This week I’ve been having a go at using this fantastic resource Speech Sound Support Kit made by Jane Wilson, a specialist Speech and Language Therapist. I can honestly say, I wish I had discovered it sooner as it’s such a brilliant kit for helping children to say their first words and develop their speech sounds. It’s almost like having your very own Speech and Language Therapist in your pocket!

The Speech Sound Support Kit comprises of ten beautiful cards. Each card has a different consonant sound at the top (chosen from the earliest developing consonant sounds) and an explanation of how to make the sound using your mouth. For example, for making the sound ‘S’ she explains that we need to “spread lips into a wide smile, place tongue behind top teeth, keep tongue in position and gently blow” (try it now, it works!) . Each card also lists suggestions of play based activities, stories, songs, rhymes and words to help with development of that particular sound. The kit is designed for children under that age of 5 and older children who need extra support with speech sound development.

What did I like about it?

• Play Based – I talk about this a lot on The SEN Resources Blog, but I’m a huge believer in the importance of play when learning. Jane Wilson’s Speech Sound Support Kit fully embraces this philosophy of the importance of play. She’s by no means suggesting you use these cards to sit your child at a table and ‘learn to speak’ (which would be completely the wrong approach!) but instead shows you clever ways you can incorporate the sound you are focusing on, into your play. Your child won’t even know that they are learning! Each card gives you ideas of play based activities you can do, to include certain sounds, as well as stories, songs and rhymes that reinforce this sound development. For example, for the sound ‘f’ you could make a fairy house, look for flowers and make feathers fly. These are all wonderfully simple yet fun activities that young children enjoy, but the cards show you that through these activities you can include words with the sound ‘f’ to reinforce the sound and practise it through play. For the sound ‘f’ she also suggests rhymes such as ‘Five Green Speckled Frogs’ – saving you time thinking through all the rhymes to find a suitable one for this focus sound.

• Created by a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist – Everyone seems to have an opinion on how to help your child with their speech development (from well meaning family and friends to the vast resource that is the internet!) And if you’ve tried searching for resources, it’s likely that you’ve probably felt completely overwhelmed by the plethora of free downloads, books, suggested activities, apps etc. that claim they can help. What’s particularly good about the Speech Sound Support Kit is that you can be reassured that it’s genuine and of use because it’s created by a specialist Speech and Language Therapist.

• Benefits– There are numerous benefits to using these cards. The primary goal of this resource is to help with speech sound development. But they are also brilliant for helping encourage those first words and introducing vocabulary. One aspect I particularly loved about them was that they provide purpose for communication during play. That is to say, the activities give your children a reason to make certain sounds whilst playing. It’s also worth remembering that when working with your child on speech sound development you are also helping their literacy skills and their self esteem.

• Environmentally Conscious – I was delighted to discover that these resources are also the UK’s first sustainable and environmentally conscious Speech and Language Therapy resource! And that they are printed onto recycled Kraft card. Not only is this great news for the planet but there’s also something quite wonderful about how tactile and natural feeling these resources are.

Buy the Speech Sound Support Kit on their website here