My top 5 Favorite toys for speech therapy
I’ve been a speech-language pathologist for nearly 15 years and have run my own private practice for almost a decade. Let’s just say… I’ve collected a lot of toys over the years 😆. But here’s the thing: not all toys are created equal—especially when it comes to speech therapy.
I tend to avoid toys with tons of buttons, lights, and sounds. There’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but in my experience, they can be a bit too stimulating. Instead of encouraging interaction, they often lead kids to sit quietly, push buttons, and listen—rather than talk.
The toys I reach for again and again are open-ended, simple, and (bonus!) usually don’t require batteries. They invite creativity, conversation, and connection.
Keep reading to learn about my go-to toys for building language through play.
#1: Critter Clinic:
This toy is SO MUCH FUN. You can play it so many different ways, and every kid loves using the keys to open the doors.
#1: Critter Clinic: I use it to target prepositions (in, out, under, on top), action words (open, close, lock, unlock), problem solving (oh no, the puppy is inside-how do we get him out?), and expanding sentences (ex: child says ‘dog’. I might say: ‘Oh, the dog is inside!). One of my favorite things to do is to hide some mini objects in the doors and they have to guess/open each door. It’s awesome. I work with a lot of parents who have this toy and report it’s a consistent hit at home too.
#2: Magnatiles
These are the best for kids who love to create. The possibilities are endless.
During speech sessions I’ve built cities, towers, cars, buses, pet hotels, you name it. Children are so creative, it’s incredible to watch them play and see what they can imagine. I’ve worked on labeling colors, verbs, expanding sentences, prepositions, etc. It’s great for listening to a child’s connected speech to gauge how they use language in day to day life. I play with magnatiles every single week in speech therapy. It’s a home run. Side note- you really do want to get a big set, otherwise it’s hard to have enough pieces to build really build creations.
#3: Car Track
This toy seems to always catch the eye of new kiddos. There’s endless ways to play with this tower.
Most young children love racing cars (or balls, marbles, beans, etc…) and a little friendly competition helps them feel more comfortable (‘Do you think your blue car can beat my green car? Let’s find out!’). I use this toy to break the ice at the beginning of sessions when kids are getting to know me still. It’s great for working on verbs (‘The car races!’), adjectives, (‘My car is slow, your car is fast!), prepositions (‘My car is under the ramp, where is your car?’), and expanding sentences. I also love to let kids plays with it at the end of sessions and see what ways a child uses their language skills.
#4: Kitchen Sink
This toy is SO much fun-kids love to splash and play.
While this toy can get messy (put it on a towel!), kids love it so much. The sensory component of having water to splash in makes this toy extra fun. But also- I’ve played with this toy without water sometimes too, and kids like the pretend play of washing dishes even without water. Some of the things I’ve worked on with the sink include problem solving (‘What should we do if the dish is dirty?’), synonyms and antonyms (what’s the opposite of clean? What’s the opposites of on?), describing (‘The dishes are wet and soapy!’), and prepositions (‘Let’s put the dishes on the drying rack!’). There’s really so many skills you can work on with toys that encourage pretend play.
#5: Farmhouse Toy
This is a mini version of a classic farm set, and it has proven its worth over and over again.
I love how small and compact this farm toy is! Each door opens in a different way (flipping the door up/down, or twisting to the side), which makes it more fun for kids to figure out. I absolutely love hiding different toys in the eggs and the kids enjoy the anticipation of guessing what it will be. I use this toy a lot for inferences by describing the hidden toy for them to guess (‘It’s an ocean animal….it has big teeth…it eats fish’), or I have the child hide some toys and they have to describe it to me so I can guess-this is super informative for getting an idea of what language skills a child has. For early language skills, this toy is great for targeting prepositions, adjectives, and verbs. I use this toy almost every week with my preschoolers.
If you’re a parent, I highly recommend keeping a few of these types of toys around the house. They’re perfect for parallel play with your child—and you might be surprised by how much you learn about their speech and language just by sitting and playing alongside them.
Also, a little tip: Amazon Prime Day is just around the corner, and many of these toys are likely to go on sale. I suggest adding your favorites to your cart now and keeping an eye out—you might score some great deals!
Full disclosure: I’m an Amazon Associate and may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through the links in this post. Thank you for supporting my work!
