I don’t like staying inside on pretty days, and my kids love chalk. Put those two together, and we came up with Chalk Talk Speech Days! Below I detailed how to use chalk in speech therapy!
On Chalk Talk Speech Days, we go outside, the kids find a spot, and they can draw anything they want (that’s appropriate!) AS LONG AS it has their target sound. We also do this with language groups who are working on vocabulary/categories, etc.
Now, this is where I admit to you that I hate touching chalk. It’s a sensory thing, and I while I can bite the bullet and do it when I have to, I don’t plan on having to anytime soon. So in case you or your students feel the same way, I have a few solutions to this. One, I just let the kids touch it and I don’t. The other option is these super amazing chalk holder thingies from Melissa and Doug. The chalk comes in the plastic holder which keeps you from ever having to touch the chalk. Genius. You can find them HERE.
So Many Goals to Target with Chalk:
There are so many fun ways to incorporate chalk into speech therapy. First of all, it gets the kids outside. Kids don’t spend enough time outside anymore, and I’m happy to play a small part in changing that when I can. Sometimes, we draw pictures with our speech sounds, and other times, we draw pictures for describing and comparing/contrasting. We make lists with chalk, write wordless stories with chalk, practice letter names with chalk, and use our imaginations with chalk. One of my favorite books for speech therapy is a wordless book called CHALK by Bill Tompson. It uses beautiful illustrations to tell a story, encouraging imagination, inferencing, and predicting. Lastly, we sometimes use the chalk to draw games like hopscotch, which we play to get the kids up and moving while they’re practicing their speech sounds or answering questions.
You can find chalk at a ton of places, including Walmart, Target, or even the Dollar Store. But I love Crayola’s box of 48 pieces of chalk in great colors available on Amazon. Here’s the Amazon affiliate link!
I’d love to hear your ideas on how to use chalk in speech therapy! Comment below with how you use it!
