Activities and Games for Speech Therapist: 15 Free Resources for the Office
You are a speech therapist and you are looking to enrich your office with new playful and therapeutic activities? You are starting your practice and want to quickly build a complete toolbox without spending hundreds of euros on materials? You are replacing a colleague and need ready-to-use materials for next week?
This article has been designed for you. We have gathered 15 free activities and games that you can print immediately and use in your next session. Each sheet targets a specific area (oral language, written language, memory, attention, executive functions, communication) with instructions, materials, procedures, and clinical advice. Click on “Print this sheet” to download in PDF.
Why diversify your activities in the office?
Speech therapists know that diversification of materials is one of the keys to therapeutic engagement. A patient who encounters the same exercises in every session gets bored, becomes demotivated, and makes less progress. In contrast, an office that offers a variety of games and activities stimulates attention, renews motivation, and allows targeting multiple aspects of a disorder.
This diversification is not just a matter of motivation: it also has a neuroscientific basis. Brain plasticity is maximized when stimuli are varied and progressive. The same cognitive domain (for example, working memory) can be worked on through different materials (visual, auditory, kinesthetic), which multiplies the pathways for recovery.
Finally, from a pragmatic standpoint, having a well-stocked activity bank allows you to respond to unforeseen situations: a patient who does not engage with the planned activity, an extended session, a younger sibling attending, etc. It is better to have 30 sheets in your drawer and use only 10 than the opposite.
What activities for which patient?
The 15 sheets proposed in this article cover the main areas of speech therapy intervention:
- Articulation and phonology (3 sheets): for children with speech delay, phonological dyslexia, dysarthria
- Vocabulary and semantics (3 sheets): for oral language disorders, word-finding difficulties, aphasia
- Written comprehension and production (3 sheets): for dyslexia, dysorthographia, post-Stroke rehabilitation
- Memory and executive functions (3 sheets): for ADHD, neurodegenerative pathologies, adult cognitive disorders
- Communication and pragmatics (3 sheets): for autism, severe aphasia, alternative communication
To structure your care and track progress, remember that DYNSEO offers you several professional tools for free, including the session tracking sheet, the skills tracking chart, and the speech therapist-family liaison notebook. These documents perfectly complement the activity sheets presented here.
📋 Summary of the 15 office activities
Click on an activity to access it, then click on “Print this sheet” to download it.
2. Minimal pairs evaluation
3. Orofacial praxies
4. Lexical field evocation
5. Definition to guess
6. Semantic categories
7. Understanding instructions
8. Syntax gap text
9. Sequential story 4 images
10. Verbal and numerical span
11. Adapted pedagogical Stroop
12. Strategic planning
13. Structured turn-taking
14. AAC pictograms
15. Theory of mind
Domain 1 — Articulation and phonology
The following 3 activities cover the assessment and rehabilitation of articulatory and phonological disorders. They are suitable for both children with speech delays and adults in post-Stroke rehabilitation or following a neurological condition (Parkinson's, early ALS).
Express articulatory assessment
🎯 Objective : quickly assess consonant phonemes in initial, medial, and final positions.
| Phoneme | Initial | Medial | Final | OK | Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [p] | daddy | carpet | skirt | ☐ | ☐ |
| [t] | table | car | cat | ☐ | ☐ |
| [k] | cabin | echo | park | ☐ | ☐ |
| [b] | ball | cube | tube | ☐ | ☐ |
| [d] | tooth | empty | sad | ☐ | ☐ |
| [g] | station | ring | joke | ☐ | ☐ |
| [f] | fire | coffee | chief | ☐ | ☐ |
| [s] | sack | pass | bone | ☐ | ☐ |
| [ʃ] | cat | hide | ugly | ☐ | ☐ |
| [v] | bicycle | tank | river | ☐ | ☐ |
| [z] | zebra | rose | twelve | ☐ | ☐ |
| [ʒ] | judge | cage | beach | ☐ | ☐ |
| [l] | bed | ball | salt | ☐ | ☐ |
| [ʁ] | wheel | park | tour | ☐ | ☐ |
| [m] | mom | tomato | apple | ☐ | ☐ |
| [n] | nose | basket | moon | ☐ | ☐ |
Clinical notes : _______________________________________
Minimal pairs evaluation
🎯 Objective : assess auditory discrimination and identify phonological confusions.
| Pair | Phonetic trait | Spoken item | Pointed item |
|---|---|---|---|
| hen / ball | voicing | ______ | ______ |
| cup / dasse | voicing | ______ | ______ |
| cat / jatte | voicing | ______ | ______ |
| fish / poison | voicing S/Z | ______ | ______ |
| skin / pot | vowel [o] | ______ | ______ |
| hunt / wise | fricative/sibilant | ______ | ______ |
| wind / split | voicing | ______ | ______ |
| hand / bread | nasality | ______ | ______ |
| roll / ball | liquid/occlusive | ______ | ______ |
| bed / nest | liquid/nasal | ______ | ______ |
| green / iron | voicing | ______ | ______ |
| lice / end | voicing | ______ | ______ |
Score : _____
🎯 Objective : assess bucco-facial motricity (essential in dysarthria, verbal dyspraxia, post-Stroke).
| Praxis | Description | Score /3 |
|---|---|---|
| Lips | Forced smile (stretch) | ___ |
| Kiss (project forward) | ___ | |
| Alternating kiss/smile ×5 | ___ | |
| Tongue | Stick out the tongue | ___ |
| Tongue to the right, to the left | ___ | |
| Tongue up, down | ___ | |
| Lip round | ___ | |
| Click the tongue | ___ | |
| Cheeks | Inflate the cheeks | ___ |
| Suck in the cheeks | ___ | |
| Diadochokinesias | “pa-ta-ka” repeated ×10 | ___ /10 |
| “pa-pa-pa” ×10 timed | ___ sec |
Total praxis score: ___ / 30
Domain 2 — Lexicon and semantics
The lexicon is at the heart of many speech therapy interventions: from language delay in children to aphasia in adults, including specific disorders (SLI, dysphasia). The following 3 activities allow for the assessment and rehabilitation of active and passive lexical stock, as well as semantic organization.
Evocation by lexical field
🎯 Objective : assess semantic and phonological verbal fluency (major diagnostic test).
| Lexical field | 0-30s | 30-60s | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animals (semantic) | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Fruits (semantic) | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Clothes (semantic) | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Words starting with P (phonological) | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Words starting with M (phonological) | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Words starting with R (phonological) | ____ | ____ | ____ |
Normative benchmarks (healthy adult) :
- Semantic: ≥18 words/min (animals), ≥15 (other categories)
- Phonological: ≥14 words/min (letters P, M, R)
Noted perseverations: ___ Intrusions: ___
Definition to guess
🎯 Objective : evaluate lexical access on definition (typical of word finding difficulties).
| N° | Definition | Target word | Found alone / Hint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tool for cutting wood | saw / axe | ____ |
| 2 | Small nocturnal animal with wings | bat | ____ |
| 3 | Room in the house where one cooks | kitchen | ____ |
| 4 | Person who takes care of teeth | dentist | ____ |
| 5 | Season when leaves fall | autumn | ____ |
| 6 | Hot brown drink in the morning | coffee | ____ |
| 7 | Long clothing for winter | coat | ____ |
| 8 | Insect that produces honey | bee | ____ |
| 9 | Instrument with 88 keys | piano | ____ |
| 10 | Place where children learn | school | ____ |
| 11 | White liquid that comes from the cow | milk | ____ |
| 12 | Celestial body that lights up the night | moon | ____ |
Semantic categories
🎯 Objective : evaluate semantic organization in networks and categorical flexibility.
Activity 1 — Sort these 16 words into 4 categories:
dog • hammer • apple • car • key • cat • banana • train • screwdriver • cherry • rabbit • plane • horse • pear • pliers • boat
| Animals | Fruits | Tools | Transport |
|---|---|---|---|
| ____________ | ____________ | ____________ | ____________ |
| ____________ | ____________ | ____________ | ____________ |
| ____________ | ____________ | ____________ | ____________ |
| ____________ | ____________ | ____________ | ____________ |
Activity 2 — Common category?
Activity 3 — Find the odd one out:
Domain 3 — Understanding and written production
The rehabilitation of written language concerns both dyslexic/dysorthographic children and adults in post-Stroke rehabilitation or with acquired aphasia. The following 3 activities target understanding instructions, syntactic mastery, and narrative coherence.
Understanding instructions
🎯 Objective : evaluate the understanding of complex instructions (multi-step, negations, relatives, comparatives).
Level 1 (1 information) :
Level 2 (2 informations) :
Level 3 (3 pieces of information + negation) :
Level 4 (relative, comparative) :
Syntaxic fill-in-the-blank text
🎯 Objective : assess syntactic mastery, agreements, grammar.
Words to place : but • thus • however • since • before • after • where • whose • when
Yesterday, I went to the market I needed fruits. leaving, I checked my list. I arrived at the square, I ran into Marie, I hadn't seen for months.
We talked a bit. we were in a hurry, we shortened the conversation. I did my shopping: apples, pears, grapes. , I forgot the bread. , I had to go back to the bakery.
Bonus activity : put these sentences in order.
Sequential story 4 images
🎯 Objective : assess narrative coherence, use of connectors, chronology.
Story 1 — Making a cake :
| 🥚🌾 Gather ingredients | 🥣 Mix the dough | 🔥 Bake in the oven | 🎂 Eat the cake |
Story 2 — Going to school :
| ⏰ Wake up | 🚿🦷 Wash up | 🥐 Breakfast | 🎒🚌 Departure |
Evaluation grid for the story :
| Criterion | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronological order respected | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Uses temporal connectors | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Mention characters | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Narrative coherence | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Complete sentences | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Domain 4 — Memory and executive functions
Working memory and executive functions (planning, flexibility, inhibition) are today recognized as major speech therapy targets, particularly in ADHD, neurodegenerative pathologies, and post-Stroke cognitive rehabilitation. The 3 sheets that follow allow for their evaluation and concrete rehabilitation in the office.
Verbal and numerical span
🎯 Objective: evaluate working memory (forwards span) and executive control (backwards span).
FORWARDS NUMERICAL SPAN (the patient repeats in the same order):
| Length | Series A | Series B | Successful? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5 - 8 - 2 | 6 - 9 - 4 | ☐ |
| 4 | 6 - 4 - 3 - 9 | 7 - 2 - 8 - 6 | ☐ |
| 5 | 4 - 2 - 7 - 3 - 1 | 7 - 5 - 8 - 3 - 6 | ☐ |
| 6 | 6 - 1 - 9 - 4 - 7 - 3 | 3 - 9 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 7 | ☐ |
| 7 | 5 - 9 - 1 - 7 - 4 - 2 - 8 | 4 - 1 - 7 - 9 - 3 - 8 - 6 | ☐ |
BACKWARDS NUMERICAL SPAN (the patient repeats backwards):
| Length | Series A | Series B | Successful? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 5 - 8 | 6 - 9 | ☐ |
| 3 | 6 - 4 - 3 | 7 - 2 - 8 | ☐ |
| 4 | 4 - 2 - 7 - 3 | 7 - 5 - 8 - 3 | ☐ |
| 5 | 6 - 1 - 9 - 4 - 7 | 3 - 9 - 2 - 4 - 8 | ☐ |
| 6 | 5 - 9 - 1 - 7 - 4 - 2 | 4 - 1 - 7 - 9 - 3 - 8 | ☐ |
Normative benchmarks: adult forwards span = 7±2; backwards span = 5±1. Difference between forwards/backwards span > 3 = executive impairment.
Adapted pedagogical Stroop
🎯 Objective: evaluate verbal inhibition and selective attention (classic Stroop test).
Step 1 — Pure colors (time it):
| ■ | ■ | ■ | ■ |
| ■ | ■ | ■ | ■ |
Time: ____ seconds | Errors: ____
Step 2 — Reading (time it):
| BLUE | RED | GREEN | YELLOW |
| RED | GREEN | BLUE | YELLOW |
Time: ____ seconds | Errors: ____
Step 3 — Interference (SAY THE INK COLOR):
| BLUE | RED | GREEN | YELLOW |
| RED | GREEN | BLUE | YELLOW |
Time: ____ seconds | Errors: ____
Stroop Index: Δ Step 3 - Step 1. > 50% = inhibition impairment (ADHD, dysexecutive syndrome).
Strategic planning
🎯 Objective : evaluate planning, anticipation, and strategic reasoning.
Problem 1 — The menu
You are hosting 6 people for dinner on Saturday night. You have Friday night free + Saturday daytime. List the 5 main actions to take in order.
Problem 2 — The trip
You are going on vacation for 4 days in 3 weeks. List the 6 steps to take in logical order.
Problem 3 — The cooking
You need to prepare a roast chicken (1 hour in the oven) and sautéed potatoes (15 minutes cooking). You want to serve everything hot at 7:30 PM. What time should you start each cooking?
Domain 5 — Communication and Pragmatics
Pragmatic skills (using language in social context) are at the heart of care for patients with ASD, severe aphasia, and individuals with communication autonomy loss. DYNSEO offers for the latter case its application MY DICTIONARY, specifically designed for alternative and augmented communication. The next 3 sheets are complementary activities usable in practice.
Structured turn-taking
🎯 Objective : evaluate conversational pragmatics (turn-taking, listening, reformulation, thematic maintenance).
Proposed theme : “What is your best vacation memory?”
Pragmatic observation grid :
| Skill | 0 | 1 | 2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initiates the exchange | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
| Respects turn-taking | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
| Maintains the theme | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
| Asks for clarifications | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
| Adapts the register to the interlocutor | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
| Uses listening markers (“mhm”, “yes”) | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
| Asks questions to the other | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
| Concludes the exchange | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ______ |
Total score: ___ / 16 | < 8 = major pragmatic disorder
CAA Pictograms
🎯 Objective : initiate or enrich Alternative and Augmented Communication (AAC) in the office.
Base board 12 pictograms :
Progressive exercises :
- 1 pictogram : “What do you want?” → I WANT
- 2 pictograms : “What do you want now?” → I WANT + DRINK
- 3 pictograms : complete sentence → I WANT + PLAY + YES
- Emotions : point to what you feel → SAD / SCARED / 😊
Theory of Mind
🎯 Objective : assess social cognition (key in patients with ASD and some aphasias).
Story 1 — False belief (1st order)
Anna puts a marble in the red basket. She leaves the room. While she is gone, her brother Tom moves the marble to the blue basket. Anna comes back.
Correct answer: red basket (Anna's false belief).
Story 2 — Sarcasm
Lucas breaks his mom's favorite plate. Mom says while looking at the pieces: “Well done, that's wonderful!”
Story 3 — Faux pas
At Léa's birthday, Marc gives her a book. Léa opens the package and says: “Another book? I already have dozens, I would have preferred chocolates.”
How to integrate these activities into your daily practice?
Having 15 activity sheets is one thing, knowing how to use them effectively in practice is another. Here are our recommendations based on dialogue with hundreds of speech therapists using DYNSEO tools.
Build your speech therapy toolbox
Our advice: don't try to use all 15 sheets in the first week. Start by identifying 3 to 5 sheets that match the profiles of your current patients, and familiarize yourself with their content. Once you master these sheets, gradually add the others as new cases arise.
Here is a recommended distribution based on your dominant clientele:
| If your practice mainly sees… | Priority sheets |
|---|---|
| Children with speech delays / dyslexia | 1, 2, 3, 7, 9 |
| Children with TDL / dysphasia | 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 |
| Children with ADHD | 10, 11, 12, 7 |
| Children with TSA / autism | 13, 14, 15, 6 |
| Aphasic adults (post-Stroke) | 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14 |
| Adults with Parkinson's, ALS | 1, 3, 12 |
| Elderly people with early-stage dementia | 4, 5, 6, 10, 12 |
| End-of-life patients | 14, 15 |
Track your sessions and measure progress
The rigorous use of these sheets benefits from being systematically tracked. For this, we provide several tools for free:
- The session tracking sheet which allows you to note the activities used, duration, performance, and clinical observations.
- The skills tracking table which visualizes progress over several months.
- The speech therapist-family liaison notebook for dialogue with parents and other stakeholders.
All of these tools are gathered on our catalog page, freely accessible, with immediate download without registration.
Combine paper activities and digital applications
The activities presented in this article are primarily paper-based materials, ideal for assessment, traditional face-to-face rehabilitation, and patients who appreciate tangible resources. But for patients who embrace digital (the vast majority today), a digital complement offers considerable benefits:
- Automatic adaptability of difficulty level
- Infinite variety that prevents boredom
- Home exercises between sessions
- Objective statistics to measure progress
This is exactly what DYNSEO applications offer:
- COCO — for children aged 5-10, over 30 cognitive games (vocabulary, memory, attention, reading)
- CLINT — for adults (post-Stroke rehabilitation, ADHD, prevention)
- SCARLETT — for elderly people (maintenance, early-stage dementia, MCI)
- MY DICTIONARY — for AAC (TSA, severe aphasia, end of life)
🎓 Deepen your skills with our training
DYNSEO is a certified training organization Qualiopi. We offer speech therapists and other health professionals training on neurodevelopmental disorders (TSA, ADHD, dys), neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's), and cognitive rehabilitation.
Discover the training catalogFrequently asked questions for speech therapists
Do these sheets replace a standardized speech therapy assessment?
No. These activities are complementary tools for rehabilitation and follow-up in the office. For a diagnosis, be sure to use validated standardized assessments (BILO, EVALEO, ELO, NEEL for children; MT-86, BDAE, GREMOTs for adults). The quick assessment sheets proposed here (1, 2, 4, 9, 10) can serve as a pre-assessment or progress tracking.
Can I adapt the sheets to my specific needs?
Absolutely. It is even recommended: adapt the words, the level of difficulty, the length of the series according to your patient's profile. The standardization of the sheets is intentionally flexible to promote this individualization.
How many activities per session?
Variable depending on age and pathology. General guideline:
- Children 5-8 years: 2-3 short activities (10-15 min each)
- Children 8-12 years: 3-4 activities (15-20 min)
- Adolescents/adults: 2-3 more in-depth activities (20-25 min)
- Seniors: 2 activities maximum (15-20 min) with breaks
Always alternate modalities (oral/written, paper/manipulation, calm/dynamic) to maintain attention.
How to assign these activities for homework?
Several options: 1) print the sheet and hand it over at the end of the session; 2) fill in the communication notebook with the instructions; 3) email the PDF to the parents. Important: clearly explain the instructions to the parents before they do the activity, to avoid misunderstandings.
Are the activities compatible with my current rehabilitation method?
Yes. These sheets are independent of any particular theoretical approach (PROMPT, ABA, DNP, Borel-Maisonny method, etc.). They can therefore be integrated into your usual framework as activity supports, without disrupting your practice.
Can these sheets be used in tele-speech therapy consultations?
Yes, by sending the PDF to the patient before the session by email. The most suitable activities for video are sheets 4 (evocation), 5 (definition), 7 (comprehension), 10 (span), 13 (turn-taking). Avoid sheets requiring cutting materials (2 in this article).
Is there a specific sheet for stuttering?
Not in this article. Stuttering requires a very specific approach (motor control, rate management, fluency techniques). We will soon publish a dedicated article. In the meantime, sheets 3 (praxis) and 13 (turn-taking) can serve as support in addition to a validated method (Lidcombe, Camperdown, Restart-DCM).
To go further
You have explored our 15 cabinet activities. To complete your speech therapy toolbox, several DYNSEO resources may be useful to you:
- Free administrative tools: find in our dedicated article the 15 professional supports for cabinet management (anamnesis sheets, assessments, reports).
- Activities for patients at home: our articles on printable exercises by level and specific adult exercises can complement your arsenal to give "homework" between sessions.
- Fun games for children: our 15 printable speech therapy games for children and our online speech therapy games are perfect for fun sessions.
- Complete tools catalog: the DYNSEO tools page gathers all free professional supports, available immediately without registration.
- Online cognitive tests: our free tests (memory, attention, executive functions, mental age) allow for quick screening complementary to your assessments.
- Continuing education: our Qualiopi training covers autism, ADHD, dementias, neurodegenerative diseases, and many other topics.
Speech therapy is a profession that requires varied tools, ongoing training, and a constant dialogue with families, doctors, and other health professionals. DYNSEO has been developing concrete solutions for 13 years to support French and international speech therapists. Feel free to explore our site, try our applications for free, and contact us with any questions. Happy practicing to all!
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