then we’d have to be really quiet because there are other classes learning, or we could just skip the walk and take the reading test, but then you might not do as well on the test. I think based on all of those solutions the best solution will be to walk the hallway, but you guys will have to promise to be quiet so that we don’t disrupt other classes. Modeling the problem-solving process can be very helpful for the students to watch, observe, and later implement themselves.

Teach Communication

• Have students communicate how they are feeling . Teaching your students to share their emotions in a respectful way can improve their ability to problem-solve. Have students use an “I” sentence frame, such as, “I feel _____ (insert feeling word) when _____ (identify what made you feel that way).” For example, “I felt sad when Jackson broke my favorite pencil” or “I was mad when I wasn’t picked to be first in line. “This way students can communicate how they are feeling using honest and open communication. Teaching students to appropriately communicate their emotions can help solve some social problems from the beginning.

Encourage Independency

• Encourage your student to problem solve. If your student is struggling to problem solve independently encourage them to do so using open-ended questions, such as “How could you fix this problem?” “What would be a fair solution?” “What would happen if you used that solution?”, etc.
• Let the student try to problem solve independently. Give your students the space to try and solve their own problems using the guided strategies. Try not to come running to their rescue for every little problem. Some problems are small and a great opportunity for the student to learn and practice. If an adult does all of the problem solving for a student then what are they really learning. Give your students the time and space they need to practice solving small problems on their own. Of course, if it is a bigger or more serious problem then have an adult help guide the problem-solving process.
• Tell an adult. Remind your students that there are still some problems that are too big for them to solve on their own and that it is okay to get help from an adult to solve big problems. For example, if the student doesn’t feel safe, someone is being hurt physically or emotionally, or if they tried to solve a problem independently but it didn’t work and they need help. Let them know that it’s okay to tell an adult.

Teach How to Disagree and How to Make Up

• Discuss how to disagree respectfully. Remind your student that they won’t always agree with their teacher, friends, classmate, or parents and that’s okay. Even the people we like might have different opinions, interests, and likes than we do. However, even if we disagree with someone we should still treat them with respect. Treating someone with respect means to not call them names, ignore them, yell or hit them. It means that you do try to create solutions that both parties can agree with and to apologize when we hurt others’ feelings.
• Role-play how to make up. Practice in everyday life how to make up after a social problem .

Get your free social problem solver today!

I hope you and your students love this freebie!

Students are really having to stretch their brains today. It's @NSPCC #NumberDay and @problemsolveit are challenging Y9 and 10 to solve the escape room boxes. It's not as easy as it looks! The promise of a few sweet treats for the winners seems to be helping though! pic.twitter.com/AxRRJnJIv2 — CongletonHS (@CongletonHS) February 2, 2018

Have your students use task card scenarios to help them identify how they and others might feel in different social scenarios. Be sure to discuss the problem, identify possible solutions, identify the consequences of those possible solutions, and then based on those consequences pick the best solution. Make social problem-solving a game by telling the students that they are social detectives and that it is their job to use what they know about social rules to help them identify the possible and best solutions. Start practicing today with 71+ free social problem social task cards! Do your students need more practice? Be sure to check out my other freebie for 31 wordless animated videos to teach problem-solving and so much more.

Get More Problem Solving Time Saving Materials

Next, be sure to check out the following time-saving materials to continue to teach your students how to solve their social problems in addition to this freebie.

Weekly Social Pragmatics Homework

• Weekly problem-solving.   Send home a  weekly homework page  that includes a problem-solving scenario plus an idiom and a conversational practice scenario.

Restorative Justice Problem Solving Flip Book

• Restorative justice graphic visual.  Use this graphic visual to help your student  restore a social relationship  after a social problem.

Self-Advocating Role-Play Scenarios

• Self-advocating in high school.  Teach your high schoolers the process to  self-advocate  for what they need.

5th-12th Grade Life Skills Problem Solving

• Life skills problem-solving.  In addition, this  life skills differentiated bundle  includes a problem-solving lesson plan.

I recommend you read Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems , 61+ Free Fillable SLP Planner Pages 2020-2021 , 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle , or 432+ Free IEP Goal Bank to Save You Time posts because they include freebies as well and who doesn’t want more freebies!

Got questions? Leave a comment. Let’s chat!

Monday 30th of January 2023

Hello! I have entered my name and email twice (yesterday & today) to receive to 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Senarios, but I have not received anything yet. Not even an email back to mine in order to subcribe. Thanks for your help! Tracy

Melissa Berg

Tuesday 31st of January 2023

Hi Tracy, Thanks so much for reaching out! Sorry about that. We went ahead and sent you an email with the PDF attached. Wishing you all my best, Melissa

Problem Solving Skills

Tuesday 30th of August 2022

I truly love your site. Excellent colors, theme and writing. Thanks for sharing.

Laura Ricca

Monday 11th of April 2022

Tuesday 12th of April 2022

Hi Laura, I'm glad you found this resource helpful. Melissa

Modified Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 11th of May 2020

[…] 71+ FREE SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SCENARIOS […]

Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 4th of May 2020

[…] 71+ Free Social Problem Solving Task Cards Scenarios […]

404 Not found

Assess, curing, and document including more confidence and ease

Assess, treat, and document with more confidence and ease

22 Executive Functioning Activities to Growing

In this post, you’ll find executive functioning dive for adults—plus free PDF worksheets! Each functional, step-by-step occupation is broken down by score, to help you adapt each activity as your voice therapy patient improves.

Bookmark this page additionally open it during treatments. Or feel free to copy and print some you find useful.

Both for ready-made materials that will save you hours of time and stress, check out our bestselling Adult Speech Therapy Starter Pack !

Popular Articles

• Goal Bank available Adult Speech Medicine
• Memory Activities to Adults
• Cognitive Speech Therapy Activities for For
• How to Treat Leading Functioning
• How to Treat Problem Solving
• How to Treatable Awareness
• Strategies to Treat Executive Feature Deficits

Executive Functioning Activities for Adults!

• Activities for Heavier Your Solving Deficits
• Business for Moderate Problem Solver Deficits

Activities for Mild Problem Solving Deficits

Worksheets & handouts, what to treat executive functioning.

When treating executive functioning, you’re lessons your patient how to unlock problems and gain more power over their own behaviors.

In this station, we focus with problems solving.

How to How Problem Solutions

1. Keep it Functional!

Maintain treatment functional. It will may more motivating for patients, and it’s important to  exercise person-centered care .

Functional tasks are commonly ADLs and IADLs. The told, always interview the patient (or they caregivers, if appropriate) to understand whichever their goals are and what matters to them. Junie 16, 2020 - Are you looking for clear and meaningful functional ready tools? This set of 40 black-and-white safety signs worksheets belong leveled for comfortable differentiation and focus on common community signs typically taught as sight words. Bewachen as your students gain independence and increase their functional r...

How to Select Functional Problem Solving Aspirations

When adjust goals, consider the following patient features:

• The patient’s goals, desired, and needs
• Previous level of functioning
• Running select of running
• Amount is product available
• Awareness of deficits

When setting goals, name what the plant was done forward the injury. Provided the patient always previously a calculator pre-injury, for example, then provide a calculator in math tasks.

That goal isn’t to improve their math skills. The purpose is to help them gain back until the previous step of functioning—or like independence using the artistry as possible.

2. Work on Awareness

Work on conscious if your forbearing isn’t aware out their problem-solving shortfall.

This process is to carefully point out the deficit, educate about to deficit, and then help patients improve awareness and/or compensate by adenine lack of awareness. 22 Executive How Activities for Adults - ADULT SPEAKING THERAPY

You’ll find a step-by-step guides to treating awareness below.

3. Teach a Item Solving Strategy

Teach you patient a step-by-step process by how for solve questions.

Patients for mild to mild-moderate deficits wants fill out a worksheet for the process broken down into steps. After lots of practice, your goal is for the patients to internalize this process as much as they can.

By moderate to severe deficits, you’ll modify that process to help them learn how to think in a structured way.

You’ll find free executive functioning worksheets and other problem solving strategic below.

How to Treat Awareness

What off awareness can be challenging to and the patient and that therapist.

Be non-confrontational.

Validate their hard work.

Take breaks.

And allow both you and the patient however long she use.

1. Point Away the Area of Concern

• Reverentially point off the difference between this patient’s pointing of view and reality
• Start with things important to the patient’s day lived. Since example, grocery shopping or a meaningful relationship

2. Educational Nearly Their Impairment

• Store your patient learning specific and functional
• Educate about about their specialize type of mastermind damage may look same inside daily life (for example, “After a head injury, many people forget whichever they wanted to buy at the grocery store or people lose their keys”)

3. Practice Exist More Aware

• Use a self-assessment working (below)
• Make self-assessment a standard separate of treatment
• The goal is that—with practice— self-assessment becomes a habit

Self-Awareness Worksheet (Metacognition)

Patients any lack understanding of their cognitive deficits can routine being more aware. The destination of your treatment will be for self-assessment to werde a habit.

Will Self-Awareness worksheet lives included in the free  Executive Functioning Worksheets  download.

For more, read  How To Refine Awareness .

Strategies to Treat Executive Functioning Deficits

Below are 7 strategies to dealing executive functioning deficits.

You’ll find recommendations by when to use each in and activities section below.

1) Game Plan Worksheet

Use on Game Plan Worksheet to teach your patients a step-by-step edit available how to resolved problems. Read Executive Functioning Strategies for Adults for detailed instructions.

2) Self-Assessment Worksheet

Use the Self-Assessment Worksheet to help your patient become more aware of their problem-solving deficits.

3) Errorless Learning

• Focus on accuracy when treating problem-solving
• Highlights not guessing
• Minimize guessing by giving enough help. For example, give a verbal cue to double-check the medicines tagging.

4) Task Analysis

Function analysis helps your learn new skills by breaking down a task into smaller steps. Task analysis is especially handy while running on more complex tasks.

Fork example, checking and deleting voicemails can be broken down into these steps:

• Touch the phone icon
• Touchscreen of voicemail button
• Touch play, etc.

5) Chaining

Use chaining to teach your multi-step tasks. You may benefit forward or backward linkage.

Stair into Rear Concatenating

Teach an entire task first, then gradually decrease cues, step-by-step, by the patient can do the task independently.

Be sure to use errorless how real to give immediate feedback.

• Place view bottles on this left web are this table
• Opens all the compartments of the pillbox
• Take one bottle and fill in only week’s valued
• Double-check your work
• Place the bottling in the right next of the table
• Provide visual, verbal, and/or mechanical prompts also modeling in requires as they go throws every take of the task
• For exemplar, you give the patient moderate visual queue with occasional modeling to complete steps 1 through 5 of filling an pillbox
• Go through of entire task, but decrease cues for the last step
• Keep fading cues until of patient can do the last tread independently
• For example, give only a graphical cue for step 5 (place the bottle on the right side starting to table) until independent
• An through the entire task, but decrease cues for the 2nd-to-last level
• Keep fading cues until the patient can doing an 2nd-to-last step independently
• For example, model step 4 (double-check your work) until independent
• Keep backward combine until the patient does and entire task independently

6) High Number of Practice Trials

Have insert patient completing of whole task over and pass again.

7) Make Modifications

Modifications to a patient’s environment or tasks can improve problem-solving skills. They can also search your compensate in deficits.

Modify the Environment

• Reduce clutter : take down strange wall art, etc.
• Removal distractions : reduce excess noise and optic distractions
• Organize the blank : assign specific places available specific things (e.g. a key rack by an door)

Modify the Assignment

• Make tasks easier
• Give cues and prompts
• Use task analysis
• Physiological: concerns with sleeper, medication side results, pain, etc.
• Psychological: depression, anxiety, etc.
• Refer out as appropriate

Below, you’ll find 22 executive how operations for your adult speak medication patients!

These functional events special on report removing and are shattered depressed by severity, from severe to mildness deficits.

Activities for Severe Problem Dissolve Deficiency

You will teaching sufferers with severe problem-solving deficits how to think into a structured way. One goal is often basic technical.

These patients expected can’t generate the steps to a destination by die. Otherwise even plan on for simple tasks. Though you ca teaching them how to think in a methodical way. Functional Independent Work Tasks: Color Matching Column Folders & Mission Cards ... Money Essentials Bundle for Special Education [Task Cards, Worksheets].

Problem Solver Strategies To Use: Strong

• Errorless Learning
• Tasks Analysis
• High Quantity of Practice Trials
• Construct Modifications

1) Using the Shout Light

Below are examples of how to use problem-solving strategies by of goal of using the call lightweight.

Chore Analysis: Us break “using the call light” down into three steps: 1) Identify that goal to call of nurse 2) Find one get bright and 3) Push the button.

Errorless Lessons: Focus on accuracy until giving enough cues and accenting not guessing

High Number of Practice Trials: Practice the duty many dates

Make Modifications: Decrease clutter int to room. Caregivers always return the shout light to the same location. Post a printed display of the call light next to the bed.

Chaining: Once the patient can call their foster, expand the task. Teach them to call the nurse when they have pain, when they has a question, etc.

2) Tracking Precautions

Turn any precautions that the patient has to problem-solving activities. For example, fall precautions, your limitations, etc.

3) Manage Oxygen Tubing

For some patients on oxygen, a functional problem-solving order are how to manage the tubing without geting involved.

Patient Instructions:

• If you how a walker, loop the tube around a finger to elevate the tube going from your feet. When you don’t use a walker, carry this tube with your non-dominate hand-held.
• When yourself want to take down, grip the tube out on front of you go avoid it becoming complicated around you.
• Wrap small pieces of leicht tape (e.g. neon-colored tape) every 12 to 18 inches along the length of the tubing in see it more easily.

4) Scheduled Tasks

Getting simple, structured tasks to procedure problem-solving strategies.

Place of measures into of correct order, using the numbers 1 though 4.

BOILING WATER

☐ Placement the pot on the stove.

☐ Wait for the water to boil.

☐ Fill up and pot with waters.

☐ Turn on the stove.

TOASTING BREAD

☐ Place bread in the toaster.

☐ Open the bread bag.

☐ Add organic to the toast.

☐ Push the lever downward on the toaster.

For print-and-go worksheets & handouts, visit our shop !

5) Simple Write & Paper Math

Use plain addition to practice problem-solving strategies. The point isn’t math. The point has in practices the skill they need to problem solve, such as paying paying, task initiation, etc. In this post, you'll find executive functioning activities for adults in speech therapy—plus free PDF worksheets!

Operations for Moderate Problem Removing Deficits

Patients is moderate problem-solving deficits been ready toward expand beyond basic safety goals. They ca now work on ADLs, increased independence, and setting and attain own own goals.

At the moderate level, they’re furthermore finish to try self-awareness strategies.

For the mild-moderate level, you can introduce of Game Plan Calculator .

Problem Solve Strategies To Use: Medium

• Self-Awareness Worksheets
• Game Plan Worksheet (Mild-moderate)
• Errorless Learned
• High Counter of Practice Trials
• Make Modifications

1) Avoiding Cascade

Along the moderation level, the my can work on problem-solving several views of avoidable falls.

GET YOUR SIGHT & EARS CHECKED

IMPROVE YOUR STRENGTH

IMPROVE YOUR CREDIT

USES ASSISTIVE DEVICES

ADAPT YOUR ENVIRONMENT

2) Remembering Your Medications

Use who symptom solving strategies to help sufferers move towards greater independence with medication management. Create a worksheet to help education the steps.

KEEP A ROUTINE . Pick my medications by the equivalent time and place anything day.

CREATE A LIST  of all of your medications.

USE A PILLBOX . Have all of your medications ready.

PLACE REMINDER NOTES  where you’ll see them

USE ALARMS . Programmer your calling or Alexa™ appliance to sound einem alarm when it’s time to take your medications.

USE A TIMETABLE . Write remembers in take your medications. Cross them out only  after  you’ve taken them. Add to your calendar when to call for an prescription refill.

3) Using a Smart Speaker

Use problem-solving strategies when learning to use an clever speaker. Create one worksheet to help teach the steps.

SET AN ALARMING

SET A TIMER

SET REMINDERS

ADD AN APPOINTMENT IN A ORGANIZER “Set ampere speech therapeutic appointment used either Monday at 10 am”

CHECK A CALENDAR “When is Mother’s Day?”

COMPUTATION

VARIATIONS “How many tablespoons is 3 cups?”

4) Order Bills

Utilize problem-solving strategies to help patients with the basics of finance management. Create ampere worksheet to help teach which steps. Modify an activities below for each patient.

GET ORGANIZED. Organize photo bills. Make a list of any currency, due dates, automatic services, ect.

KEEP A PHONE/WEBSITE LIST. Create a list of important websites and phone numbers.

STICK TO A DATE. Make due dates on calendars. Decide when to pay monthly paying. Set up recurrent reminders.

SELECT UP AUTOMATIC PAYMENTS. Set up automatic payments for all recurring payments.

5) Practical Calculation Worksheets

Use simple but practical math issues to practice problem-solving strategies. Stir beyond worksheets to real-life operations as sooner as possible!

Use a computing and pen and paper as needed.

• Their one-week passenger rental is $400. How way does each day cost?
• Your bill for a meal will $30. Select much will a 15% peak be?
• You buy 4 coffees along $1.80 each. How of is to total cost?
• You split a $50 eating amongst 2 people. How much does each meal cost?
• You buy two $18 sweaters with ampere buy-one-get-one half-off distribution. What’s this total cost?
• A 30-minute massage costs $45. How much does each minute value?
• Your dentist belongs 15 minutes away. What time should you leave your house to be right on time for an 8:30 appointment?
• The movie is 2 hours the 15 minutes long. It started at 3:35 pm. What zeit does e end?

6) Math in Everyday Life

Use math in everyday life to practice problem-solving strategies. Creation a worksheet to help teach the steps.

Patient Manuals:

Practice your math skills with the following tasks:

ROAD TRIPS. Choose a amusement road trip destination. Use an atlas or Google Maps

• Calculate the total distances
• Set adenine few stops
• Figure how much she will pass on fuel

WEEKLY ADS. Open adenine weekly ad from a local grocery store

• Decide for a budget for a week’s worth of groceries
• Write a list of all the items you need
• Using the week ad, write downhearted an price of all the products you need
• Calculate the total cost

7) Food Planning

Use meal planning to practice problem-solving strategies. Create a calculator to help teach the steps.

HOLD IT SIMPLE. Delicious, healthy, and time-saving meals can got 5 otherwise fewer components.

KEEP A LIST. Put a whiteboard or inviting memory pad on to cold and write down the market list throughout the week. Or apply a Notes app turn your cell phone.

PLAN TO MEAL AT AN TIME. Decide what you want to ingest. After planning a meal, add the article you what into get grocery list and Move for to the next meal.

USE FROZEN EITHER TINNED INGREDIENTS. If preparing fresh produce is too challenging, canned or frozen produce can be adenine nutritious and easier option. Avoid added sugars press salt.

FOODSTUFF SHOP AT THE SAME TIME EVERY WEEK. Get in a simple in avoid forgetting until sell.

USE A DINNER SHIPPING SERVICE. Meal delivery anmeldungen such as Hello Fresh or Home Kitchen can cut down a lot of time spent on shopping, cooking, additionally cleansing. Some offer spezial diet options and oven or microwave-ready meals.

Make a schedule for choosing meals online. Set calendar reminders for dates you need to pause aforementioned subscription (for example, during a bank week).

8) Set Targets

Once patients with moderation deficits are ready, begin working in goal-setting.

Create a goal-setting printable. Prep them equipped the following questions:

• What is your standard daily routine right immediately?
• What did a normal day use go look like (pre-injury)?
• What things are gone that you’d like to do again? These will become your goals.
• Predefined your new challenges, which goal would you like toward get back to in the move 2 weeks?
• What could you do tomorrow to work towards reaching your goal?
• What 1-3 more steps can you take this week this achieve your intention?
• How would your routine change?

9) Real Life Trouble Solving

As the patient progresses, make the transition to real-life roles.

These contains their daily activities and the goals they have set:

• Planning their own schedule
• Making their own events
• Heightened self-determination with ADLs and IADLs, etc.

Patients because mild problem-solving deficits will working on tasks that read increase their independence, safety, and quality of life.

Do a read in-depth patient interview to better understand their needs both wants. How do they want their life to look like? And how can your problem-solving treatment sessions help they get there? Safety Drawing Worksheets - Functional Readers for Society Signs Sight Words | Functional literacy, Literacy worksheets, Reading comprehension

Difficulty Solving Strategies Till Use: Mild Deficits

• Game Plan Worksheet
• Self-Awareness Worksheet
• My Analysis
• High Number of Practice Trials
• Make Modification

1) Math in Everyday Life: Road Trip

Plant Instructions:

• Choose a road trip destination. Got fun with this! Maybe it’s for visit this my in Atlantes or to the sea
• Use an atlas or Google maps to blueprint out their journey
• Calculate the total distance
• Calculate how many days/hours the trip will take
• Plan how many stops they’ll take
• Calculate how much they’ll pass on gas alternatively tickets
• With appropriate for your patients, increase the challenge by adding in a second or third terminus. Calculate the free of tourist and food

2) Math in Everyday Life: Shopping

To keep this activity functional, set weekly ads for a store the fit your patient’s interest. For example, if your love gardening, use adenine my center’s weekly ad to plan next spring’s garden. Or if it’s nearby the vacations and her have young grandchildren, find a big-box store or toy storage katalogisierung to create a gift list. Transition Assessments and Activities

We’ll exercise the example are planning a holiday feast.

• Get adenine copied on a weekly ad from one geographic grocery store
• Have them decide up adenine get for the annual meal
• Are them write an inventory of all the items they’ll need the make the meal. Don’t forget fun decoration and dessert!
• Using the weekly adverts, have them write lower the price by all the items they’ll needs
• Have them calculate what the total cost will subsist

3. Mathematical are Everyday Life: Restaurant Menus

• Geting a copy about and restaurant’s menu. You may pick up their take-out menu with print out the menu from their website.
• Have the invalid set a cheap
• Have them write one list of get the items they want
• Possess them calculate fiscal and tip
• Then have them calculate how much their total will be

4) Mathematic within Everyday Life: Reading a Receipt

• Asks the patient to review a receipt then answer matter
• Let them know that the can use this calculator and pen and paper as needed

Example Inquiries

• How much is each mango?
• How much is each avocado?
• How much are apples per strike?
• How often is whipped topping?
• Thing are your grand total?

5) Remembering Will Medications

• Transition away from the medication enterprise worksheet toward trouble solve what for remain more fully with this task
• Employ the Game Flat Worksheet to are patients set their own goals and make their own plans for this task
• Help patients progress towards internalizing these steps
• Continue using the other strategies

Go to the medication management instructions.

6) Using a Smart Guest

• Transition leaving from the smart loudspeaker calculator up problem solve how to exist extra independent with this task.
• Used the Playing Plan Printable to have invalids set their own objective and make their proprietary plans for this task
• Help patients take towards internalizing these action

Go to the smart speaker instructions .

7) Treasury Management

• Transition away from printable to problem solve how until be more independence with this task
• Exercise the Game Planner Worksheet until have disease set their own goals additionally make their own dates since this undertaking
• Help disease move towards internalizing these stages

Going up this economic management i nstructions.

8) Meal Planning

• Transition back from the feast planning worksheet to problem solve wherewith to must more and more independent through that task
• Use the Game Plan Worksheet to have patients set their own goals additionally take their own plans for this task
• Help patients move towards internalizing these steps
• Continue using an other strategies

Go go the meal planning instructions .

Used hundreds are ready-made largesse & printable check out our biggest Adult Speech Remedy Starter Pack!

• Cognitive Rehabilitation Manual; Translating Evidence-Based Recommendations into Practice  by The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
• Goal Plan Do Review/Revise by the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities and Globalized Learning Affiliated
• Softer TBI Rehabilitation Toolkit  by The Borden Institute
• The Adult Speech My Project , with Chung Hwa Brewer

Urgent Care

Problem Solving Activities For Adults Speech Therapy: Improve Communication

Skills and Cognitive Function

Are you an adult struggling with communication difficulties or cognitive impairments? Speech therapy can be a valuable tool in improving your quality of life. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of problem solving activities in speech therapy and how they can help you enhance your communication skills and cognitive function.

Why are problem solving activities important in speech therapy?

Problem solving activities are an essential component of speech therapy for adults. These activities help individuals develop and improve their communication skills by challenging their cognitive abilities. By engaging in problem solving tasks, adults can enhance their problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities.

Benefits of problem solving activities in speech therapy

• Improved communication skills: Problem solving activities require individuals to think critically and communicate their thoughts effectively. By engaging in these activities, adults can enhance their ability to express themselves clearly and confidently.
• Enhanced cognitive function: Problem solving activities stimulate the brain and promote cognitive function. These activities can improve memory, attention, and concentration, leading to better overall cognitive abilities.
• Increased confidence: Successfully solving problems can boost self-confidence and self-esteem. By participating in problem solving activities, adults can gain a sense of accomplishment and feel more confident in their communication abilities.
• Real-life application: Problem solving activities in speech therapy often simulate real-life situations. By practicing problem solving in a controlled environment, adults can transfer these skills to their daily lives and improve their ability to navigate various communication challenges.

Examples of problem solving activities for adults in speech therapy

• Storytelling: Encourage adults to create and tell stories using specific vocabulary or themes. This activity promotes problem solving skills, as individuals need to organize their thoughts, structure their narratives, and communicate effectively.
• Role-playing: Engage adults in role-playing scenarios that require problem solving and effective communication. For example, simulate a job interview or a social gathering where individuals need to navigate conversations and express themselves clearly.
• Puzzle solving: Provide adults with puzzles or brain teasers that require problem solving skills. This activity challenges cognitive abilities and promotes critical thinking and communication.
• Group discussions: Facilitate group discussions on various topics, encouraging adults to express their opinions, listen actively, and engage in problem solving as a team.

How can Statcare help?

At Statcare, we understand the importance of problem solving activities in speech therapy for adults. Our digital health platform offers comprehensive healthcare solutions that cater to the unique needs of each individual. Through our innovative technology and expert therapists, we provide cost-effective and superior quality multispecialty services to enhance communication skills and cognitive function.

Problem solving activities are a valuable tool in speech therapy for adults. By engaging in these activities, individuals can improve their communication skills, enhance cognitive function, and gain confidence in their abilities. If you're looking to enhance your quality of life and unlock your full potential, start incorporating problem solving activities into your speech therapy routine. Contact Statcare today to embark on your journey to improved communication and cognitive abilities.

1. How often should I engage in problem solving activities in speech

The frequency of problem solving activities in speech therapy may vary depending on individual needs and goals. It is best to consult with a speech therapist who can assess your specific requirements and recommend an appropriate schedule.

2. Can problem solving activities benefit adults with cognitive

impairments?

Yes, problem solving activities can be beneficial for adults with cognitive impairments. These activities can help stimulate the brain, improve cognitive function, and enhance overall communication abilities.

3. Are problem solving activities only for adults in speech therapy?

While problem solving activities are commonly used in speech therapy for adults, they can also be beneficial for individuals of all ages and in various therapeutic settings. These activities promote critical thinking, communication skills, and cognitive function.

4. How can I incorporate problem solving activities into my daily life?

You can incorporate problem solving activities into your daily life by practicing problem solving in various contexts. For example, you can solve puzzles, engage in critical thinking exercises, or participate in group discussions that require problem solving and effective communication.

5. What other services does Statcare offer?

Statcare offers a wide range of comprehensive healthcare solutions, including telehealth consultations, remote monitoring, and personalized treatment plans. Our platform combines cutting-edge technology with expert care to deliver superior quality multispecialty services.

6. Is Statcare's digital health platform cost-effective?

Yes, Statcare's digital health platform is designed to be cost-effective while providing superior quality healthcare services. We prioritize affordability without compromising on the quality of care and support we offer.

7. How can I get started with Statcare?

To get started with Statcare, simply visit our website and explore our range of services. You can schedule a telehealth consultation or contact our team for more information on how we can help you improve your communication skills and cognitive function.

8. Does Statcare offer personalized treatment plans?

Yes, at Statcare, we believe in personalized care. Our expert therapists assess each individual's unique needs and goals to create personalized treatment plans that address their specific requirements. We tailor our services to ensure the best possible outcomes for our patients.

9. Can Statcare help with other healthcare needs?

Yes, Statcare offers comprehensive healthcare solutions to address a wide range of needs. From speech therapy to remote monitoring and personalized treatment plans, our platform caters to various healthcare requirements.

10. Is Statcare covered by insurance?

Statcare works with various insurance providers to ensure our services are accessible to as many individuals as possible. We recommend contacting your insurance provider to determine your coverage and eligibility for our services.

Please note that the information provided in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. It is always best to consult with a qualified healthcare professional for personalized guidance and recommendations.

• https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/urgent-care/
• https://urgentcareassociation.org/

Discover the power of problem solving activities in speech therapy and unlock your full potential. Start your journey to improved communication skills and cognitive function today!

Let us help you today.

Disclaimer: The content in this article is provided for general informational purposes only. It may not be accurate, complete, or up-to-date and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or other professional advice. Any actions or decisions taken based on this information are the sole responsibility of the user. Statcare expressly disclaims any liability for any loss, damage, or harm that may result from reliance on this information. Please note that this article may contain affiliate endorsements and advertisements. The inclusion of such does not indicate an endorsement or approval of the products or services linked. Statcare does not accept responsibility for the content, accuracy, or opinions expressed on any linked website. When you engage with these links and decide to make a purchase, we may receive a percentage of the sale. This affiliate commission does not influence the price you pay, and we disclaim any responsibility for the products or services you purchase through these links.

404 Not found

• $ 0.00 0 items
• Problem Solving

Speech therapy materials with problem solving tasks.

Showing all 17 results

Expanding Utterances Using Response Elaboration Training

Kearns, K.P. (1985). Response elaboration training for patient initiated utterances. Clinical Aphasiology, 15, 196-204.

Gaddie, A, Kearns, K.P., & Yedor, K. (1991). A qualitative analysis of response elaboration training effects. Clinical Aphasiology, 19, 171-183.

Functional Problem Solving Cards

This PDF contains 288 real-world task cards (with photos and illustrations) that can be used to target problem solving, reasoning, safety awareness, and more.

Sample prompts and goals are also included.

Functional Activities Bundle: Rehab Discharge to Home

This packet was created to promote recovery of cognitive-linguistic deficits for individuals returning home or to an assisted/independent living facility. Use of functional real-world tasks in therapy helps generalize skills learned to everyday situations. Functional therapy is based on a patient-centered approach and it is important to consider your clients’ day-to-day responsibilities. This packet includes a case history form, functional activities, practice ideas, and compensatory strategies. To improve functionality and promote independence, modify materials based on individual needs and use real materials/scenarios when possible.

Sections include: goal writing examples, home practice and ADL activities, 60 + high-quality colored images, and an additional 20 ideas for real-world practice.

Cognitive Speech-Language Inventory

The Cognitive Speech-Language Inventory (C.S-L.I) is designed to assess cognitive-communication skills and speech-language abilities. This tool can be used to help rapidly plug-in client data into current medical information systems. Speech-language therapists and professionals may use this assessment tool in its entirety or complete subsections based on client abilities and cognitive-communication needs. This assessment may guide professionals in identifying need for further testing within specific domains or may be used independently to generate real-world functional goals for speech therapy. Although this evaluation was generated and has been tested by medical SLPs in sub-acute rehabilitation and skilled nursing settings, no standardized data has been collected.

C.S-L.I Sections:

Receptive Language

• Verbal ID Level
• Yes/No Questions
• Following Directions
• Open Ended Questions
• Conversation
• Comprehension Level
• Signs/Symbols

Expressive Language

• Automatic Speech
• Naming Objects
• Responsive Naming
• Making Needs Known
• Speech Characteristics
• Expression Level
• Pragmatic Skills
• Alternating
• Orientation
• Memory – Short & Long Term
• Thought Organization

Motor Speech

• Articulation
• Intelligibility
• Sustained Phonation

Functional Materials for Long-Term Care

The  Functional Speech Therapy for Long-Term Care Bundle   includes materials and resources for new and experienced clinicians working in long-term care settings  (i.e., Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living SNF/ALF/LTC, etc.).  Filled with educational handouts, screening tools, and practical no-prep treatment activities.

• SLP Intake Form
• Screening Forms

Functional Reading

• Activity Calendar
• Appointments/Schedules
• Weather Forecast
• Television Guide
• Community Signs

Memory/Orientation

• Interventions
• Memory Strategies
• Names and Faces
• Memory Book Template/Orientation Log

Problem Solving/Reasoning/Safety Awareness

• Picture Scenes
• Calculations/Time Management
• Safety Signs

Word Retrieval

• Naming Everyday Objects
• Naming from Description
• Divergent Naming

Picture Flashcards

Print pages front and back to easily create flashcards for your therapy.

Handout: Wernicke’s Aphasia

Printable caregiver handout for patient families and around your workplace.

Functional Reading Activities: Groceries

60 pages of functional reading activities including organization tasks to target speech-language goals.

Organization Tasks: Food Storage

12 pages of activities and tasks that target organization skills through everyday tasks, such as putting groceries away. Practice identifying where items belong in the kitchen (e.g. fridge, freezer, pantry, etc) for functional speech therapy.

Also included in: Functional Reading Therapy: Groceries materials

AAC Communication Board

Free AAC communication board. Contains printable and high-quality images.

Automatic Speech Routines

Includes automatic speech routines such as:

• Days of the Week
• Months of the Year
• Familiar Songs
• Pledges and Prayers

Aphasia Therapy Workbook

The Aphasia Therapy Bundle includes 350+ pages of printable activities, educational handouts, documentation examples, and more. Includes worksheets for receptive language, expressive language, written language. This bundle may provide helpful resources, treatment materials, and home practice for patients with aphasia. Each section provides ideas for treatment, sample goals, and cueing examples. Manipulate materials and personalize for your clients to promote individualized speech and language therapy.

Table of Contents

• What is Aphasia?
• Impacted Language Domains
• Caregiver Communication Tips
• Word Finding Strategies
• Section 2. Expression
• Gestures & Nonverbal Language
• Automatic Sequences
• Functional Phrases – Completion, Script Training, MIT
• Everyday Object Flashcards
• Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA)
• Responsive, Divergent, and Generative Naming
• Symbols and AAC Communication Board
• Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST)
• Expanding Utterances
• Section 3. Comprehension 
• Cueing Strategies
• Object Identification and Discrimination
• Following 1-Step Commands
• Word to Picture Matching
• Sentence Comprehension
• Paragraph Comprehension
• Functional Reading Comprehension – menus, notes, cards, labels, weather
• Section 4. Writing
• Numbers & Alphabet
• Words & Sentences
• Filling in Forms
• Section 5. References and Terms of Use

Functional Speech Therapy Materials Bundle

The Functional Therapy Materials Bundle includes 350+ pages of functional activities and printable resources that target real world cognitive-linguistic skills.

Included in this bundle: 

• Client Intake Questionnaire
• Advertisements/Coupons
• Appointments
• Filling out Forms
• Associative Naming
• Confrontational Naming
• Picture Flashcards – with prompts
• Features and Functions
• Divergent/Generative Naming
• Food Storage
• Recipes and Ingredients
• Scheduling – daily, monthly, yearly routines
• Orientation – days, months, holidays
• Medication – management
• Calculating Coins
• Balancing a Register
• Sustaining Attention

Semantic Feature Analysis (Sample)

27 pages. Use this free PDF download to target word retrieval using evidenced-based practice.

Printable Memory and Orientation Book

This memory bundle includes a memory book template, interventions, compensatory strategies, and therapeutic activities that target goals of memory, attention, and orientation skills. It also includes educational handouts and printable safety signs.

Cognitive Communication Assessment

The Cognitive Communication Assessment created by Medical SLPs is a quick and easy to administer tool for speech therapists working in the medical setting. With a more functional approach to evaluation, this assessment tool can be used to develop individualized therapy programs and help therapists create functional goals for their clients. Administration materials included: patient intake form, record form, and stimulus booklet. Note: This is an informal assessment and has not been standardized.

Table of Contents 

 I. Intake Form

i. HPI, PLOF, Daily Routines, Cognitive Demands, Discharge Planning

ii. MDS Coding – For Skilled Nursing Facilities only

 II. Auditory Comprehension

i. Pointing/Body Parts

ii. Yes/No Questions

iii. Following Commands

iv. Understanding Conversation

 III. Verbal Expression

i. Automatics

ii. Phrase Completion

iii. Repetition

iv. Confrontational Naming

v. Divergent Naming

vi. Responsive Naming

vii. Convergent Naming

viii. Object Description

ix. Sentence Formulation

IV. Written Expression

i. Confrontational Naming

ii. Personal Information

iii. Functional Messages and Taking Notes

iv. Clock Drawing

V. Reading Comprehension

i. Reading Ability/Recognition

ii. Words-Phrases Matching

iii. Paragraph Comprehension

iv. Functional Reading – Menu

VI. Cognition

i. Attention

ii. Immediate Recall and Recent Memory

iii. Distant Memory

iv. Making Change and Calculating Coins

v. Functional Calculations

vi. Problem Solving/Safety

vii. Sequencing and Organization

viii. Balancing Checkbook and Writing a Check

Word Retrieval Worksheets Bundle

The  Functional Word Retrieval Bundle  includes printable speech therapy activities, compensatory strategies, functional goals, cueing examples, and much more.

• Using Gestures to Communicate
• Identification and Comprehension
• Alphabet and Numbers
• Days, Months, Seasons
• Greetings and Common Sayings
• Familiar Sequences
• Social Greetings and Songs
• Functional Phrase Completion
• Templates and Personalized Scripts
• Conversational Topic Ideas
• Sample Phrases with Visual Cue Cards
• Symbols and Photographs of Everyday Objects
• Semantic Feature Analysis
• Synonyms/Antonyms
• Object Description
• Word Deduction
• Naming by Letter
• Activities and Worksheets (45)
• Courses (3)
• Evaluations (5)
• Gift Cards and Misc. (5)
• Handouts (13)
• Speech Therapy Materials (67)
• Study Guides (4)

Privacy Overview

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

Join Pilot Waitlist

Home » Blog » General » Exploring the Connection Between Speech Therapy and Problem Solving

Exploring the Connection Between Speech Therapy and Problem Solving

Introduction:

Welcome to my blog! Today, we will be delving into the fascinating world of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and exploring the crucial link between speech therapy and problem solving. Problem-solving skills are essential for navigating through life’s challenges, and speech therapy plays a vital role in developing these skills. Let’s dive in and discover how speech therapy can help individuals improve their problem-solving abilities.

Understanding the Connection Between Speech Therapy and Problem Solving:

Speech therapy, also known as speech-language pathology, is a specialized field that focuses on evaluating and treating communication disorders. It encompasses a wide range of techniques and strategies to address challenges related to speech, language, and social communication. By targeting these areas, speech therapy helps individuals overcome barriers to effective communication, which in turn enhances their problem-solving abilities.

Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills through Speech Therapy:

1. Developing language skills:

Language is the foundation of communication and problem solving. Speech therapy helps individuals expand their vocabulary, improve sentence structure and grammar, and understand and use figurative language. These language skills provide individuals with the tools they need to express their thoughts and ideas effectively, enabling them to tackle problems more efficiently.

2. Improving social communication skills:

Effective problem solving often requires collaboration and effective communication with others. Speech therapy focuses on improving social communication skills such as active listening, non-verbal communication, perspective-taking, and empathy. These skills enable individuals to understand others’ perspectives, work collaboratively, and find solutions that consider the needs and feelings of everyone involved.

3. Enhancing critical thinking skills:

Speech therapy also helps individuals develop critical thinking skills, which are essential for problem solving. By working on skills such as sequencing and organizing thoughts, analyzing and evaluating information, and generating creative solutions, individuals become more adept at approaching problems from different angles and finding innovative solutions.

Strategies for Integrating Speech Therapy and Problem Solving:

1. Collaborative approach between speech therapists and educators:

Collaboration between speech therapists and educators is key to effectively addressing communication and problem-solving challenges. By working together, they can identify specific areas of need and develop targeted interventions that integrate speech therapy techniques into the classroom environment.

2. Incorporating problem-solving activities into speech therapy sessions:

Speech therapists can incorporate problem-solving activities into their sessions to provide individuals with opportunities to practice their skills in a structured setting. These activities can range from solving puzzles and riddles to engaging in role-playing scenarios that require creative thinking and decision-making.

3. Generalizing problem-solving skills to real-life situations:

It is essential to help individuals transfer their problem-solving skills from therapy sessions to real-life situations. Speech therapists can work with individuals to apply their problem-solving skills in everyday scenarios, such as resolving conflicts with peers, making decisions, and navigating social interactions.

Benefits of Addressing Problem Solving in Speech Therapy:

1. Improved communication skills:

By addressing problem solving in speech therapy, individuals develop stronger communication skills. They become more proficient in expressing their thoughts, understanding others, and finding effective ways to communicate their needs and ideas.

2. Enhanced social interactions and relationships:

Effective problem-solving skills contribute to better social interactions and relationships. Individuals who can navigate conflicts, understand others’ perspectives, and work collaboratively are more likely to build positive and meaningful connections with others.

3. Increased self-confidence and independence:

As individuals develop their problem-solving skills through speech therapy, they gain confidence in their ability to face challenges and find solutions. This increased self-confidence translates into greater independence and a sense of empowerment.

Conclusion:

Speech therapy and problem solving are intricately connected, with speech therapy providing individuals with the tools they need to overcome communication challenges and enhance their problem-solving abilities. If you or someone you know is facing communication and problem-solving challenges, I encourage you to seek speech therapy. Remember, ongoing support and practice are essential in developing problem-solving skills. Start your EverydaySpeech Free trial today and embark on a journey of improved communication and problem-solving!

Related Blog Posts:

Pragmatic language: enhancing social skills for meaningful interactions.

Pragmatic Language: Enhancing Social Skills for Meaningful Interactions Pragmatic Language: Enhancing Social Skills for Meaningful Interactions Introduction: Social skills play a crucial role in our daily interactions. They enable us to navigate social situations,...

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 Key Takeaways Strong social communication skills are crucial for academic success and building meaningful relationships in Grade 12. Social communication includes verbal and non-verbal communication,...

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 As students enter Grade 12, they are on the cusp of adulthood and preparing for the next chapter of their lives. While academic success...

FREE MATERIALS

Better doesn’t have to be harder, social skills lessons students actually enjoy.

Be the best educator you can be with no extra prep time needed. Sign up to get access to free samples from the best Social Skills and Social-Emotional educational platform.

Get Started Instantly for Free

Complete guided therapy.

The subscription associated with this email has been cancelled and is no longer active. To reactivate your subscription, please log in.

If you would like to make changes to your account, please log in using the button below and navigate to the settings page. If you’ve forgotten your password, you can reset it using the button below.

Unfortunately it looks like we’re not able to create your subscription at this time. Please contact support to have the issue resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience. Error: Web signup - customer email already exists

Welcome back! The subscription associated with this email was previously cancelled, but don’t fret! We make it easy to reactivate your subscription and pick up right where you left off. Note that subscription reactivations aren't eligible for free trials, but your purchase is protected by a 30 day money back guarantee. Let us know anytime within 30 days if you aren’t satisfied and we'll send you a full refund, no questions asked. Please press ‘Continue’ to enter your payment details and reactivate your subscription

Notice About Our SEL Curriculum

Our SEL Curriculum is currently in a soft product launch stage and is only available by Site License. A Site License is currently defined as a school-building minimum or a minimum cost of $3,000 for the first year of use. Individual SEL Curriculum licenses are not currently available based on the current version of this product.

By clicking continue below, you understand that access to our SEL curriculum is currently limited to the terms above.

The Functional Toolbox posts explore how we could use functional, real-life items in speech therapy, to exercise language or cognitive skills, or practice strategies that improve function.  Some patients have a negative reaction to worksheets, so using functional, tangible items is another vehicle we can use to target patient-centered goals or strategies. 

Toolbox Item: Cookbook!

Food is central to community for many people: Talking about food, sharing recipes, or trying something new can be a source of joy! I worked with a woman this year who absolutely loved to cook, but could not fully participate due to brain cancer. She inspired me to use cookbooks or recipes as part of our session (see Sample Therapy Ideas below). In addition, we tailored her home program by having her find recipes, explain or recall instructions for cooking, pull out the ingredients for dinner, and explain family heirloom recipes to her daughter.

Person-Centered Care: Ask the person you are working with to think of or bring in their own recipe(s) or cookbook. Together you can use this as a vehicle to target skills or develop strategies to improve cognitive communication skills for success with participating with meals.

A little creativity or adaptation could help someone meet their goal to be involved in something they love! Here’s an example of a re-written recipe to make it easier for someone to read, comprehend, and pay attention to various steps:

Sample Therapy Ideas:

I hope these ideas are useful or help you easily target a person-centered goal using a relevant topic! If you would like other ideas like this, please check out my  Home Sweet Home Series.

What else do you like to use in your “Functional Toolbox?”

My other Functional Toolbox Ideas include Garden Seed Packets  or a  Toolkit .

5 Responses

Wonderful!Thank you for your generosity!

You are so welcome! I am all for collaborating and working smarter not harder!

When first started in rehab asking patients to describe a recipe was one of my favorite go-to activities. Aside from all of the language goals it could address, it allowed for conversation about a personal and cultural aspect of their past. It never fails !

Sarah, this is a wonderful blog. I LOVE your ideas! I am an SLP with 19 yrs of experience, and I worked with outpatients with stroke & TBI for many years. After a few years in an LTACH, which I loved, I will be back into inpatient and outpatient rehab. I always loved using cookbooks in therapy. I have a few ideas for your Functional Toolbox. Using the daily newspaper was a huge favorite of mine- so many functional activities can be done from just one. I have also recently talked with a coworker and we discussed having a suitcase containing clothing appropriate for different climates, giving the patient instructions on having to plan for a vacation with a specific climate, and deciding what to pack. (I love planning vacations as a functional task!) We also discussed incorporating recycling and having the patient sort items. Looking forward to see what else you will come up with, and definitely going to use many of your wonderful ideas- thank you!

Hi Renee! Thanks for the comments! I love those ideas! I have a suitcase task started for a Functional Toolbox post, look for that in the next few months! I like the recycling idea also! Best of luck in your job transition and thank you for sharing!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

404 Not found

Your cart is currently empty.

Total: $0.00

Free your time. Fresh, ready activities.

Speech therapy activities designed for therapists and kids to love.

Engaging Resources

Engaged therapy sessions, here you come! Speech & language activities that are guaranteed to catch the attention of any child. Perfect for digital learning and in-person fun.

BUNDLE Executive Function

✨ As seen on Boom Cards Featured Bundles!

This BUNDLE of executive function cards includes problem solving stories, social stories, predicting stories, sequencing stories, and flexible thinking stories.

Multiple types of wh- questions, why and how questions, labeling exercises, multiple choice, and drag and drop categorizations   are included throughout this bundle to encourage an in depth understanding of each executive functioning skill.

⭐️ 80 Problem Solving

• Multiple choice question
• 2 labeling exercises

⭐️   52 Social Stories

• Topics of social skills to choose from (feelings, manners, listening, sharing & turns, making friends, being kind)
• Sorting exercise
• 2 wh- questions

⭐️   50 Predicting (✨ as seen on Top Premium Boom Cards ✨)

• What questions
• How questions

⭐️   50 Sequencing

• 3 different what questions per story

⭐️   40 Flexible Thinking (✨ as seen on Top Premium Boom Cards ✨)

• Why questions
• Labeling exercise

Each deck includes a teaching slide and visual to help your students better understand executive function skills before practicing! 

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview.

To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account.If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account.Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial .

Wh- Questions & Short Stories

15 short stories to target wh- questions, auditory comprehension, reading comprehension, recall, and more!

Multiple levels of difficulty, including both shorter and longer paragraphs for a variety of length and detail in the stories.

⭐ Wh- Questions in Short Stories

• 15 Paragraph Short Stories
• 6 Wh- Questions for every story
• Stories are 4-9 sentences in length
• What, where, who, when, why, and how questions for every story

*This product contains the same activities as the Boom Cards version. If you would like the Boom Cards version, view   Wh- Questions & Short Stories, Auditory Comprehension, Boom Cards.

Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast a variety of topics with 5 different activities and over 400 prompts! Improve understanding and use of similarities and differences using this comprehensive activity. 

This resource includes   5 different ways to practice comparing and contrasting , including stories, Venn diagrams, wh questions, short answers, pictures, graphs, and more. Real photos are included in this resource.

⭐️ Compare and Contrast:

• 5 stories with Venn diagrams
• 10 picture pairs with wh questions and Venn diagrams
• 10 picture pairs with wh questions and short answer questions
• 10 word pairs with wh questions and short answers
• 10 word pairs with graphs and word banks
• 2 blank templates

⭐️   Targeted Skills:

• Improve use of compare and contrast
• Increase comprehension of similarities and differences
• Expand skills for answering questions

Topics & Questions

80 unique topics with 4 wh- questions and a story prompt to improve expressive and receptive language skills, with REAL pictures. Questions and story prompts improve story telling and sentence generation skills. What, where, who, when, why, and how questions are included, with 4 different questions for each picture.

✨ As featured on Boom Cards Top Premium Decks ✨

⭐ 80 Topics & Categories

• 5 activities for each topic
• Real picture for every topic
• 4 wh-/how questions for every topic
• 1 story prompt for every topic
• What, where, who, when, why, and how questions included

⭐  Targeted Skills

• Improve receptive & expressive language
• Enhance skills for   answering questions
• Boost   story telling skills
• Develop   noun labeling and describing

Practice describing topics and categories, by answering questions and discussing a story prompt for each topic!

To use Boom Cards, you   must   be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account.   If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account.   Read here for details:   http://bit.ly/BoomTrial .

Conversation Starters

Conversation starters to improve commenting, asking questions, and answering questions during conversations. Conversation prompts has variety of ways to practice conversations, including questions, open response, fill in the blank, and more.

This resource includes   multiple ways to practice conversations , including pictures, comments, questions, asking questions, and more.

⭐️   All About Me Conversation Starters:

• 2 what questions
• 1 how question
• Open response opportunity

⭐️   Conversation Topics:

• 20 unique topics
• 3 open response opportunities to practice
• Practice asking questions and making comments

⭐️   Conversation Photos:

• 20 unique photo prompts
• 2 open response opportunities to practice

⭐️   Boom Cards include:

• 20 conversation topics
• 20 conversation starters with real photos
• Open response opportunities to practice

⭐️   Targeted skills:

• Improve conversation abilities
• Increase ability to ask and answer questions in conversations
• Expand commenting skills during conversations

NOTE: This resource includes 1 printable PDF with a Boom Cards companion. The Boom Cards contains part of the PDF resource, but does not include the "All About Me" conversation starters. Boom Cards are digital resources. PDF pages can be used digitally with PDF applications or can be printed for in person use.

To use boom cards, you must be connected to the internet. boom cards play on modern browsers (chrome, safari, firefox, and edge). apps are available for modern android, ipads, iphones, and kindle fires. for security and privacy, adults must have a boom learning account to use and assign boom cards. you will be able to assign the boom cards you are buying with "fast pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading boom cards). for assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account. if you are new to boom learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. read here for details: http://bit.ly/boomtrial ..

Problems & Solutions with Problem Size

Problem solving stories, problem size, solutions, common problems   and more are included in this set.   There are 80 unique problem solving and solution scenarios   for critical thinking. Open response questions and multiple choice questions are included in every story! You will receive problem size and common problem teaching pages, as well as multiple examples.

⭐️   80 Problem Solving Stories

• 80 unique problem scenarios
• Multiple choice question for every story
• 2 open response exercises for every story

⭐️   Problem Size Slides & Questions

• 5 in-depth teaching pages
• Problem size (small, medium, big) definitions
• Emotions related to problem sizes
• Color coordinated problem size visual
• 2 small problem exercises
• 2 medium problem exercises
• 2 big problem exercises

⭐️   Common Problems & Questions

• Teaching slide with definitions & examples
• 6 scenarios of common problems
• 2 free response problem & solution questions per scenario 

With 80 unique stories, 12 common problem scenarios, 6 problem size questions and multiple teaching pages, you will be able to use this resource for   many   teaching sessions. You won't need anything else!

Story Builders & Create A Story

Improve creative writing with these narrative and short story prompts! This set of   70 short story builders   comes with character, location, event and time learning targets.

Help your students improve their stories and increase their creative narrative skills. There is space for students to type or write their stories, as well as an organizing task for story parts. 

Your students will have all the tools they need to create unique and imaginative stories!

⭐️ Includes:

• 70 story builders
• 3 practice levels
• A combination of who (character), where (location), what (event) and when (time) story part targets
• 36 story builders that include 2 story parts
• 20 story builders that include 3 story parts
• 14 story builders that include 4 story parts
• Story parts organizing task with pictures
• Space for creative writing and narrative generation
• Instructions on each page 

⭐️ Teaching slides:

• In depth information about the 4 included story parts
• Descriptions
• Picture matching activities 

Save your time and energy, this set is NO PREP! Includes everything you need to elicit creative, engaging stories from your students.

Perfect for SLPs, teachers, or parents looking to expand language or writing in a fun and creative way!

Social Skills & Pragmatics

Social skills and pragmatic language set to improve executive functioning skills.   52 unique stories with sorting and wh- questions!

Social skills topic can be organized by category or practiced in random order, depending on your goals! Your students will sort each card into "appropriate" or "inappropriate" categories. They also will have an opportunity to explain how to improve social skills. Keep students engaged with interactive drag and drop!

⭐️   52 Social Skills short stories

• 2 scenarios per slide
• Drag and drop sorting for "appropriate" or "inappropriate" behavior
• What question to target improving behaviors
• Why question to target critical thinking

⭐️   Skills are able to be sorted by topic:

• Sharing & Turns
• Making Friends

BUNDLE for Executive Function Skills also available in Shine Speech Activities shop , which includes problem solving, predicting, flexible thinking, social skills, and sequencing/planning, too!

Use this deck to help teach and practice pragmatic skills - you won't need anything else!

Sentence Comprehension & Language Comprehension

Improve sentence comprehension, language and reading comprehension, and picture comprehension with 4 activities and over 125 prompts for speech therapy or classrooms! Target comprehending, receptive language, and more.

This resource includes   4 different ways to practice sentence comprehension , including wh questions, pictures, fill in the blanks, and more. Real photos are included in this resource.

⭐️ Sentence Comprehension:

• 40 sentence comprehension task cards with 3 questions each
• 30 real photo sentence comprehension prompts
• 30 multiple choice reading comprehension activities
• 30 fill in the blank language comprehension prompts
• Improve sentence comprehension skills
• Increase receptive and expressive language abilities
• Expand skills for understanding sentences and pictures

Categories with divergent naming, convergent naming, group, similarities, differences, and more! Words, cartoons, and real pictures included for a variety of ways to practice.

This resource includes   6 different ways to practice categories , including describing, naming, grouping, similarities, differences, and topics. Category cards include words, cartoon pictures to color, and real photos!

⭐️ Categories:

• 40 Describe the category
• 40 Name the category
• 40 Categories Grouping
• 24 Categories similarities
• 24 Categories differences
• 6 Categories Topics
• 10 Describe the category
• 15 Name the category
• 15 Categories Grouping
• 15 Categories similarities
• 15 Categories differences
• 5 Categories Topics
• Improve understanding categories
• Expand ability to describe categories
• Practice language with categories 

NOTE: This resource includes 1 printable PDF with a Boom Cards companion. The Boom Cards contains part of the PDF resource. Boom Cards are digital resources. PDF pages can be used digitally with PDF applications or can be printed for in person use.

Picture & Word Describing Webs

This set of 70 picture description webs targets describing pictures and words by color, shape, size, location, material, function, category and more. Includes 8 wh- questions for each word!

Teaching slides are also included to teach your students how to describe pictures.

⭐️ Picture Description Webs:

• 8 fill in the blank questions to target descriptions
• Color description targets
• Size description targets
• Shape description targets
• Location description targets
• Material description targets
• Function description targets
• Category description targets
• Who (who uses it?) description targets
• Color coded targets to improve memory of ways to describe

⭐️ Teaching Slides:

• Question example for each description target
• Concrete examples of each description type 

⭐️ Bonus Pages on PDF:

• Colored blank picture web template with 8 questions
• Black and white picture web template with 8 questions

BONUS! A blank PDF template for a color web and a black and white web are also included.   Your students have the opportunity to draw their own unique pictures and create webs.

70 trials, plus blank webs, allows for unlimited practice of picture and word describing. 

Help your students learn how to describe with this activity! PDF and Boom Cards versions are included.

Predicting in Short Stories

This activity includes   50 predicting stories . Unique and original scenarios for predicting practice!

✨ As seen on Boom Cards Top Premium Decks ✨

Each scenario   includes a "what" question and a "how" question   for further discussion and analysis for your students.

50 stories means you won't need any other activity for predicting! Use these randomized trials track data over multiple sessions.

⭐️   50 Predicting story slides

• Unique predicting scenarios
• What question for predicting
• How question for analyzing prediction

BUNDLE Figurative Language

This BUNDLE of figurative language cards includes idioms, metaphors, hyperboles, personification and similes. Over 255 practice targets with figurative language!

The set targets multiple skills so your students will have an in depth understanding of each type of figurative language! This set is a truly comprehensive approach to understanding and using figurative language.

⭐️ 60 Idioms

• Yes/no questions for every trial
• What questions for every trial
• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own idioms) for every trial

⭐️ 40 Metaphors

• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own metaphors) for every trial

⭐️ 40 Similes

• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own similes) for every trial

⭐️ 45 Hyperboles

• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own hyperboles) for every trial

⭐️ 40 Personification

• Free response to give students opportunity to create short stories with personification

⭐️ 35 Allusions

• 2 what questions for every trial
• Free response to encourage building allusions in sentences
• Allusions to Historical figures, literature, famous fictional characters, locations/landmarks, Greek mythology, movies and more

⭐️ Each deck includes a teaching slide

• Definitions
• Help your students understand and identify figurative language before practicing

Preview Boom Cards HERE.

Prepositions & Spatial Concepts

This set of   prepositions targets spatial and location concepts with 60 trials ! Teach your students prepositions and location with this robust, comprehensive deck.

You can pick which preposition to target, or practice with randomized slides. The teaching module will   teach your students everything they need to know about each preposition   before practicing! 

⭐️   Prepositions include:

⭐️   learning module includes:.

Use the practice slides to practice prepositions with multiple choice. Navigate between the learning module and practice cards using the buttons at the bottom of each slide.

CLICK HERE for Boom Card Preview.

To use Boom Cards, you  must  be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial .

Main Idea & Supporting Details

Main idea and supporting details with 5 different ways to practice and 50 unique prompts! Improve reading comprehension and writing skills using this main ideas and detail resource.

This product contains a PDF version and a Boom Cards companion.

This resource includes   5 different ways to practice main idea and supporting details , including stories with questions, main ideas vs. details, create-a-story, grouping, and pictures with questions. Real photos are also included in this resource.

⭐️ Main Idea & Details:

• 10 Stories & Questions
• 10 Main Ideas vs. Details
• 10 Create-A-Story
• 10 Grouping
• 10 Pictures & Questions
• Improve understanding main ideas and details
• Increase reading comprehension abilities
• Expand skills for creating stories

To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account.  If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account.  Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial .

Expanding Language with Wh Questions and Real Pictures

Expand expressive language using wh- questions and sentence generation prompts with real pictures.   Improve expressive language, answering questions, labeling verbs, and story generation!   What, where, and who questions are included for every picture!

⭐ Expanding Language with Real Pictures

• 80 real life pictures
• 3 wh- questions   for every story
• Free response prompt   for every story
• Large variety of actions and topics within pictures
• What, where, and who questions for every story
• Printable pages

⭐ Targeted Skills

• Improve expressive language
• Enhance skills for answering questions
• Boost sentence and story generation skills
• Develop verb describing and labeling

Sequencing and Planning

This set of 50 sequencing and planning activity deck will help your students improve their planning skills! The deck includes a variety of sequencing and planning scenarios and trials for your students.

Each open-ended short story includes 3 color-coded wh- questions to guide sequencing.

⭐️   50 Sequencing short stories

• Unique sequencing stories
• 3 wh- questions per story
• Color-coded questions, to match teaching slide

⭐️   Teaching slide

• 6 unique teaching  slides with visuals
• Color-coded information to match questions in trials
• Drag & drop activity
• Synonyms for key words
• Example of a story sequence

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview

Flexible Thinking & Reframing

This set of 40 flexible thinking and reframing thoughts cards   teaches your students how to improve flexible thinking   in difficult situations.

Each unique scenario includes   multiple questions as well as a labeling exercise   to encourage flexible thinking and increasing creative problem solving.

⭐️   Each Flexible Thinking trial includes:

• Why question
• How question

⭐️   Teaching slides include:

• Flexible v. rigid thinking comparison
• Flexible thinking examples
• Strategies for use of flexible thinking in difficult moments

INCLUDES: Both a PDF version and a Boom Cards version!

BUNDLE for Wh- Questions also available in Shine Speech Activities shop , which includes short stories and sentences!

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview .

*This product contains the same activities as the PDF version. If you would like the PDF version, view   Wh- Questions & Short Stories, Auditory Comprehension .

Inferencing & Context Clues

70 inferencing and context clues trials to improve critical thinking skills! Each trial comes with 4 unique clues to help your students make an inference. They can then provide their answer, and drag the cover away to see the correct answer and a picture.

⭐️   As featured on Boom Cards Top Premium Decks   ⭐️

⭐ 70 Inferencing & Context Clues Slides:

• 4 clues for every word
• Space to type an answer
• Drag to uncover the correct answer
• Pictures of the correct answer

⭐ Skills targeted:

• Improve inferencing
• Enhance ability to understand clues
• Increase critical thinking and executive function abilities
• Boost deductive reasoning skills
• Improve ability to draw conclusions

Shop Best Sellers

Thoughtfully designed, for you.

Aliceann R.

Free Resources

From our speech room to yours.

Get the latest & greatest activities right in your inbox.

Made with love in Austin, Texas

© 2020 Shine Speech Activities

Product Added To Your Cart

There are 0 Items In Your Cart

Total Price: $0.00

Compare Product

404 Not found

Group Speech Therapy Activities

Unlock the potential of group speech therapy activities with our comprehensive guide, designed to enhance communication skills in a dynamic, supportive setting.

By Audrey Liz Perez on Apr 09, 2024.

Fact Checked by Ericka Pingol.

What is group speech therapy?

Have you ever wondered how the power of communication can be harnessed and amplified within a group setting? Group speech therapy is a transformative approach where individuals come together to enhance their language skills through various speech therapy activities. This collaborative environment provides ample opportunities to practice speech sounds and refine articulation and supports the achievement of language goals.

Participants engage in activities tailored to improve expressive language and social skills, making it an effective strategy for those looking to advance their communication abilities in a more dynamic and interactive context. Whether it's mastering speech sounds, hitting articulation and language goals, or boosting expressive language and social skills, group speech therapy offers a unique and supportive space for growth.

The speech-language pathologist's role in group therapy

In group speech therapy , the speech-language pathologist (SLP) is the guiding force, skillfully navigating the therapy landscape to foster a supportive and productive environment. But what exactly does this role entail when conducting group therapy sessions? Let's dive into three key responsibilities highlighting the SLP's crucial contribution to this interactive and engaging therapy format.

Facilitating diverse therapy activities

The SLP designs and implements various speech therapy activities tailored to the group's needs. From language games that sharpen expressive and receptive language skills to vocabulary games aimed at building vocabulary, the therapist ensures each activity is purposeful.

Fun activities like playing dough or board games keep the sessions engaging and serve multiple goals, such as improving fine motor skills, enhancing articulation, and fostering language production. By incorporating tools like dry-erase markers and picture cards, SLPs make each session versatile and dynamic.

Targeting individual and group goals

While the group setting offers a shared space for learning, the speech therapist adeptly aligns the therapy to meet individual and collective goals. This involves strategizing activities like speech therapy games and exercises that support each child's practice of speech sounds, language goals, and social skills.

Using targeted articulation exercises, phonological process activities, and fun therapy ideas like yoga poses for breath control allows for addressing specific needs within the group dynamic. The SLP ensures that every participant moves toward their speech therapy goals, whether helping a child describe a scene, navigate word finding, or engage in activities that target specific sounds or language patterns.

Assessing and adapting to group dynamics

A key aspect of group therapy is the ability to manage mixed groups with diverse needs and difficulty levels. The speech therapist continuously assesses the group's progress, adapting therapy sessions to optimize learning and engagement. This might mean modifying the difficulty of activities, introducing new therapy ideas based on the student's interests and progress, or finding innovative ways to practice language and speech within the group.

The SLP uses every session as an opportunity to collect data, gauge the effectiveness of speech therapy activity, and adjust strategies to ensure that both the group and individuals progress toward their goals faster.

The SLP's role in group speech therapy is multifaceted, blending creativity with clinical expertise to create a nurturing and effective learning environment. Through a thoughtful mix of therapy activities, goal-oriented planning, and responsive adaptation to group dynamics, the speech-language pathologist ensures that every session is a step forward in the participants' journey toward better communication.

Examples of speech therapy activities

Group speech therapy activities offer a versatile and engaging approach to addressing various speech and language goals across different ages. By organizing these activities by age group, speech-language pathologists can tailor their sessions to meet participants' developmental and individual needs, making therapy effective and enjoyable. Here are some examples of speech therapy activities suited for kids, teens, and adults.

• Picture cards and storytelling : Utilize picture cards to construct stories, enhancing expressive language and narrative skills while encouraging creativity.
• Speech therapy games with play dough : Play dough can be used to form shapes representing different sounds or words, aiding in the practice of speech sounds and fine motor skills.
• Board games for language development : Games like "Candy Land" can be modified to include language tasks at each turn, targeting vocabulary, sentence structure, and question-answering skills.
• Action word yoga poses : Incorporate yoga poses with action words or sounds, making it a fun activity to promote language production and physical movement.
• Popsicle stick crafts : Create crafts with popsicle sticks labeled with target sounds or words, engaging kids in a fun activity that also practices articulation and language goals.
• Role-playing scenarios : Play role-playing to practice social skills, expressive language, and problem-solving in various social situations.
• Vocabulary games using dry-erase markers : Utilize dry-erase boards for drawing or writing games that focus on building vocabulary and expressive language skills.
• Figurative language group discussions : Discuss and interpret figurative language in different contexts, enhancing comprehension and use of figurative language.
• Language production board games : Adapt classic board games to include challenges that target specific language goals, such as describing, defining, or using words in sentences.
• Social skills videos and role-play : Watch short videos that depict various social interactions, followed by group discussions and role-playing to practice and dissect the interactions.
• Group discussions on current events : Foster expressive language and receptive language skills through discussions about current news stories, encouraging participants to express opinions and listen actively.
• Phonological awareness activities : Use activities to refine phonological awareness, including word-finding exercises and minimal pair contrasts.
• Expressive language book companions : Read and discuss books or articles, focusing on articulating thoughts, summarizing content, and debating themes to enhance expressive language.
• Vocabulary building with word lists : Engage in games and activities that generate and define words from specific categories, improving vocabulary and language production.
• Fluency practice in conversation : Organize sessions focusing on fluency-enhancing techniques during group conversations, providing a supportive environment to practice speech fluency strategies.

These activities, thoughtfully designed and facilitated by a speech-language pathologist, cater to the unique needs of individuals within each age group, ensuring that therapy is beneficial and an enjoyable and enriching experience.

Goals of speech therapy activities

The landscape of speech therapy is broad and nuanced, with each activity carefully designed to meet specific goals that cater to the diverse needs of a participant or a student. At the heart of group speech therapy activities lies the overarching aim to enhance language skills , a fundamental goal that drives the structure and implementation of each session.

Participants are encouraged to practice speech sounds, enrich their vocabulary, and develop expressive and receptive language abilities through engaging in speech therapy games and interactive therapy activities. These foundational skills are crucial for effective communication and are targeted creatively, from board games that prompt word finding to role-playing exercises for building vocabulary and expressive language.

Beyond the development of language skills, group therapy sessions are also orchestrated to foster social skills , articulation and language goals , and fine motor skills . The dynamic group therapy setting offers a unique opportunity for individuals to practice social interaction in a structured yet flexible environment, allowing for the natural application of learned language skills in real-time scenarios. Activities are designed to encourage the practice of specific speech sounds and facilitate engagement in social exchanges, thereby enhancing pragmatic language skills.

Including activities that require dry-erase markers or play dough, for instance, supports the development of fine motor skills, complementing the broader objectives of speech therapy. By strategically selecting speech therapy ideas and activities, speech-language pathologists aim to improve communication abilities comprehensively, ensuring that each participant can make meaningful progress toward their speech therapy goals.

Benefits of group speech therapy activities

Group speech therapy activities offer a unique blend of therapeutic strategies that cater to the diverse needs of participants. Combining speech-language pathologists' expertise with the dynamic of group interaction, these sessions unlock a spectrum of benefits for language therapy and holistic communication development. Let's explore four key advantages of integrating group activities into speech therapy sessions.

Enhanced motivation and engagement

When students participate in group activities, the collective energy and shared experiences can significantly boost their motivation and engagement. Seeing peers tackle the same activity or word list creates a sense of camaraderie and friendly competition, encouraging each student to put forth their best effort.

Using board games, for instance, transforms learning into a fun and interactive experience, making the practice of target skills more enjoyable and less like traditional therapy sessions conducted in a speech room.

Opportunity for social interaction and peer learning

One of the standout benefits of group therapy is the natural environment it creates for social interaction. Students learn from the speech therapist and each other, observing and imitating their peers' speech and language behaviors.

This peer learning aspect can be particularly effective for students who might benefit from seeing how others approach the same task or target skill, fostering a deeper understanding and application of language therapy principles.

Diverse learning opportunities

Group settings allow for various activities catering to multiple learning styles and goals. Students are exposed to different sounds, words, and sentence structures through a shared board game that targets specific articulation skills or a collective storytelling session that enhances expressive language.

This variety ensures that each student can find an approach that resonates with them, promoting faster progress in language acquisition and speech therapy goals.

Cost-effectiveness and efficiency

From a practical standpoint, group therapy sessions can be more cost-effective for both the therapy provider and the participants. Therapists can maximize their time and resources by working with multiple students simultaneously, spreading the cost among a group rather than an individual.

Moreover, this format allows for the simultaneous collection of data and observation of progress across different students, enhancing the efficiency of therapy sessions. Therapists can observe how students interact with the same activity or game, gather insights on their individual and collective progress, and tailor subsequent sessions to meet the group's needs better.

Incorporating group speech therapy activities into the therapeutic repertoire offers many benefits beyond traditional one-on-one sessions. By fostering an environment of collective learning, engagement, and progress, these activities not only accelerate the development of language skills but also enrich the therapy experience for students and therapists alike.

Why use Carepatron as your speech therapy software?

Choosing the right speech therapy software is pivotal for streamlining the workflow of speech therapists and enhancing the therapeutic outcomes for students.

Carepatron is a premier choice in this domain, offering tools to meet speech therapy practice's unique demands. This comprehensive software enables speech therapists to efficiently manage their practice, from scheduling sessions to documenting progress and sharing resources with students.

Its user-friendly interface simplifies tracking target articulation goals and monitoring the development of students' specific sounds and language skills. Carepatron also facilitates secure communication between therapists and students (or their families), allowing for seamless sharing of feedback, homework, and therapy materials. By integrating all these features, Carepatron enhances the efficiency of therapy sessions and supports therapists in delivering personalized, effective treatment plans tailored to each student's needs.

Commonly asked questions

Speech production exercises often include blowing balloons or bubbles to improve breath control, practicing tongue twisters to enhance articulation precision, and using mirror exercises to guide sound and word production visually. These exercises target articulation skills, helping individuals produce clear and accurate speech sounds.

Strengthening speech muscles involves targeted exercises focusing on the oral-motor skills necessary for speech. This can include lip and tongue exercises, such as pushing the tongue against a spoon for resistance, lip presses, stretches, and chewing exercises using various textures to strengthen jaw muscles. Consistent practice of these activities can improve speech muscles' strength and coordination.

Technology, such as speech therapy software, offers tools and resources to enhance the therapy experience significantly. It enables speech therapists to access various interactive exercises and games that target articulation, sound production, and language skills, making therapy sessions more engaging for students. Additionally, technology can facilitate remote therapy sessions, track progress over time, and provide instant feedback to students, supporting more effective and efficient speech therapy practices.

Related Guides

Join 10,000+ teams using carepatron to be more productive.

Problem Solving Activities for Adults Speech Therapy

Problem-solving activities for adults speech therapy are a way to help adults who have had one or more strokes to recover and regain their ability to communicate. Many people who have had strokes can’t speak at all after the stroke, or they lose their ability to understand what other people say. After having a stroke, some people find that their problem-solving skills also suffer. These skills can be regained and improved through speech therapy.

Problem-solving skills are not just useful in the workplace—they’re also necessary for managing everyday life. But when a person has suffered from a stroke, brain injury, or other kind of trauma that affects their ability to communicate and understand, problem solving can become difficult. Speech therapy is a great way to help people with these issues get back on their feet.

In order to solve problems, you need to be able to think critically about them and come up with ways to deal with them. Problem solving is the art of looking at a problem from different angles until you find one that works. It’s not always easy! Sometimes we have trouble seeing past our own biases or assumptions about what should be done in any given situation, but it’s important that we give ourselves time to work through these issues before jumping into action.

Speech therapy is a service that speech-language pathologists provide to help people who have voice, speech, language and swallowing disorders. Speech therapy is provided by trained professionals called speech-language pathologists or SLPs. SLPs are highly educated health professionals with undergraduate degrees in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) or communicative disorders, along with intensive clinical training.

Problem-solving activities for adults with aphasia are specifically designed to help people with aphasia improve their language skills. Aphasia is a communication disorder that causes difficulty with speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

Problem solving activities are designed to help adults who have suffered a stroke, brain injury, or other disability to improve their speech and cognitive skills. Stroke recovery therapy is often focused on rehabilitating the areas of the brain responsible for language, which can be achieved through problem solving activities. Because problem solving activities engage different parts of the brain, they strengthen neural networks, improving a person’s ability to communicate.

Problem solving activities have been shown to improve cognitive skills like memory and focus, while also improving physical function and mood. For many patients, the benefits of this type of therapy are long-lasting. By engaging the parts of the brain that control speech and language, problem solving activities can help people with disabilities return to normal life after a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Problem-solving activities are a great way for adults to work through issues on their own, or with others. The basis of a good problem-solving activity is that it requires the participants to use their problem-solving skills to complete the task. This can be done in a number of ways.

Problem solving activities for adults speech therapy are meant to help clients apply their newfound knowledge in the real world. This process typically starts with the therapist helping the client identify problems that need to be addressed in their lives and then working through various means to solve them. For example, a client who suffers from stuttering might have difficulty getting his point across at work. The therapist might use role play in order to help him figure out new ways to communicate what he needs to say (e.g., writing it down), or she might teach him how to be more assertive when speaking up for himself.

Problem-solving activities are some of the most fun, engaging, and satisfying activities for adults in speech therapy. Instead of performing repetitive drills, you will work on real-life tasks that help you overcome barriers to communication. Because these activities are so varied and can be adapted to meet your individual needs, they are highly effective for both children and adults.

In order to carry out problem-solving activities, adults should have a thorough understanding of the problem. They need to determine what the problem is, and identify the possible solutions for it. Adults should then decide on the best solution to the problem, and evaluate the effectiveness of this solution. Problem-solving activities benefit adults in speech therapy by helping them improve their communication skills, in addition to improving their fine motor skills and memory. Problem-solving activities also help adults in speech therapy improve their cognitive, social and language skills.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

The Counseling Palette

Mental health activities to help you and your clients thrive, 1. purchase  2. download  3. print or share with clients.

• Feb 22, 2022
• 15 min read

35 Fun & Effective Therapy Games for Kids, Teens, & Adults

Updated: 2 days ago

Therapeutic games can help build rapport and teach important concepts like coping skills.

Therapy games make therapy less intimidating, more enjoyable, and even more effective. Studies show that kids and adults learn better through play (Yenigen, 2014).

(Ready to play now? Check out this giant therapy activity game bundle.)

Play is often encouraged as a way to treat symptoms in therapies like trauma-focused CBT (Allen et al., 2017). It can be used for many purposes, modalities, and settings. Here are some examples:

Teaching CBT

DBT skills groups

Play therapy

Hospital settings

Community group therapy

Problem solving groups

Anger management groups

Classes and student groups

Individual therapy sessions

Article Contents

Coping Skills Quiz Show (teens and adults) CBT Coping Skills Game Show (all ages)

FEELOPOLY Emotions Game

CBT Island Quest Board Game

Family Feud-Style Therapy Game

CBT Lingo (Bingo)  

The Greatest DBT Board Game  

Couple's Pursuit  

Therapy Shuffle  

Feelings Jenga  

Feel, Act, & Draw  

Therapy Dice  

Emotions Match  

Happy Dragon  

Family Pursuit

Therapy Activity Bundle

As a community therapist, I found games made sessions with new teens less awkward, helped get groups of all ages more involved, and were a life-saver when I had minimal prep time.

Games are also great for getting to know your clients, and for teaching important concepts like coping skills and understanding emotions. They can work with kids, teens, families, groups, and adults–in person and during telehealth.

Some of the most fun and easiest games to play with clients are therapeutic board games . Many include discussion or learning prompts, and cover topics like feelings, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).

Since the games are usually structured and straightforward, they may be less intimidating than regular talk sessions. You can use these tools as a way to

teach concepts, to review skills, or just to have fun and get to know each other.

Below are some fun and effective therapy games that may leave a lasting memory for you and your clients. Several options are printable PDF downloads. All are evidence-based and focus on developing and practicing skills.

1. Coping Skills Quiz Show for Teens & Adults

Great for: Teens, adults, schools, adult education, telehealth

Works with: Individual therapy, groups, in-person, telehealth

Goals:  Positive self-care, mindfulness, boundaries, coping skills, goals

This coping skills Jeopardy-type game show is created to be fun and interactive. This version is designed for teens and adults (see a kid-friendly version for all ages below, or get them both in the bundle ). It includes discussion prompts as well as some tips in each category and several hands-on group activities such as creating individual coping strategies.

The quiz show includes six categories including:

Mindfulness

Relationships

Asking for help

Setting goals

The best way to play the game is to project it in presentation mode through PowerPoint. It includes fun music and even applause options so it has a real Jeopardy game type feel. You can click through the links and move around like in a live show. If you don't like PowerPoint there is a simpler PDF option included.

Learn more , or get it as part of the giant store bundle .

2. CBT Coping Skills Game Show for All Ages

Great for: Kids, teens, young adults, adults

Goals:  Coping skills, thoughts, feelings, behaviors, mindfulness

If you're looking for a game for any age, including kids, check out this CBT coping skills Jeopardy-inspired game. I've had feedback that it worked well for third graders as well as adult nursing classes, so you can make it your own!

This edition has all different prompts compared to the teen and adult version, but does overlap in categories. Topics covered include:

Thoughts, feelings, & behaviors

Identifying emotions

Changing thoughts

Facing fears

Coping planning

The mental health game has open-ended prompts so your discussions can adapt based on your group's needs. Having some CBT knowledge is helpful, but you can also slow it down and use it as a way to teach new skills and techniques.

It's an easy low-prep activity for a group or classroom, social emotional learning, group therapy, teletherapy, and more. Learn more.

3. FEELOPOLY Emotions Game

Great for: Kids, tweens, teens, some adults and young adults

Goals:  Naming emotions, expressing feelings, validating emotions

FEELOPOLY is one of the most popular therapy games and mental health downloads available online.

It's a creative and fun emotions game. Rather than working against each other like in a Monopoly game, FEELOPY has the team working together. The goal is to work as a taskforce to "validate" all of the feelings on the board.

It covers concepts of naming feelings, validating emotions, expressing emotions, and communicating experiences. Example prompts include:

Do you have an outlets for your feelings? What's one way you express them?

What might help if you're starting to feel frustrated?

Explain how a trigger might bring up a feeling. Give an example.

The game is a PDF printable which you can start using right away. I recommend assembling it as a group with your clients. You can check out FEELOPOLY and download it here.  

4. CBT Island Quest

Great for: Kids (11+), teens, college students, families, some adults

Works with: Groups, in-person, telehealth

Goals: Learning or reviewing CBT concepts, practicing coping skills, building confidence

CBT Island Quest is a straightforward printable therapy game of discussion and prompts. Players roll or use the card instructions to move around the game.

Prompt cards are divided into mindfulness/relaxation questions and cognitive questions. Example prompts include:

You think your friend is mad at you because they cancelled your plans together. Challenge the thought.

What's a coping skill you can used when you're depressed?

What does it feel like in your body when you're relaxed?

Learn more about CBT Island Quest and download it here.

5. Family Feud Inspired Therapy Game

You might find something soothing about Family Feud, whether you grew up watching it or enjoy the new Steve Harvey version. This fun Family Feud style therapy game reviews overall wellness, mental health, and coping skills.

Each category includes wellness-related questions with six common answers on the board. Teams (or individuals) can also earn partial points for skills or helpful answers not on the board. 

Each board is followed by a more general discussion question for the group, and players can earn bonus points for participation. Categories include mindfulness, anger management, dealing with anxiety, overall wellness, and more. 

The coolest part of the game is that it’s designed in PowerPoint and has fun interactive elements that feel like a real game show. The therapist or leader plays the roll of “host” and reveals the answers when guessed, or at the end of the round. 

Learn more and order your copy of Group Feud: Coping Skills!

6. CBT Lingo (CBT Bingo)

Great for: Kids (11+), teens, college students, families, adults (adaptable for skill level/age)

Goals: Learning or reviewing CBT concepts, psychoeducation, practicing coping skills, test review

This printable game is focused on teaching CBT theory and coping skills. It includes rule variations based on your goals, the group’s experience level, and age group. It’s based on, and playable, with a real Bingo set.

Rather than just a novelty game like many therapy bingo pages, it actually includes 10 unique playing cards and 75 prompts relating to CBT. It’s great for groups, telehealth, and individual clients in-person or online.

Some of the prompts include:

What is an automatic thought?

Draw a feelings thermometer

Name a common cognitive distortion

What are the three parts of the CBT triangle?

Download the CBT Lingo game here .

7. DBT Board Game

Great for: Teens, young adults, college students, anyone familiar with DBT skills

Goals: Learning or reviewing DBT concepts, practicing the four areas of DBT skills

The Greatest DBT Board Game uses a fun carnival theme to make reviewing DBT fun and entertaining. It covers the four areas of DBT skills, including mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation.

Files are printable and come as PDFs.

Example prompts include:

Give an example of using opposite action to change an emotion

Think of a time you've used radical acceptance. Did it help you? Why or why not?

Describe a rude way to ask for help, versus a more effective way.

The game throws in fun elements, such as the "Emotional Roller Coaster," and the "Ferris Wheel of Distress."

Visit here to check it out and download it today.

8. Couple's Pursuit

Great for: Adults, couples

Works for: Couples homework, possibly couples sessions

Goals: Building relationships, practicing communication, expressing affection

Do you work with couples, or are you looking for a fun way to improve or build on your relationship ? Couple's Pursuit is an activity-based relationship game that includes fun categories like drawing and guessing, along with discussion topics, prompts to express appreciation, and more.

It's inspired by Trivial Pursuit, however rather than trivia questions the categories cover important relationships skills. It includes categories that focus on skills used in popular therapies like the Gottman Method. Examples include:

Showing affection

Friendship and bonding

Shared goals

Fun and recreation

Download the printable game here.

9. Therapy Shuffle

Great for: Older Older kids, teens, adults, families, groups

Works with: Groups, in-person

Goals: Learning or practicing coping skills, problem-solving, teaching concepts, building rapport

Therapy Shuffle is a therapeutic card game inspired by Fluxx, although it's slower-moving and based on coping skills. The game is complex enough to keep many teens and adults engaged.

Players choose "goals" and collect "skills" to match the goal cards. Players have to answer coping-skills related prompts to be able to play their cards and win.

The game can be played competitively or cooperatively, depending on your group. If you like you can also scrap the prompts, and play the cards as is. Learn more and download the therapy card game here.

10. Feelings Jenga

Great for: Kids, teens, adults, families, groups

Goals: Learning or practicing coping skills, understanding emotions, teaching concepts, building rapport

Jenga is a popular game among therapists–especially those who work with kids. It’s a particularly easy one to set up. You can write a prompt on each Jenga block, or add a color using markers or stickers.

You can also print out prompts on sticky paper and stick or tape them to the blocks.

Check out the pre-printed prompts from Jenga Feelings Game. They include feelings words along with prompts that encourage clients or groups to consider situations relating to emotions.

When someone successfully pulls a Jenga block out, they must also answer a question or follow a prompt to earn the point.

Sometimes the blocks are also color-coded. For example, a blue block might correspond to happy feelings. A player might then discuss a time recently that made them feel happy, or what it was like to feel that way. Or, blocks can be numbered and correspond to discussion prompts.

Some of the generic Jenga-style blocks actually come in various colors, making it easy to set up color-based categories for the game. This also works with other colorful games like pick-up sticks.

Here are some example prompts from the Feelings Jenga game stickers:

Imagine you go so angry that you felt like throwing something. Do you think it would help? Is it safe to do?

Describe what a feeling (ie sadness) feels like in your body.

What should you do if your feelings are overwhelming you.

Learn more about the prompts here.

11. Feel, Act, & Draw

Great for: Teens, young adults, college students, families

Goals: Discussing feelings, interaction, ice-breaker

Feel, Act & Draw is a mental-health version of games like charades and Pictionary.

Players round a game board while they either answer discussion prompts or draw or act out feelings scenarios. For example, if a player lands on a charades space, they might act out the feeling "sad" or the scenario "mad at my friend."

If they land on a drawing space they sketch it out, Pictionary style. And if they land on a discussion space they talk through the questions in a more traditional style. Download and print it here.

12. Cube or Dice Prompts

Goals: Learning or practicing coping skills, responding to prompts, building rapport

You can play this game with dry erase blocks, real dice, or any empty square box. Or, print these paper dice with prompts and tape them together.

Assign your own prompts to each side of the cube, or assign a corresponding question to each number on the dice. You can even use a dice app on your phone if you prefer, especially for telehealth.

This game is highly customizable, but here’s an example:

Let’s say you want to review DBT skills. Each side of the box would include a prompt such as “Name a skill to try when you feel angry.”

Someone throws the block across the ground, and then must respond to the prompt that lands face-up in order to get a point.

If you’re using real dice, then each number would represent a corresponding prompt you have written down. So if someone rolls a “2” they would answer the question you have prepared for #2 .

This is great for clients who need to move around a lot, or for a group that’s getting bored. You can also use the paper dice as an activity, or send it as homework or an assignment for telehealth. Check out the pre-printed blocks here.

13. Emotions Match

Great for: Kids

Works with: Individuals, groups

Goals: Identifying and naming emotions

Emotions Match , inspired by the traditional Match Game, helps kids match up expressions and body language with the names of feelings. For example, one card has an image of a character who looks happy. The matching card has the word "Happy" on it.

Check out this printable match game which comes in a set with several variations. If you like, you can use just the emotions, or use two copies of the traditional feelings cards.

Download and print the feelings cards here.

14. Happy Dragon

Works with: Groups, classes

The Happy Dragon emotions game is inspired by the unfortunately-named "Old Maid" game. However, players are trying to end up with the Happy Dragon to win, versus lose (as in the other game). The game uses feeling-words cards, so players are exposed to emotions vocabulary. You can also add emotion prompts to encourage discussions about feelings.

Visit here to learn more about the Happy Dragon.

15. Go Feel!

Great for: Kids, families

Works with: Individuals, groups, family therapy

Goals: Identifying and naming emotions, discussing feelings

Go Feel is based on the beloved game Go Fish, so the mechanics are easy to catch on to. Players aim to collect and match emotion cards . This helps provide them with exposure to feelings words and images. Discussion prompts can also be added to deepen the game.

To play Go Feel you need multiple matching emotion cards. Check out this download to get started.

16. Family Pursuit

Great for: Families of all kinds

Works with: Family sessions, family homework

Goals:  Communication, coping skills, showing appreciation, decreasing conflict

If you're looking for a fun family therapy game, check out Family Pursuit. It's similar to Couples Pursuit, but with new categories that are focused on bringing families together. Question categories include:

Learning about each other

Discussing positive memories

Showing appreciation for each other

Famous families trivia

Family coping skills

It's a great way to practice communication and feel closer without feeling as much pressure. It can be special for young kids and a way to coach teens into sharing more. Learn more.

17. Stop, Relax & Think Game

You can purchase Stop, Relax and Think on Amazon. It's a popular game often used in therapies like trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) to help teach emotional regulation.

The game is appropriate for kids working on anger outbursts, but may be able to help with other impulsive behaviors as well. It covers multiple coping skills, including of course the "stop, relax, and think" steps. Find it on Amazon.

18. The Talking, Feeling, & Doing Game

The Talking, Feeling, & Doing game has been around for years. It was created to help break down barriers in therapy, so children can feel more comfortable to open. Prompts vary from more basic questions to deeper ones about life history. You can get the game here on Amazon .

19. The Skittles Game

Candy sure makes it easier to talk about feelings! This game uses candy of various colors, like Skittles or M&Ms, to prompt discussion. You can use any number of prompts and activities. For example, you can divide the colors by feelings, coping skills, or mindfulness activities.

When a child chooses a color, they must answer the prompt. Then they get to eat the candy! You can imagine why this game would be popular.

20. Therapy Uno

Did you think I would skip Uno? (Actually I did and added it later.) Uno is played similarly to the Skittles game. When a player changes the color being played, they describe a type of feeling, or answer an assigned prompt.

You can play many games that involve color this way as well, such as pick-up-sticks, or color-coded therapy Jenga .

21. DIY Therapy Cards

Using a set of blank cards, or standard playing cards, add your own prompts or activities to the cards. For example, each “set” earned in traditional Go-Fish would require the player (or all players) to name a feeling word.

You can combine the prompts with a traditional game, or simply take turns drawing a card and following the prompt.

If your client is up for it, they could also create their own cards for therapy. They might list feeling words or coping skills, and act them out each time the card comes up. This version may work better for telehealth–your client can be in charge of the cards on their end.

In family therapy, you might play where each person who wins a game or scores a point gets to ask a question of another player that wouldn’t normally be well received.

For example, a parent might ask a teen why they always shut their bedroom door when they get home, or a child might ask why they never get to stay up late on weekends. The other player can earn their own point if they answer, or they can pass.

Your clients can help make up the rules of the game, as long as it involves responding to prompts at least part of the time.

Family board games can be therapeutic all on their own. Or, you can add prompts to add more depth. For example, replace Taboo cards with your own feelings or skill-based prompts. Perhaps you have to describe the feeling of anger only using physical sensations, while the other person guesses the emotion.

23. Connect-4

You may not imagine it, but when I worked with kids Connect-4 was probably the most valuable game in my office. We didn't add therapy to it at all. But the easy physical actions of the game (and simple rules) made it easy to chat while we played.

I learned all kinds of things about a child or teen's day, family, and relationships. Just keep it near your desk or in sight, and ask your client if they'd like to play. I don't think I was ever turned down.

24. Candyland

For younger kids, Candyland can be a great teaching game. You can simply play the game as is to build rapport. Or, you could talk about feelings depending on where the child lands. Having to return to the beginning is a perfect chance to talk about feelings.

25. Trivial Pursuit

The traditional Trivial Pursuit can be conveniently adapted to therapy. Simply replace the categories and make them about concepts you're learning, such as CBT skills. Or, make each space a prompt, such as discussing a feeling.

Ungame is a popular card game used in therapy. It has board game and card game versions. You can choose card prompts that are appropriate for your client. There are different levels depending on the type of topics you want to discuss. You can get the game here on Amazon .

27. Relationship Skills Card Game

This versatile game focuses on issues like social skills, conflict, and empathy building. It includes conversational prompts, icebreakers, and more. It's great for adult groups or even work settings. Check out the Relationship Skills Card Gamecards on Amazon.

28. Mindfulness Game

The Mindfulness Game is a detailed card deck with multiple activities for individuals and groups to follow. It's designed by teachers with specific activities and clear instructions. It's one of the older and most popular prompt decks. Check it out here.

29. Minecraft

Do you even know a kid who doesn't like Minecraft, even if they don't get to play it? Older kids and teens often find this game captivating. The good thing is that parents can play the game with kids, providing a modern bonding activity. During session, kids can show you what they've built and discuss what they like about the game. If you have trouble getting a tween to talk, it might be the ticket in.

30. TF-CBT Triangle App

The good folks who developed and teach TF-CBT therapy partnered to offer a fun app that helps teach basic CBT skills. While it's created as a part of the trauma therapy, it doesn't get into any trauma prompts or exposure techniques. It may be appropriate to teach the CBT triangle to younger kids. You can learn more here.

31. Creative VR Games

If you've never been inside a VR world, I encourage you to try it at least once. There are some pretty cool creative games, such as Tilt Brush by Google. If a client wanted a world where there was endless creativity and literally no physical limits, this would be it. It may be a very helpful art therapy or creative expression tool in the future.

32. Escape Rooms

Escape rooms are a great way to learn to work together in tight spots, so to speak. You don’t have to go to a literal escape room – there are kits online where you can set up your own scene and mystery. You can use them with kids, teens, adults, and even for workplace team building.

33. Scattergories

You might vaguely remember Scattegories from your childhood – it’s that game where you get a list of prompts and you try to come up with unique words that start with the same letter. You can create the same game but use therapy prompts, such as coping skills that start with T, or self-care techniques that begin with S.

If your client or group loves sports, try incorporating it in therapy. For example, you and your client could play HORSE with a basketball while you discuss the week. Even nerf games in your office can be a great icebreaker.

35. Roleplaying Games

Games like Dungeons and Dragons, and various other role playing games you can find online, provide a safe outlet for expression. Create your own scenario, or let your client take the lead if they’re familiar with the idea.

Play Around!

There really is no limit to using games in therapy. The flexibility of games can work great with telehealth. Ask the client what games they have at home.

Then they can run the game from their side, and you can provide the prompts. You may not even need a copy of the game to play from your side, depending on how complex it is.

Don't be afraid to experiment with new ideas and activities, whether you're in person or connecting via Zoom therapy. At the very least, any game used in therapy can help promote rapport with clients. They can also be a great way for groups and family members to bond.

Games might not seem like serious business, but with many clients they’re likely to get you further than traditional sitting and talking therapy sessions.

Want some easy games and activities to download use with your clients? Check out this great therapy game kit to get started, or fill your toolbox to the bring with our Entire Store Bundle .

-Jennie Lannette, MSW, LCSW, is a licensed therapist specializing in anxiety and PTSD. She has experience running therapy groups in schools, hospitals, and community settings.

-Games listed from Amazon include a small affiliate income if you make a purchase through this site.

Allen, B., & Hoskowitz, N. A. (2017). Structured Trauma-Focused CBT and Unstructured Play/Experiential Techniques in the Treatment of Sexually Abused Children: A Field Study With Practicing Clinicians. Child maltreatment , 22 (2), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559516681866

Yenigen, S. Play Doesn’t End in Childhood: Why Adults Need Recess too. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/06/336360521/play-doesnt-end-with-childhood-why-adults-need-recess-too

Recent Posts

5 Free Guided Mindfulness Meditations for Stress, Anxiety, and More

7 Super CBT Activity Sheets, Games, and Exercises

11 Fun Family Therapy Activities for Sessions and at Home