toys for 3 year old with speech delay

Best Toys for Late Talking Toddlers

Best toys for toddlers with speech delays.

Parents, are you are looking for a toy that will help your child’s language development improve, then the toys on this list should do the trick. We’ve asked the speech therapists at Therapy Works Together to list the best toys for toddlers with speech delays that they recommend to parents everyday and have the best results in eliciting sounds, words, phrases and social interaction!

The most important reason parents with a speech delayed toddler are getting these results is that they are playing with their toddler and not leaving the child to play on their own. And in fact, the biggest tip we can give parents is not which toys to buy but how to use the toys they already have. Read on to learn how to use the toys you have for your toddler with a speech delay.

• Toys without batteries
• Those that follow your child’s interests
• Toys that do more than 1 thing
• Active toys
• Toys that spark imagination/creativity

Your child is developing skills from playing with you or another person. When they are engaged in a hands-on activity, such as active play on the floor instead of watching TV or pressing buttons on battery operated toys, they’re learning critical thinking and problem solving abilities . If you find yourself wanting to buy new “shiny” things for your speech delayed toddler right now because everyone else seems too busy doing so then we encourage to hold back and try to look in your child’s toy box to see how you can repurpose the toys you already have.

Blocks For Toddlers with a Speech Delay

Blocks are some of the best toys for toddlers with speech delays that everyone likely already has in their home and they are a classic with toddlers everywhere. You can also use boxes, plastic cups/bowls or other stackable items. In fact, you can use an old set of tupperware with a cover that can open so you can hide small animals/characters in them.

How Can Parents Use Blocks with their Late Talking Toddler

Parents can practice teaching their child following directions by telling them what and where to put different blocks. You can work on many concepts or types of words like “more,” “big,” “high,” “up,” fall,” “on,” and “over.”

Many kids like to stack them up very high and then knock them over, but they are having fun putting them back in the larger one. Parents can also teach their child size words, for example, “Get the big one,” or “That one is little .” Depending on what the target type of word that your child with a speech delay is learning, parents can emphasize it by stressing it and using it over and over again during play.

You can target learning how to answer Wh-questions (who, what, when, where, why) by build creations and talk about them. For example, you can talk about who who or what goes inside. Parents should remember that the first few times they play and target these words or concepts, they are only modeling them to their toddler with a speech delay but they should not expect them to repeat it.

Parents need to remember that play is not just what kids are doing to pass the time. There are m any benefits and play is a time that a toddler or preschooler is learning . They are also developing socially, which means noticing social cues, listening, and taking another person’s perspective — key aspects to developing empathy.

During social and guided play, children are learning self-regulation as they follow norms and pay attention while experiencing feelings such as anticipation or frustration. Play is an opportunity to also teaches children how to set and change rules, and how to decide when to lead and when to follow. Self regulation is very important because when a child is regulated they are in a ready to learn state. A child who has a speech delay or is a late talker or has another speech or language issue may be frustrated and so not be in a ready to learn state.

RELATED: Speech Therapy Helps Late Talkers and Toddlers with Speech Delay.

Farms/Houses for Kids with a Speech Delay

Farms, houses or any other type of container you can use like an empty box (which is usually the best anyway) can be the best toys for late talking toddlers. These structures are great “containers” where a child’s imagination can grow and develop and so can their communication skills.

The speech therapists at therapy works together love using houses or barns in speech therapy for toddlers who are late talkers, coaching parents for how to use them at home to grow their skills. They are inherently a relevant, meaningful “category” for learning vocabulary.

• Teach Sounds – for kids that are not yet repeating words, work on animal sounds
• Teach Vocabulary –  like animals, people who work on a farm, locations like upstairs/downstairs
• Teach Verbs –  like walking, climbing, cooking, planting
• Teach Categories – what items go in which room (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen)
• Teach Following Directions – Put the cat in the house, put the yellow cat inside the house

RELATED: How Many Words Should My Child Have?

Follow Your Child’s Lead to Foster Imagination and Language Skills in Toddlers

At this age, children learn best when they are playing and this is their job at this age. When we let them take the lead and decide what is relevant and important to them, we can take the opportunity to guide learning. If we “force” them to use toys or activities we deem relevant or educational, their interest may decrease and you will have a toddler that does not want to learn.

Parents will have an easier time if they want to build learning into whatever their child is already interested in doing by following their lead. Toddlers learn faster and remember more from meaningful play in their natural environments.

The Best Toys for Toddlers with Speech Delays are Those that Get Them Moving

Have your kids been sitting around too much? Some of the best toys for late talking toddlers are those that get them up and moving.  If parents can pair motor skills with language learning especially for kids that learn better when moving . Also, active children love to play and move so combining learning speech or language skills with moving around is an activity creates a perfect and meaningful language learning opportunity. You are also likely to see your child’s ability to learn and retain what they are learning more when they are moving around.

It has already been show through ample research that children need opportunities to move in class.  Furthermore,  memory and movement are linked , and the body can be used as a tool to improve learning. So the speech or language targets can be those related to movement or playing together. For example:

• Bounce the ball and say “bounce,”
• Add descriptive language like “high” or “fast”
• Work on turn taking, like “my turn, your turn”
• Follow directions like “jump in the sand”

Parents can also use music to help their child relax after a long day sitting in class. Turn the music on to start dancing and turn it off to stop. Target words like “on, off, stop, start, fast, slow, silly dance, more dance.” The possibilities are endless.

Some Toys for Toddlers with a Speech Delay are Not Toys at All

We’ve encouraged you to see at home that the best toys for late talking toddlers may already be what you have at home. So why do we say that some of the best toys are not toys at all? Because our speech therapists want to encourage you to think outside the box and be creative. You don’t need to get the best or newest toy. Just think about what your child needs to learn for speech and language development (ask your speech therapist) and then adapt it. Pots, pans, wooden spoons, cardboard boxes, homemade forts with blankets and pillows… can be the BEST toys for your child.

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10 Toys to Use with Toddlers in Speech Therapy

03/21/2022 by Jenna 1 Comment

Are you looking for toys to use with toddlers in speech therapy? This age group can be tricky to keep engaged at times. In addition, toddlers have a much shorter attention span so you cannot do the same activity for 20 or 30 minutes. With the help of fellow clinicians in The Preschool Speech Language Pathologists Facebook Group (please join if you aren’t a member yet!) , I’ve put together a list of 10 toys to use with toddlers in speech therapy. Please comment below if you have other ideas of toys to add. If you have other ways of encouraging communication using the items below, I would also love to know!

*Below you will find that all items are affiliate links. This means that I get a small commission off researching these items and recommending them, if you purchase. Thanks for supporting my little blog!

10 TOYS TO USE WITH TODDLERS IN SPEECH THERAPY

#1 critter clinic.

The Critter Clinic has always been a favorite in my room and I know many other SLPs use it as well. Students stay entertained for quite some time by opening the doors to find the animals using the keys. Work on vocabulary such as “open, close, in, out.” The Critter Clinic can even be transformed for other holidays. Check out how I turned my Critter Clinic into a Gingerbread House for the holidays to jazz it up!

#2 Whacky Ball Lb-A-Ball

This fun little toy is perfect for teaching toddlers about cause and effect! Use positional words and phrases such as “put the ball in.”

#3 Wooden Race Track Ramp

Toys like race tracks are great for routine phrases! Use words like “ready, set, go” and “one, two, three.” Model each phrase many times and use a sing-song voice. More ideas like this race track are included in this FREE Parent Handout: Toys To Increase Speech & Language Skills at Home. (I sent this home for Christmas shopping for my families!)

A farm set is a must for every toddler. Work on imitating animal noises, following single- step directions, and positional concepts like in/on/under/ behind.

#5 Balloon Powered Car

This toy is too much fun! Most young children LOVE balloons (you will will still have a few who won’t though!) Use this toy with your balloon-lovers and work on skills such as:

– non-verbal imitation (push the handle for more air)

-use the CORE Vocabulary: want, more, like, go, stop, open, help, etc.

#6 Musical Instruments

Music encourages children to hum and sing along. These are great early language skills. Sing part of a familiar song and have them complete the phrase! “Twinkle, twinkle, little ….” Work on loud/soft and fast/slow concepts.

#7 Pop-Up Pirate

Kids absolutely love this silly and easy game! This is great for working on turn-taking and identifying colors. Plus, it will sure to get some giggles from your students when the pirate pops up!

#8 Floor Piano Mat

Remember- toddlers LOVE music! Grab one of these floor piano mats (I bet someone you know already has one ready to pass down!) and work on so many skills!

-Work on functional vocabulary such as-fast, slow, step, hop, jump, etc.

-Practice finding colors or counting as they “play the piano”

-You could even tape letters or shapes to each key to have them look for!

#9 Fisher Price School Bus

Having some type of toy vehicle in your room is essential when working with younger students in speech therapy. Have them put dolls or Little People in the bus and work on pronouns and characteristics. For example, have them “put the boy in the bus.” Or for a challenge, have them put the “boy with brown hair in the bus.” Practice other phrases and words such as: push, drive, forward, backward, fast, slow, etc.

Last but not least, just try using some simple blocks with this age group! 2-5 year olds think it is so fun to build a tower and then “knock it down!” You can build tall and short towers, you can work on patterns…red, blue, red, blue…what comes next? In addition, you can do this activity with them or in a small group and encourage turn taking. Finally, building together with blocks is a great way to encourage play at a very young age. Find out how to increase levels of play during speech therapy with this age group.

GET HELP PURCHASING THESE TOYS TO USE WITH TODDLERS IN SPEECH THERAPY

Hopefully this list helped to give you some great ideas for how to use different toys to help engage toddlers. With toddlers, speech sessions should always be fun and playful to encourage communication. Remember, you can also grab the FREE parent handout about Toys to Increase Speech & Language Skills at Home . Send this home to families at the beginning of the year or at conferences for ideas.

Need to buy some new toys but don’t want to purchase using your own money? (As we shouldn’t be!) Here are some things to try:

-Check into grants for SLPs. ASHA has a list here of ones that they do.

-Set up a Donor’s Choose ! Share the link with friends and family. You will be surprised by how many people want to help your students succeed.

-Create an Amazon wish list to send out to parents at the beginning of the year or for holidays.

Happy Shopping!

Do you have other favorite toys to use with toddlers in speech therapy?

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09/11/2023 at 7:03 am

Hello, please send a list of toys to promote speech for a toddler autistic Two year old God son. I want to purchase toys to help him. I like the alphabet wall unit that hanges on wall and talks. Please advise me of the closes store I do not have the ability to order off the computer. I live in. Woodbridge. Virginia. Thank you

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Best Toys for a Speech Delayed Toddler

Our youngest dear little one is nearly 3 years old and it is again time to look at what birthday gifts to get our speech delayed toddler! Toys are of course on our list and of course Toys for a Speech Delayed are a focus! As we have gotten some very successful toys that have helped our little one with her expressive language and often get asked for gift ideas. This list is a combination of what we have and what we plan to get having talked to her speech therapist and others who help little ones develop and thrive. It is fantastic when learning is play and we have seen first hand how important this part of her speech therapy is for her. The right play and right toys have really helped improve her speech delay! I really hope you find this list helpful too.

(Toys for a Speech Delayed toddlers have words listed after them to give parents ideas when playing!)

 Toys for a Speech Delayed Toddler

1. Play Kitchen (Food names, eat, more, all done, fruits, cups, spoon, time to eat, manors, fill, empty, cook, wash, favorite, yuck, yum, ect.)

2. Farm and Farm Animals (Cow, Horse, Sheep, duck, turkey, walk, jump, all, together, along, mommy, baby, in, out, close door, open door, animal sounds)

3. Building Blocks of all kinds! (Stack, fall, square, triangle, rectangle, long, heavy, big, small, your turn, tall, short, my turn, on, under,)

4. Baby Doll and accessories! (Baby, eat, sleep, burp, cry, play, dress, shoes, put on sock, hat, push, hush, pack bag, find bottle, sippy cup, cuddle, hug, sing, rock baby)

5. Doll House (living room, bedroom, bathroom upstairs, down stairs, bed, in, out, play, dog, clean up, sit, walk, bath time, open door, close door, time for bed, wake up, help, dinner time,)

6. Bubbles (Blow, float, dip, wet, sticky, fly, fall, pop, your turn, my turn, help, fun, jump, chase, wind, pretty, round, outside, share, messy, sticky, more, again,)

7. Play Dough or Kenetic Sand (fill, dump, make, squish, colors, clean up, mess, build, find, cover up, bury, box, sand, spoon, shovel, rake)

8. Books of Course (So many words, reading to little ones is always important but also just picture books so little ones can make up the story!)

9. Touch and Feel Cards (all kinds of items to label and describe!)

10. Coloring Books (Colors, scribble, color, draw, shapes, beloved characters)

11. Board games for toddlers like Bingo (Dab, ball, spin, numbers, turns, help, dice, colors, again, This really depends on the game!)

12. Tricycle (Go, stop, fast, slow, left, right, turn, peddle, this way, hurry, lets go, describe outdoor objects as you pass by)

13. Sand Water Table (Spill, fill, dump, mix, water, sand, cover, dig, more, add, turn, wash, dry, mess, clean up, find,)

Play to help speech delayed toddlers!

You might notice that this list of Toys for a Speech Delayed kids doesn’t have toys that tend to blink and beep. This isn’t just because we are a crunchy family. We DO have toys like that but they don’t tend to help at all with our toddlers language skills, they do all the “work” for her. One of the things we learned about speech therapy is a lot of it thus far has been speech therapists helping to train us parents and the older kids in the family to help us find opportunities to help our toddler use language more. So much of it has been play therapy and that has worked the best. Toys for a Speech Delayed toddler tend to help imitate life in pretend play or help explore specific important words. Sometimes for me personally I need to see the therapist playing with our little girl to give me ideas on how I can change how I play with her. Having lists of words to use often helps me focus my play to help guide hers. I need a lot of practice even as this is a bit different even after having other older kids. I had at some point forgotten how to play just for fun rather than some kind of end product such as with homeschooling. I mean of course the goal is helping our little one with language, specially expressive language, but if that doesn’t happen the way we expect, the play time is still worthy in and of itself. I used to think that leaving kids to play how they play without interrupting was really important. Now I am seeing that diving in can be important too and doesn’t necessarily stunt their imagination as once believed.

  There is no substitution for hands on play time for toddler speech therapy!

We never did anything really different with our youngest daughter who has this toddler speech delay. There are details that might have contributed but this little ones gets no less attention, I would day say she gets most of the attention. We were not communicating though in a simple way, we were making things more complicated than they needed to be! We gave too many choices and not simple ones! We didn’t wait long enough for her to talk but rather just accepted her pointing! We needed someone to be here with us pointing things out! Goodness the things our kids teach us, it never ends! I am truly excited about how much the speech therapist has helped us in person and the ones who offer support and ideas online as well. I am glad we reached out finally and got support in this as our toddler wasn’t learning the way our other kids just naturally did. She is so smart and knows how to follow direction and communicates in her own ways and is above her age level in so many skills, just not language, YET. We have hope and we see her thriving more and more! She soon starts group play classes and we excited about this as well. A general myth about homeschoolers is that we reject public classes. That isn’t at all the truth. Most homeschools have classes of all kinds and sports out of the house. Very few families are hobbits! I do giggle that I can teach algebra but not teach my toddler to talk on my own! One of the great things about so many homeschoolers is that when we can’t teach something, we find someone who can, and we did!

Wishing all your little ones lots of words and a great time playing with their favorite people! 

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Previous post, 15 comments.

I love this! These are great toys for any toddler of course but I definitely see the value for those with speech delays. Toys like these are always a hit in my home daycare

Question: For home daycare do you find yourself on the floor playing with them and directing play? I really used to think it was best to not get in the way of their play but now I am seeing how much benefit there is to helping direct play from time to time to help them learn and grow. It is like a whole new world for me and I feel a but bad I didn’t know about it before. LOL

Wow, this is awesome. My brother was delayed speech and now we can’t shush him. I like that there are toys to help simulate talking.

Yes to all of these toys! My son had a speech delay and having toys on hand like these really helped.

Two of my children had speech problems when they were smaller. I wish this list was around then. I would have never thought of how to use bubbles and a kitchen set to teach words.

I wouldn’t have thought so either until there the speech therapist was doing just that and I saw how many words could be practiced and how much it helped our little ones expressive language grow!

These are such wonderful toys to begin with! My daughter had several of them. She wasn’t speech delayed but I still appreciate how these help. My nephew is so I’m passing this on!

These are fantastic toys for every little one, you are right! Wishing your Nephew “all the words”!

I totally agree with you, there is no substitution for hands on play time for toddler speech therapy! I worked with a little guy who was speech delayed and one strategy we used was to give him lots of words when we were playing and to repeat the words he was saying back to him. We also have bins that are labeled so they will see the written word and be able to recognize them when they are a little older.

These look like great toys!! What a great resource you’re sharing! Thank you!!

Wow, these are such great toys. So glad you are finding help while keeping interactive play top of mind. Looks like you are having lots of fun.

My daughter would love all of these, especially the baby doll and play kitchen! I agree, hands on play is definitely best. With her, I tried getting toys that had interaction with a learning component and I believed it really helped her!

This is a great list. I completely agree with you that play is so important when it comes to helping little ones develop their speech!

These are are great toys to incorporate speech and language skills with late talkers. The more we speak and encourage words especially with play and real life the better the kids make the connections.

Play is such a necessary part of development for all children and can be such a useful tool when trying to navigate each specific need. Thank you for encouraging parents to find new ways to engage with and support their kids- I’m sure these toys will be total game-changers for so many families!

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Best Toys for Speech Therapy for Toddlers with Autism and Language Delays

Buying toys is just about one of my favorite things to do any day of the year. During the holidays, I can hardly resist!

Today I want to share my Ultimate Therapy Toy Guide with a few new favorites in a post I’m calling T he Best Toys for Speech Therapy for Toddlers with Autism and Language Delays. 

I’m grouping the toys by developmental language range (not necessarily age!) along with a very brief summary of each category with a simple description for how you could use the toy to teach language, both at home and in clinical settings.

You’ll also find Amazon links to each toy to streamline your shopping. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn a tiny commission from these purchases. It’s a great way to support our work at teachmetotalk.com – especially if you’re looking to add to your toy inventory!

I’m also linking a few related podcasts or videos to provide strategies for using the toys.

Happy Shopping!

Best Toys for Speech Therapy for Toddlers for Autism and Language Delays

Kids who are functioning in the 9 to 12 month developmental range are learning to play with toys like cause and effect toys (push the button toys), simple problem solving toys like shape sorters and beginning puzzles, and early constructive toys like blocks. Children may be working on consistently alerting to and responding to events in their environment as well as sensory exploration. Kids in this range are not using very many gestures or words and are just learning to understand very simple commands while they’re playing like “Give it to me” and “Put it in.” If that’s what a child is working on, here are some great toy options.

Excellent Toys for Teaching Object Permanence

A child must learn that objects exist even when you can’t see them. This concept sets the stage for understanding and using words as labels. Until a child learns to hold a mental picture in his mind of an object – evidenced by looking for something he can’t see – he won’t be able to link real objects with their names or labels.

Excellent Toys for Teaching Cause and Effect 

With these toys, we want kids to learn, I have to “do something to get something.” It’s an important cognitive and language milestone kids reach before they learn to talk. Provide opportunities for children to play with these toys with you and alone.

Spinning drum…. child reaches out and spins drum – easy to operate with a big non-electronic effect!

I love this simple piano for teaching cause and effect without the electronic effects!

Pop N Pals – classic toy to teach cause and effect with 4 different motor movements to activate the toy

Easy PUSH toy for cause and effect

Classic stand up push toy for new walkers

Easy Ball Toys… great for teaching cause and effect

Music Toy for Cause and Effect – When toddlers have significant developmental delays or sensory differences, I do use the extra “umph” by providing toys with lights/sounds to help a child learn to attend to the toy and participate in play routines.

Electronic Piano/Bongos for Cause and Effect

Excellent Toys for Teaching Simple Problem Solving

The earliest kind of toy in this stage is a tissue box…. child learns to pull and brightly colored tissues come out

Earliest puzzle… no choices –  child fits shape into opening…

Great first shape sorter… child can get shape in 2 ways… excellent for babies and children with fine motor delays

Trial and Error for Simple Problem Solving… ball vs. coin

Nesting Cups for learning about size

First Cars Set

My best books for teaching pointing! There are several versions to find something that captures a child’s attention.

 Bubbles are always a favorite throughout childhood. I love no-spill bubbles so you can focus on the fun without the mess. If a child is developmentally ready to talk, begin with words to teach him to ask for what he wants, or as an SLP would say, to request. The most obvious word to try is “bubble,” but if he can’t say that, it’s perfectly fine to teach him a general word to use for requests like “more” or “please.” Some therapists discourage those as early words, but read here why I STILL think teaching these all-purpose requesting words are a good idea for late talking toddlers: 10 Reasons I Still Teach The Sign for “More” First

12 – 18 Months

Kids who are functioning in the 12 – 18 month developmental range are continuing to play with toys from the previous period such as cause and effect toys (push the button toys), simple problem solving toys like shape sorters and puzzles, and constructive toys like blocks. In this stage, toddlers begin to follow commands during play such as “Where’s the dog?” and “Hit the ball with the hammer.” It’s an exciting time for expressive language development too… gestures (like waving and pointing) and first words emerge! During play toddlers are learning “functional object use” meaning that they focus on learning what things do… you roll, throw, and catch a ball, push a toy car, build with blocks, put a hat on your head, look at pictures in a book, use a cup to give the baby doll a drink, etc. Imitation is how toddlers learn best so be sure to show them how to play with toys. Talk as you play together emphasizing key words to help a child  understand and then say the new word. If that’s what a child is working on, here are some great toy options.

A great first barn set – lots to do and tons of target word options!

First Baby Doll Sets

Ring stackers.

New walkers are fascinated with this spinning bus. Work on sound effects like “Whee” or a verbal routine like “Ready Set Go” as a child pulls the bus.

NESTING BLOCKS

Nesting Blocks with Plastic Animals teach about size/order as well as animal sounds and names. I also work on prepositions/location words with these toys like in, out, up, down, on and off. My most favorite set of blocks is this darling one from Djeco. It is pricier than plain ole wooden blocks, but your possibilities for using this toy are unlimited! The blocks are so cute and graduated for stacking by size and have a rounded opening for a “door.” The set comes with several darling plastic animals for you to place in the “house.”

I have so many cute play routines for this toy, but in the beginning I tell the child we’re going to stack the blocks and I teach the word “build” or “up” as we’re stacking the blocks on top (“On top” is a good one too!) When several blocks are stacked, we choose an animal to go inside the opening of the block and, as I mentioned previously, I call this a “house.”

If a child is working on receptive language, I’ll teach him to learn the animal names and follow directions by holding 2 animals and asking, “Where’s the dog?” Once he’s chosen the correct animal, let the child put it in one of houses. Or model “up up up” as you make the animal climb up to find his house. You can knock on the door, which toddlers love, and you’re teaching them to imitate an action.

When a child is more verbal, you can try to elicit animal sounds or names. In case I haven’t said this clearly enough, the sillier you are, the better, when you’re teaching animal noises and other fun play sounds. Usually when you let go and really get in to playing by loudly modeling animal noises or doing ridiculous things with the animals, the better the child’s attention and participation will be! Once the blocks are stacked, or anytime you feel like you’re losing the child’s attention with blocks, ask him to knock over the tower. I love anything with “fall down” as the gag, because toddlers love it and I can get them to do it over and over again. Target words I teach with this toy are: block, up, push, uh-oh, fall down, knock knock (on the “doors” when animals are in the blocks), animal names, animal sounds, and names of objects on the blocks. You can also target size words with this set by teaching a child with directions like, “Let’s find the big one,” or “That one is little”  as you’re stacking and playing.

Shape Sorters

Sound Shape Sorter – the shapes are also whistles!

Ball and Hammer Toy

If I could only have 1 toy for therapy, this would be it… my favorite ball and hammer toy! Teach exclamatory words like “Boom! Boom!” and “Yay!” I teach the words ball and push with this toy. Prepositions are a natural target too – in, down, out. Many kids will try to match the balls to the hole openings.

GREAT quiet activity for toddlers… long car rides, planes, etc. Prep a child first by playing together with the book to show her how to complete the interactive pages…

All car toys can be tons of fun for toddlers, but I love a good race track! Kids will try to imitate the car noise, “Vroom, vroom,” or a raspberry car sound or any other goofy car sound you make! Other targets are “Ready, set, go!” especially if you’ve introduced that phrase or word with other toys and are trying to generalize that word. When a child LOVES this toy, I do use it for requesting. You can start with a general word, but I try to teach words like “car” or “truck” since the toy is motivating and the turns are very quick.

Easy Puzzles 

Beginner puzzles – not too many options and big knobs to guide little hands!

18 to 24 Months

Kids who are functioning in the 18 – 24 month developmental range are continuing to play with toys from the previous period and continue to master cause and effect toys, simple problem solving toys like shape sorters and puzzles, and constructive toys like blocks. In this stage, toddlers follow commands to identify objects during play such as “Where’s the dog?” and to complete tasks like “The cow is so tired. Put him in the barn to go to sleep.” During play toddlers continue to perfect “functional object use” and are expanding the kinds of things they do with toys including early pretending as a child begins to use one toy to represent something else during play based on familiar, everyday activities they perform. For example, a child may place a block to his ear and pretend to talk on the phone or use a drum stick as a spoon to feed a baby doll. Imitation is still how toddlers learn best so be sure to show them how to play with toys. Talk as you play together emphasizing key words to help a child  understand and then say the new word. Children typically experience a language explosion during this developmental range so include toys that teach new words, and not just nouns or labels for objects! Be sure to introduce verbs/action words, prepositions/location words, and early possessives/pronouns. If that’s what a child is working on, here are some great toy options.

Mr. Potato Head

Mr. Potato Head is fantastic for any toddler! It’s a basic vocabulary building activity since you can target body parts and basic clothing items such as hats and shoes. There are sets with purses and earrings and other “themed” sets related to holidays and children’s characters. Get the giant 2.5 size gallon ziplock bags so you can keep all of your accessories together. I would definitely use this during parent-child playtime only so your pieces don’t get lost.

Housework activities are of high interest to toddlers and a great way to teach imitation!

Baby Doll Sets

Baby Doll Sets are another high interest toy for boys and girls. It’s perfect for teaching functional object use (brush the baby’s hair, give her a drink, etc.) as well as early pretending.

I love to use baby bathtubs for a “bumped” up doll play experience. Don’t get your hopes up too high for the shower! It’s a drip-drop but so fun for toddlers!

The Plat ball is a toy for older children, but I use it with toddlers all the time! It’s a ball that can be pushed flat and then pops open. Toddlers need help to learn to push the ball flat, and their little fingers can get caught in the edges, so save this toy for play with a parent or older child. The directions on the package talk about throwing the ball and letting it pop open in the air, but I use it on the floor. It’s a great toy for sensory-seekers and kids who crave deep pressure. I also use it for turn-taking practice since the turns are fast and fun, even if you’re not the one who gets to push the ball. There are so many words you can teach with this toy, but the ones I use most are: ball, push, pop, mine, more, please, roll, kick, stuck, uh-oh, surprise, scary (“not scary”).

Ball Poppers

Another favorite ball toy… but don’t let the child chew on the foam balls! Hog Wild makes this toy in a variety of animals… cow, dinosaur, unicorn, even a Christmas line. Set up a verbal routine like “Ready Set Go!” or “Push and Pop!” for a child to fill in the last word. Great activity for kids who need to move to stay regulated. Use this toy between other sit down play routines.

Ring Stacker

This older version of a ring stacker is the best Ring Stacker I’ve owned in my career! Kids who need a visual hook to keep their attention love the spinning…

When kids are in the 24 month developmental range, they’re talking! Not only with single words – but short phrases begin to dominate a child’s speech. Vocabulary development continues to be a focus so that what a child says becomes longer and longer and more and more complex. Play sets become much more appropriate and can be used to teach TONS of new words!

A great barn if you’re looking for a bump up from Fisher Price!

If one of your little friends loves latches but not playing with toys, this barn helps blend those activities and hooks his attention with something he loves.

Cars and Trucks

Vehicles will always be fun, but this set is great because of the magnets!

With a play house, help a child learn to pretend first by doing things he already does in his everyday life – eat, take a bath, go to bed, etc…

While it’s fun to use this toy as an animal hospital, I usually use plastic characters or other small toys (like cars or balls) to hide inside the doors to teach object identification and new nouns.

More Toys with Keys

Another Fun Ball Toy – an excellent choice for a child with autism who is obsessed with numbers. Use his preferred interest to help him connect with you and share a play routine.

Kitchen Play is always a wonderful opportunity for language development. Here are my favorite kitchen toys:

Super fun water play for toddlers as you’re teaching a child to pretend!

Easy Wooden Puzzles

In previous posts I’ve admitted this, and I’ll share it here too…I own an embarrassing number of toddler puzzles, but they are “gold” when it comes to targeting language. The best puzzles for toddlers have wooden pegs or tiny knobs for easy handling by little fingers. Each picture is one individual piece that comes out separately. Wooden puzzles are cheap ($3-$10) and most toddlers love to do them. You can find puzzles with any kind of theme – farm animals, zoo animals, vehicles, food, bath time, toys, etc… I’ve linked several here so you can be sure you’re looking for VARIETY! Don’t buy more than a couple for each theme! Stay away from puzzles with ABCs, colors, and numbers until your child is really talking. Stick to puzzles with words a child needs to expand his vocabulary with new words.

Of course you can teach a child to say new words with puzzles, but many times a toddler isn’t quite ready for this during early sessions. What should you do then? Puzzles are great for targeting an earlier skill – building receptive language or what a child understands. You’re teaching a child to learn new words as you label the piece as you place it in the puzzle, but there are several better ways to target comprehension with puzzles. You can hold up 2 different pieces and say, “Get the ___.” Or place several pieces on floor and ask him, “Where’s the ___.”

You can also target receptive language during clean up time with puzzles. After you’ve named the pieces as he’s putting the piece in, tell him which piece to get to clean up the puzzle. Expand receptive language more by asking him tougher questions, “Which one says moo?” “Which one flies?” Which one goes in the water?”  “Which one do you wear on your feet?”

One more IMPORTANT tip… DON’T INSIST THAT THE CHILD DO THE WHOLE PUZZLE BEFORE YOU PUT IT AWAY.

When you do this, you are CONTRIBUTING to all sort of undesirable behavior!! No wonder he cries or throws or whatever else he does that you don’t like… if he can’t sit still that long, he can’t sit still that long! It’s up to YOU to make it fun enough so that a child wants to stay! If he does 2 pieces today, that’s okay. He may do 3 tomorrow and 4 the next day. Take it at each child’s pace! I promise this is a better “no tears” way : )

I love playdoh! Use a set with accessories for more vocabulary building opportunities!

Fantastic gross motor options for toddlers who need to move, move, move!

Bowling Sets are tons of fun for first games with peers!

36 Months and Beyond

Play really “bumps up” to a new developmental level when we provide realistic props to support developing imaginations and language skills. Be sure to add extra sequences (or steps to play), new vocabulary across word categories (not just nouns, but verbs, prepositions, descriptive words, and pronouns), new relationships (or roles in play), and new toys to enhance pretending. Watch this podcast for a full explanation of these factors.

These tiles are super for open-ended constructive play. If a child is “stuck” on blocks or legos, introduce these!

Excellent set/props for  more advanced pretending!

Restaurant (pizza, ice cream shop, hot chocolate stand)

Play doh sets continue to be lots of fun for preschoolers and provide language-rich teaching opportunities.

Apples (orchard, farm)

Just like with toddlers, preschoolers love to play on the farm too! Choose larger, more realistic sized toys  with little friends when peers are joining in your play too.

Kids want to begin to dress up around age 3 so the first set contains a “dr shirt.” All the following sets contain plenty to talk about as you pretend you’re going to the dr.

Pet Shop/Vet

Combine themes of animals and doctors, and you’ve got pet shop – always a fun hit for preschoolers.

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Stage 7 toy list for new jobs and new events from stages of play for toddlers and preschoolers with language delays, stage 6 toy list for expanding play routines, stage 5 toy list, stage 4… early symbolic play toy list, happy therapists, teachers, parents & children.

"Hello Miss Laura, First, I would like to thank you for all you do for us moms who are lacking support in the autism community, and thank you for providing tons of information and resources to help our bright children. I myself benefited so much from watching your videos and reading your daily emails. I cannot stress enough how much all this information helped my toddler. Of course, getting an autism diagnosis for your child is extremely scary (she was diagnosed at 2 years old) and I was depressed and did not know what autism was, how it affected children, and how to teach children struggling with this condition. However, your videos helped me to find light in my child and now I am your biggest fan! I rewatch your videos over and over again to make sure I didn't miss anything that can help my daughter. I even purchase two books- Autism workbook and Teach me to Play. My toddler was completely non-verbal, she didn't know how to imitate, no eye contact, no pointing.. you name it she didn't have any skills and I didn't know how to teach her! And that is until I discover ed You- my toddlers (Fairy: smiling_face_with_3_hearts:)!

Now she is little sweet 2.5 years old and she says "mama" (I cried when she said that magic word), she waves bye bye or hi, she points, she gives "high 5", her joint attention is great and overall she is doing so much better! And that's all because I have been doing everything you described in your books and videos! I. My mind I always play "repetition, repetition and repetition", teaching her everything through play that she so much enjoys!!! I can write forever explaining how much I taught her through yr videos and books! And the most amazing thing is that her speech therapist is a big fan of yours as well so it worked out perfectly since we understand each other and work based on your teachings! The therapist even owns the same books I own ...I am so grateful that my toddler has such an amazing therapist; especially the one that understands autism and is ready for a real challenge! God bless you for all you do and I cannot wait for my toddler blossom.. you gave me hope and lit the light inside me. And I'm determined to work with my girl :)"

"Dear Laura Mize and Team,

Thank you so much for all your hard work and publishing books! Our 17-month-old toddler suddenly exploded into speaking and imitating everybody's gestures and sounds, just a week or two after we 'completed' all activities that are listed under 11 pre-linguistic skills! Your method really works!"

Grateful customer.

I absolutely LOVE all of your workbooks, especially your Autism Workbook. Starting with Social Games has been a game changer for many of my littles with ASD and their families. It's been the best way for them to finally connect and sustain shared attention and engagement, leading to longer social interactions, through play!"

Jodie, Dev, Therapist

"Hi Ms. Laura,

Thank you so much for the videos you have posted on your youtube channel. They are so direct, informative, and helpful. Thank you for being a resource for me to become a better therapist."

"Hi Laura - I just wanted to say I received my copies of the Apraxia workbooks yesterday and I LOVED workbook 1 (not ready for 2). I'm on chapter 8 and going through the questions carefully so I'm prepared to help my son. I knew it was a great book when you acknowledged the fact that sometimes therapists and doctors don't bring a positive and supportive vibe when diagnosing. I remember being terrified at the mention of apraxia and ASD by both because they had these very concerned looks and made it seem like it was a death sentence. I know now (in LARGE PART, THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR VIDEOS) that it doesn't have to be!! I see a future for him now. You SINGLE-HANDEDLY, through your books and videos have empowered me to help my son after the doctors and therapists have gone home. You've given me strategies, play ideas, plans on how to keep moving forward. I don't always do things right, but I know I'm on the right track and I love that I can reference, and re-reference your books to help me keep going. As I was reading the book, I was so proud of myself because I've used strategies from your previous books and it felt good because I could check off a lot of the skills that you discuss. So, thank you for all your previous books as well!!"

"Gosh, I love all of your emails/podcast/website, just everything!! I work in early intervention as a behavior analyst and am learning so much from you!"

I love your work! I am a professor of early childhood special education and a speech language pathologist! I have worked to help children learn to communicate and I know how valuable the information you share is for both early interventionists and pediatric speech language pathologists!

Thank you for systematically organizing and explaining essential steps for young children to learn and develop. You are having a great impact on our profession, the ECE profession and families!"

"Thank you. If this is Laura herself reading this email let me take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have put forth for us professionals. I own every manual (except the autism manual) and have watched every course on DVD. I have listened to countless podcasts. All of what I’ve come to be as an Early Intervention speech therapist was absolutely to your credit. With your resources at my side I have never needed to scramble for answers and strategies and above all the clear language I use when communicating with parents. My fun, animated affect and key phrases I use have been learned through watching your example. So….thank you! May you be blessed." Chaya

"I just wanted to thank you so much for your incredible help! You are so kind and lovely and every time I implement something you've taught in your manuals or videos it is always a success, I cannot thank you enough. I really appreciate how specific you are in giving us examples of wording to use and how to use a toy in therapy with your videos, it is exactly what I need to properly help my little students. I also really appreciate your list of books of list of toys. I have seen my little students make significant progress thanks to you. I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos, taking more of your CEU's, and reading more of your materials. From the bottom of my heart: thank you so much again!!"

"Dear Laura,

What an inspiration!

Thank you for helping me be a better Developmental Therapist. I often listen to your podcasts which help me help families.

Your enthusiasm, professionalism and the sheer volume of information is so great.

You are part of my team.

I just wanted you to know I appreciate you."

Thank you for your generosity in sharing so much knowledge in such a clear and enthusiastic way.

As a retired audiologist with a fabulous and language delayed grandson, I used your podcasts and outstanding publication, The Autism Workbook, to inspire and guide me over the past year.

It works!! He went from barely verbal, no gestures, didn't respond to his name etc etc to a verbal, social, curious, ready to imitate anything, fill in the blanks on familiar "set" speech, generate his own totally appropriate and mostly understandable sentences...not just short phrases anymore... full little paragraphs...about imaginary things, what he did during the day, what he wants. True communication!

You make a powerful difference in this world! ❤"

"Laura Mize, you are a Godsend. I don’t know how one human can have so many helpful things to say in a beautifully organized way, so often. Always amazes me when another super helpful email comes from you, and for free. With free YouTube videos and cheap CEUs. THANK YOU!!!"

Sheila, Canada

"I purchased the book on autism and have watched the #400s series podcasts. Laura Mize has been more effective in teaching autistic tendencies, than many professors, shadowing professions, and the 100s of books, articles and classes or videos, or live workshop speakers, have been at teaching effective practices for a child with ASD. Some of the many lessons she has taught, which I will now use, to be a more effective Interventionist, include but are not limited to: red flags, typical behaviors, self-stimulating behaviors, not taking away toys, rather showing child to play with toy appropriately. She gives examples of child's actions, "inappropriate," explains the reason for: why the child is engaging in these behaviors and how they can be replaced with more appropriate, effective fuctional and age-appropriate skills."

"I’m sure Laura gets these messages all the time, but I thought I’d share. I stumbled across Laura‘s "Autism or Speech Delay?" YouTube video when I really needed it. This video finally listed and explained some of the red flags my son was showing for autism. I share the link anytime a parent is questioning in my FB autism group. This mother I don’t even know said Laura's video changed her life. I know exactly how she feels because It changed families too. Thank you to everyone at Teach Me To Talk."

"Good Morning Laura, I received your book (The Autism Workbook) yesterday and it is absolutely amazing! As I evaluate young children (0-3) for developmental delays and write plans for them with their parents, there are a ton of ideas that are ready to use. Others that reinforce what I have been doing, and saying, all along. Thank you so, so much for writing this incredible book and pulling everything together in one place!"

FRANCINE IN MICHIGAN

"Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge, experience, and guidance. I’m a parent who bought the autism workbook and it’s the only clear resource I found to make a change in my son. I’m really thankful to Ms. Laura for helping out people like us all over the world."

"Laura Mize, all I have to say is that ALL YOUR STRATEGIES WORK."

ANNE, YouTube viewer

"We have 7 SLPs in our preschool (public) program for special needs children (ages 3-5) and we use your courses, books, and techniques every day! :-) We have seen our preschoolers make such great gains!"

"I just received Teach Me to Play With You, and it is ALREADY WORKING! WOW!

Girl…my son is 3 years old, and he NEVER asks for something using words. We were playing “Get Your Belly” (from Teach Me to Play WITH You), and after several times, he laughed and screamed "BEWIEEE!!!"  It was a hoot. And I can't believe he said it! I have played with him like this before, but this time I took your advice and acted CRAZY!! I will act like a total lunatic if it will get him to talk to me!  Now I can give him "the look" from across the room, and he will say it. That manual is so amazingly practical, and it is a GODSEND right now! Thank you SO MUCH!”

" I wanted to send you a quick email to say thank you. I started watching your videos/podcasts about 4 months ago. My son has gone from losing words he previously used, only having about 7 words at his 2 year check up in August (assessed at a blended 10 month language level) -- to now having so many words, increased social engagement, following commands, spontaneously requesting things, and naming letters & numbers (not in order) as well as colors. We had our monthly meeting with our SLP through the state infants & toddlers program and it felt like we were just bragging the whole time, but I knew in the back of my head it was because I have been using strategies you taught me. We still have so much work to do with our sweet boy, but I know in my heart he would not have succeeded without the education you provided. I will continue to read your emails & watch videos as we go along this journey and face challenges, but credit is due to you, Laura. Thank you so much, endlessly."

"I just want to tell how fortunate I feel to have found your website and you!! I became a special instructor in EI almost a year ago and I started with hardly any applicable training. I felt so lost and confused as how to help the kids I work with learn how to use words and play. Honestly, I didn't even understand the importance of play, although I always played with my kids. But, once I started to watch your podcasts and get some of your manuals I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and that I could finally teach these kids and their families something of value from a real therapist and based on research!. Thank you so much for seeing the need to help other EI service providers and providing a forum to share your knowledge and years of valuable experience. I'm sure you get a lot of these emails every week if not every day, but I wanted to make I could add to those notes of gratitude!! THANK YOU again!!"

"Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for these emails and your books, I have them all and they have seriously saved and improved my sessions with my kiddos. Huge thank you."

"I was very frustrated with how speech therapy was going for my child. I would take him and drop him off and not hear much of anything from his therapist and teachers other than, "He had a good (or a bad!) day." Your materials were invaluable for us because I learned how to work with him on his speech. I learned how to teach him to talk and play. I learned how to pay attention to his cues and work with him to teach him to communicate. Without it, I have no doubt he still wouldn’t talk."

"Hi! I just wanted to say (from an SLT perspective) how incredibly useful I am finding absolutely all of your articles, blogs and resources - I only discovered your site last month and have just received all your books which I feel I am learning more than on my entire university training course!! But also the way in which you give specific, realistic, fun, encouraging ideas for working with parents is really just fantastic, I only wish I have your site sooner! Thanks so much from the UK! Kind regards."

"I just wanted to reach out to say thank you for making things a little easier to manage for me this year. I made the transition from school SLP to private therapist about a year ago. While the change was welcome, it was a lot, and I was just getting my footing in the clinic when I began teletherapy full time. Your website has been a huge lifeline in helping me work with late talkers and coach their parents in an accessible but effective way, even remotely. I look forward to getting your emails each week. I am floored by the amount of valuable, free information that your website provides, and I’m looking forward to investing in your workbooks soon. A sincere thank you for all you do!"

"You are an inspiration! I am truly grateful for the way you put into words and writing how to do what we do as SLPs. At this time in my 13 years of practicing, I find your encouragement keeps me going. As a single mom, I find it a stretch to buy materials these days and I am so thankful for the freebies you so generously share that help me teach my families. I don’t have much time to put together lists or quick references for parents!! Much gratitude!!"

Laura thank you so much. Btw, you have transformed my therapy- I have become such a competent and strong therapist after watching probably like 350 of your videos and podcasts over the past few years. And I am a seasoned therapist with almost 25 years experience. (Yes prob 350 episodes ha!) But there was still a lot I learned from you. I have such a thorough understanding of birth to 3 development and how to properly incorporate appropriate therapeutic goals, techniques and strategies now, thanks to you. Kelly

Hi Laura, I want to thank you so much for the resources you provide, my daughter has delayed speech and though she qualifies for CDS. Honestly the most progress she has made in her speech/language development has been after I implemented your 5 top strategies for delayed talkers! She is now almost 2.5 and her vocabulary is well over 75 (I haven’t counted recently, could be over 100) words when at 2 she barely had four words. Honestly the last few months have been a transformation for her.