Have FUN with AAC Communication Boards in Play!

There is no ‘one size fits all’ in the world of AAC, and that is probably why I found it so challenging. With so many different skills and abilities, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where to start, let alone how to make an activity engaging. And then even the term ‘AAC’ can open up a whole other side to therapy. At the end of the day, I have seen lots of kids with ASD and preschoolers with developmental delays who are such visual learners that just benefit from something visual. The visuals increase understanding, expand expressive language and can enhance overall play. And if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that kids love the same hands on activities: play dough and blocks. I’ve been trying to think for a while how I could make some flexible, simple-complex AAC supports that cater for a range of different skill levels and target multiple communication goals and this is what I have: AAC Play Communication Boards for Play Dough & Blocks.

Download now from my TpT store

I decided to make 3 different boards after trialing just the one version (most complex) and it being a total flop! Despite being color-coded the same way, each board has a different layout and a different number of icons (22, 32, 36). The language includes core and fringe words such as nouns, verbs, prepositions, colors, shapes, social comments and questions related to the activity. Now because even the most simple board can be overwhelming for some of our users, I have also included 9 different choice boards so that you can start as simple as “I want…”, make choices between two, or sequence a ‘first-next-then’ style as well as yes/no, my turn/your turn. I also use these choice boards with the communication boards as it can facilitate a wider range of language and communication goals. I’m always thinking of ways to expand and increase language so I’ve also made a little cheat sheet of 2+ word expansion sentences combining the words targeted in this set.

So grab your blocks and play dough, laminate these easy print and go sheets and just have fun stimulating language in a different way.