As a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in Early Intervention, one of the best parts of the job is that we get to play all day! Most of the time in my Early Intervention sessions, I use whatever toys the family have at home. But sometimes, I like to introduce a novel toy to see what language and skills we can encourage. In this post, I’ll share my go-to toys for early intervention sessions, along with why they’re staples in my therapy toolkit. Whether you’re a fellow Speech and Language Therapist or a caregiver looking for inspiration, these tried-and-true options are sure to be a hit with your little ones too!
Please Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means I earn a small amount of commission if you purchase any of the toys listed in this post. Thank you for supporting my website in this way.
A note about Amazon links: Please be aware, the links are set up to redirect to your local Amazon site. This means, if some toys are not available in your country, you will be redirected to a toy or product with a similar title. Please double-check before purchasing, as you may not be getting the toy I mentioned in the post.
Click Clack Track – A Must-Have in Early Intervention!
Click clack tracks are the small car tracks where you push a car down the ramp at the top, and it tips onto the ramp below, all the way to the bottom. I love using click clack tracks in therapy to target core words like “go”, “stop”, “again”, “want”, “down”, etc. You can also model symbolic sounds/exclamatory words like “zoom”, “whoosh”, “crash”, “uh oh”, etc. It’s always a hit with little ones.
You can get a click click track on Amazon here. (Amazon Affiliate Link)
A Play Farm is Great for Encouraging Symbolic Sounds
I love this Big Red Barn toy from Battat (Amazon affiliate link). It is perfect for little ones because of the big chunky pieces and sturdiness. It’s great for modelling symbolic sounds, exclamatory words, first words, prepositions, concepts, and more!
A Doll’s House is a Go-To Toy in Early Intervention
I have this Bluey house (Amazon Affiliate Link) and some of the additional playsets (like this mini playground set) (Amazon Affiliate Link), and they’re perfect for encouraging small world/pretend play. We can also model first words, symbolic sounds and exclamatory words, concepts, prepositions, phrases, and more.
Top Tip- Get two sets of the toys if you can, this way you can easily copy and join in with the child’s play, without them having to share the things they have!
I also love having a bus toy. I have this Bluey bus and it’s so much fun (Amazon Affiliate Link). But any bus will do as long as you can put people/toys in it, and take them out again. You can model lots of concepts (open/shut, in/out, empty/full, go/stop, fast/slow), sing ‘Wheels on the bus’, and take turns pushing it back and forth to each other!
The Critter Clinic is a New Fave of Mine for Early Intervention
I’ll be honest with you, when I first saw the Critter Clinic (Amazon Affiliate Link), I didn’t get the hype. But, after seeing how other SLPs/SLTs used their Critter Clinic in therapy sessions, I decided to get one and give it a go in my own sessions. And I LOVE it! It is so fun for targeting gestures (knocking, waving hello/goodbye), core words, prepositions, concepts, body parts (there’s a vet/doctor’s kit included) and so much more! It’s small enough to easily take with you to sessions, and super sturdy too (great for little ones!)
Stacking Cups are a Staple Toy for Early Intervention Sessions
Stacking cups are a must-have toy in Early Intervention. They’re such a simple toy, but can be used in so many ways. I love this set of stacking cups from HahaLand (previously gifted via a collaboration with HahaLand on Instagram). They’re great for stacking, water play, sand play, colour matching, talking about the icons, and the thing I love the most about these stacking cups (Amazon Affiliate Link) is the little one on toy lights up and play a tune. Trust me when I say little ones ADORE it!
Check out my reel about this toy here.
Other Toys I Love for Play-Based Early Intervention Sessions
Here are some other toys I love to use in my Early Intervention Speech Therapy sessions:
This Spin Again Stacking toy from Fat Brain Toys is really motivating for little ones (Amazon Affiliate Link). It’s fun to stack and watch the cogs spin around. You can model loads of core words and symbolic sounds while you play in your Early Intervention sessions.
I firmly believe bubbles are a must-have toy for every Speech and Language Therapist. They are so motivating for little ones. They can be used to encourage children to request, use gestures such as pointing and reaching, as well as core words, first words, symbolic sounds, and so much more!
This Tissue Box Toy (previously gifted via a collaboration with HahaLand on Instagram, Amazon Affiliate Link) makes ‘What’s in the box/bag?’ games so much fun. Check out my reel on Instagram for ways you can use this toy to encourage early language and communication skills.
I also love using books in my Early Intervention sessions, check out this blog post for my favourite children’s books written by SLPs/SLTs.
I love using toys when doing play-based therapy sessions in Early Intervention. As I said at the start, most of the time I use what the family have at home, but sometimes I like bringing something novel to our sessions to see what new language and skills we can elicit. What about you? Do you have some toys I should add to my collection? Let me know in the comments!
Handouts for Play-Based Early Intervention Sessions
Support parents and caregivers to use language facilitation strategies and to support their child’s communication and language skills with these caregiver-friendly handouts for play. Perfect for your play-based Early Intervention sessions.