10 Preschool Fluency Ideas to mix things up

I have some ideas for you. They are specifically ideas related to fluency treatment for preschoolers. The reason preschoolers require their own blog post is because the way I approach fluency treatment for preschoolers is much different than the way I approach treatment for school-aged children.

Indirect Fluency Therapy Approach

This perspective is largely based on the work of J. Scott Yaruss. He is a champion when it comes to fluency treatment and I have learned so much from him.

I approach stuttering therapy indirectly when children are younger than school-age. If a child cannot yet articulate what is going on with their speech, they are likely not ready for us to ask them to produce speech differently. Therefore, treatment looks more like modeling speech strategies, teaching parents how to modify their speech, and decreasing the communication pressures for the student.

Parent involvement is super important at this age. At this time, I am not in a setting where parents are able to join me in the sessions so I often send home LONG notes or video examples of what we worked on. If you are in a setting where they can join you, don’t miss out on that opportunity. The modeling and practice explained in the activities below are going to be perfect for parents to use at home.

Resources and articles

Here are some articles and resources to look into the indirect fluency therapy approach:

https://stutteringtherapyresources.com/pages/practical-tips-handouts-early-childhood-stuttering

https://stutteringtherapyresources.com/pages/practical-tips-videos-early-childhood

https://stutteringtherapyresources.com/blogs/blog/tagged/early-childhood

https://www.michiganspeechhearing.org/docs/JSY_Early_Childhood_Handout_-_2018_-_3-hour.pdf

J. Scott Yaruss Handouts

Click the picture for FREE printables to share with parents related to this approach.

Here are some ideas to help encourage this approach in your therapy sessions while setting up an environment to keep your preschooler talking.

Practical Therapy Ideas

1. Cars on a Path
   - With cars on a path, you can model “fast” and “slow” as well as “bumpy” and “smooth”. While modeling the movement with the car, you’ll make sure your voice is doing the same. With indirect therapy, the demand is not put on the child to copy you, however, many times they will try it out themselves without being prompted.

2. Repetitive Stories
   - Some examples I love are - The Napping House, Pout Pout Fish, Brown Bear, and Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed.
   - These stories allow you and the child to take turns repeating the phrases in the book. When it is your turn to “read” you can model a strategy for them. When it is their turn, they are given the space (but not the expectation) to copy you.

3. Barrier Games
   - These activities probably deserve their own blog post because they are so powerful for so many speech/language goals. The idea is that you see one side of a board and the student sees the other. Picture an easel with pictures on both sides. Here is an easy way to try - Using paper/pencil, stickers, magnets, whatever you have, take turns describing what to add to each others’ boards. When it’s your turn, provide your examples with slowed speech, easy onsets, whatever you’re targeting. With the quick back and forth turn-taking, they’ll be given the opportunities to practice as well.

4. Blocks
   - Simple but effective! Blocks are the perfect turn taking activity. Even for older preschool-aged children, a short 5 minute block activity can provide many opportunities for speech. “It’s my turn”, “I put it on top”, “Please don’t fall”, “be careful” are phrases I would repeat and model for the child.

5. Silly Voices Game
   - This activity can roll over into fluency therapy for school-aged children as well. If your student is not imitating your voice changes voluntarily, it may be a good idea to introduce “silly voices” as a fun activity. This activity asks the child to use different voices during play. Voices that are “loud”, “quiet”, “fast”, “slow”, “silly”, “mad”, “robot”, “crying”, and “laughing” are good ones to start.

6. Puppets

   - Any kind of puppet will work for this idea. You can use fabric or felt puppets if you have them but if not, a colored and cut out puppet will work well too! I use puppets to have conversations. If they are farm animal puppets, maybe I would talk about other animals on the farm, what animals like to do on the farm, and what they eat. This allows me to model different voices or easy starts and allows the child to imitate the voices when it’s their turn in the conversation.

7. Ball

   - This is another turn taking activity that allows for shared conversation and turn taking in conversation as well. I like to do different things with the ball when it’s my turn and narrate what I’m doing. “tttttthrow the ball”, “kkkkick the ball”, “ssssspin the ball”, while modeling a slow rate of speech and easy onset. Then I pass the ball along to the child and allow them to take a turn playing with the ball and maybe imitating my speech as well.

8. Simon Says

   - Simon Says is a great speech activity in general! However, with fluency therapy, it’s specifically helpful to slow the rate of speech and conversational demands. You’re able to set the pace of the game and make it slowwww. This activity tends to work better with older preschool and Kindergarten students but some younger students are successful. I take turns giving directions. I’ll tell them something to do (sometimes related to their voices and sometimes just their bodies. Then it’ll be their turn to give me a direction. Be sure to continue to model the strategies you’ve been working on.

9. Hide and Seek

   - This is an activity that allows the student to practice repetitive phrases and sentences without much conversational demand. When it is their turn, they get to count, say “ready or not here I come” and “I found you”. These repetitive phrases allows for practice with the slowed rate of speech or other strategies you’re continuing to model. An activity with a set list of phrases and sentences takes away the language demand that can sometimes contribute to increased disfluencies in young children.

10. Nursery Rhymes

    - Saving one of the best for last - Nursery rhymes are an ideal activity for this age!! They are so easy to share with parents to practice at home. The idea of this activity is mostly for the child to listen. They can listen to you alter your voice as you repeat a rhyme they are familiar with. Try to model it slow, with easy starts, in smaller breath groups, or anything else that seems to help the child. If you incorporate a play activity or movement activity with the nursery rhyme, you’ll often see the child imitating the rhyme while playing with you. For example, Old McDonald while playing with the farm, Itsy Bitsy Spider while playing with bugs, etc.

Yay!

I really hope those ideas help you out or spark additional ideas to help your therapy sessions. Let us know if you try any new ideas or have additional ideas to add!! Find us on Instagram @redrosespeechies