Practicing Speech Therapy with your Kids on a Road Trip

In this article we will discuss:

As you are planning your summer activities and travels, keep in mind that speech practice can be done from just about anywhere. It just takes a little creativity in order to make it fun and effective.

Being in a car for an extended period of time with the kids can be hard on everyone, that is why we are so quick to allow our children to have “screen time.” So, instead of plugging in electronically (cell phone, tablets, etc.), allow for the drive to be an opportunity to bond, learn more about each other, and start quality conversations with your children.

Please keep in mind, the driver should always be concentrating on driving first and foremost, but when it is safe, they can maybe take part in some of the games listed below as well.

Practice speech skills during summer

Here are some fun roadtrip games we recommend:

1. Billboard Stories Game - Watch the billboards and take turns picking one to tell a story about. The story can be make-believe or a real memory. Limit the stories to a few sentences so that everyone can have multiple turns.

Possible areas this game targets include: narrative skills, language skills, listening skills, reading, vocabulary, articulation, turn taking.

2. Alphabet Game - Watch for letters and numbers on signs, license plates, buildings, etc. and call them out as you see them, and where they are to claim them as yours. Everyone plays individually, starting with A going all the way to Z, and then finds the numbers 1 through 10. The first person to find all the letters and numbers in order wins.

Possible areas this game targets include: phonological awareness and grapheme recognition (the letters that make the sounds of the word), reading, prepositions, direction words, adjectives, articulation.

3. I Spy - Take turns spying and guessing things outside the car. When it is your turn, select something and say, “I spy something… red (can use other describing words, e.g., sharp, scary, etc.).” The others in the car guess what it might be until someone guesses correctly. Then it’s that person’s turn to spy and give a clue.

Possible areas this game targets include: pronouns, carrier phrase* level articulation , vocabulary, turn taking, colors, adjectives.

*A carrier phrase is something you repeat, and add a word. “I like___,” or “There is a ____.” “I spy a____” is itself a carrier phrase, as you fill in the items that you see.

4. 20 Questions - Take turns thinking of something – it can be anything. The others try to guess what it is by asking up to 20 yes/no questions. Whoever guesses what it is before 20 questions is the winner and they get to choose something next. If no one guesses it in time, that player stumped everyone! They choose someone else to go next.

Possible areas this game targets include: vocabulary, asking/answering questions and question format, articulation, turn taking, categorization, and descriptions.

We hope you enjoy these ideas about how you can work on speech and language while in the car and traveling during these summer months. At Better Speech, we offer online speech therapy services convenient for you and tailored to your child's individual needs. Our services are affordable and effective - get Better Speech now.

About the Author

Dr. Sheri Stein-Blum

I am a Speech Language Pathologist with over 20 years of experience. I earned my Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education from Walden University in 2015 and my M.S. degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders/Speech-Language Pathology from Nova Southeastern University in 2000.

I specialize in Early Language/Pre-School and Elementary Motor Speech Disorders (Childhood Apraxia of Speech) and Oral Motor/Feeding Difficulties Alternative and Augmentative Communication (Speech Generating Devices) Auditory Processing Disorders.