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By: Michelle Skrobarczyk, CScD, CCC-SLP
Some of the most meaningful progress in speech therapy happens when we use fun, everyday activities to target communication goals. One of our favorite approaches is child-led storytelling—a simple, engaging way for children to create a story while we naturally target their specific speech and language needs.
Below is a real example: a child’s original story, “The Dead Fish,” brought to life through animation and narration.
What This Activity Targets
Child-led storytelling allows for practice of a variety of communication skills depending on a child’s needs. This type of activity can support:
- Narrative language: story structure (beginning/middle/end), sequencing, characters, and events
- Speech articulation carryover: practicing target sounds in connected speech (not just single words)
- Expressive & receptive language: vocabulary, sentence formulation, comprehension, and answering questions
- Imaginative play: creativity, flexible thinking, and idea generation
- Cause and effect: “what happened and why,” predicting outcomes, and problem/solution
- Building relationships: shared attention and connection through meaningful interaction
- Having fun while making meaningful progress in and out of therapy
Why Art Helps
Art adds an important layer. It can be calming and regulating, and it gives children a concrete way to organize ideas. When kids feel engaged and proud of what they’ve created, they’re often more willing to communicate—and skills are more likely to generalize beyond the therapy room.
Use Art Anywhere to Build Communication Skills
Simple way to get started:
- Ask your child to draw a picture.
- Have them tell you what’s happening (who/where/what).
- Retell the story together in order (first/next/last).
- Celebrate the story—confidence matters! Your child can even text a photo of their drawing to friends and family and practice their storytelling skills again and again.
Schedule an Evaluation
If you’re looking for pediatric speech therapy in Corpus Christi (or teletherapy across Texas), Simply Speech is currently scheduling evaluations. Call us or send a message to get started.
