Do you ever have children on your caseload who can say their new sound in words, phrases, and sentences in therapy sessions but in conversation, have no self-awareness, and revert back to the “old” way of saying their sound? Carryover can be a step in therapy SLPs are not as confident with, but I love coming up with activities that support the child’s motivation to use their new sound, build self–awareness, and increase self-monitoring.
One of my favorite carryover or generalization activities requires only a magnetic wand and chips. It is simple yet effective, using strong visual cues without the need for verbal feedback from you as the SLP. We might start with 5 or 10 chips placed on the table (you can use as many or as few as you like).
I tell the child I will ask them some open-ended questions about their favorite topic or a movie they have just seen, or sometimes, I even google “Would you rather” questions. Their challenge is to try to use their “new” sound when they answer my question and if I hear their sound made the “old” way – I will take a counter away. At the end of each round (it may be just one question, or you might set a timer for a short chunk of time), we will count up how many counters are left on the table. Have up to 10 “rounds” and get a total score. Then, when you play the game again at the next session, the child can try to beat their score.
I love this engaging task for as it covers a few important skills for carryover to be successful. It provides the child with nonverbal feedback about their performance, helping them be motivated to monitor their speech and work on their self-awareness. It is surprising how motivating wanting to keep the counters on the table can be!
You can use this as a quick activity between more structured practice. You can use anything that can be picked up from the table – minis with a pair of tongs, Lego pieces, puzzle pieces – whatever you have handy in your clinic room!
Watch me demonstrate this game HERE.
