Using Candy Land as a Speech Therapy Tool

Using Candy Land as a Speech Therapy Tool

I love board games because they can target so many different goals.  I typically like simple board games so that the games don’t take over the goals.  Speech therapy games can be general reinforcing games or can be goal specific.  

This week I was cleaning my room and I found a few speech therapy games that I hadn’t played in a while, one being CandyLand. It was even one of the old-fashioned ones that had the cards. I pulled out the game for speech therapy and was able to play it with every group because of how versatile the game is. 

I used the game for articulation, verbs, and even for my clients with Childhood Apraxia of Speech!   I used my articulation and apraxia flashcards for targets during the game.  I will also use one of my print-and-go activities for the targets and as a takeaway.  

Here are some ideas to use CandyLand and other speech therapy games in your next speech session: 

Articulation 

• For each spin, the individual has to practice 1-3 targets
• For every spin, the individual has to practice the target 3-5 times
• The number of spaces they advance = the number of times they practice their target
• Create silly phrases with their targets.  

Language 

• Have students describe the rules of the game and or ask questions about how to play.  
• Describe where they are on the game board.  Describe the game board.  
• Ask feature, function, and category questions about items on the game board.  
• Use a language workbook or card set along with the game. Check out some of my expressive and receptive activities that you can use when playing games.  

Social Skills 

• Structured games, such as Candy Land are a great way to teach concepts such as turn taking, winning and losing, and more!
• Use task cards or activities for inferencing questions for plays.  Check out some of my pragmatic activities that you can use along with this game.  

Remember you can change the rules of the game to meet the needs of your students.

I have included some activities below that can easily be incorporated for game play.  Have fun incorporating board games into your speech sessions!