20 Favorite SLP Toys: Gift Ideas That Boost Speech & Language Skills
Ho ho ho! We’re busy as Santa’s elves, making our list and checking it twice!
As SLPs, we’re constantly asked for toy recommendations. If you’re looking for ideas by age group, be sure to check out our blog posts here: Don’t miss our Guide full of helpful toy-shopping tips either!
Today, we’re excited to share our top 20 favorite toys of all time. If we had to choose just twenty, these would be the ones! Each toy encourages meaningful speech and language development while keeping children fully engaged in play.
Let’s make learning fun! Say goodbye to battery-powered toys that get used once and forgotten. These timeless favorites will grow with your child, and we’re willing to bet they’ll still be playing with them by next holiday season! 🎄✨
Play Kitchen and Play Food: Ice Cream Set, Food Groups, Play Cookies
We love play food! It’s a wonderful way for children to explore creativity, practice following directions, and engage in imaginative play. Have your little chef “cook” up a recipe or take orders in their play kitchen. As a bonus, encourage them to join you in the real kitchen for an added hands-on learning experience.
No matter which toy you choose, each one is packed with opportunities for speech and language skills. From imaginative play to hands-on exploration, these favorites grow with your child and are sure to bring joy and holiday magic all year long!
This toy has truly stood the test of time…and for good reason! We’re willing to bet you had one of these in your toy collection growing up. Kids love creating different characters and getting silly with all the mix-and-match pieces. Encourage your child to describe what they’ve created or talk about the emotion their Potato Head may be feeling. Make a whole potato family and bring them to life through pretend play. It’s simple, timeless, and packed with opportunities for learning!
3. Bubbles
A classic! Bubbles are simple, engaging, and easy to bring along on the go or during travel. There are so many core words you can target with bubbles, like “pop,” “up,” “down,” “big,” “small,” and “go,” to name a few. You can also use bubbles to practice turn-taking, making requests, and asking for help. It’s such a simple activity, yet it’s full of rich speech and language opportunities!
4. Play Scenes: Farm, Home Playset, Airport
Step into a world of make-believe! From country farms and busy airports to cozy homes, every play scene sparks imagination. Kids get to explore, create, and play while building language, speech and social skills in the most fun way possible.
5. Car Track
Ready… set… “go”! A car track is perfect for practicing sound imitation, turn-taking, and early vocabulary. Take turns racing the cars or see which car zooms the fastest. Encourage words like “fast,” “slow,” “stop,” or “go” or even make predictions about which car will win.
6. Puzzles: Farm Knob Puzzle, Peg Puzzle Set, Jigsaw Puzzle
Puzzles naturally build problem-solving, critical thinking, and sequencing skills, all important for communication! We love that there are so many levels and types available, making it easy for children of all abilities to join in and enjoy learning through play.
Research has shown that music can play a powerful role in supporting language development! Music naturally encourages listening, imitation, and turn-taking, all of which are foundational skills for communication. Plus, singing helps children learn new vocabulary, practice sounds, and build memory skills. Music is incredibly motivating and enjoyable for so many kids and this gift is sure to bring joy!
8. Puppets
Puppets are a powerful toy for building communication skills. They invite children into imaginative role-play, which helps encourage vocabulary, turn-taking, and social communications skills in a low-pressure way. They also give hesitant children a safe voice to speak through, helping them build confidence as they interact. Puppets make learning feel playful, so much so that children don’t even realize how much language they’re using!
9. Squigz
We love the versatility of Squiqz! Stick them on the fridge, a window, a door, or even the floor, and watch play happen right before your eyes. Have your child practice following directions by listening to which colors to stick together, or turn it into a game by hiding them around the room. When they find a piece, your child can describe the shape and color, learning and playing at the same time!
10. BOOKS!
As speech-language pathologists, books are always at the top of our list! The benefits of daily reading are undeniable, and it’s something we encourage you to do with your child every day. You can find plenty of book recommendations on our blog, but here are a few wonderful options to get you started:
11. Magnetic Animals
How fun are these?! This toy can spark so much conversation. Be silly and encourage your child to create their own animal. They can build descriptive language by explaining their creature—its name, the sound it makes, where it lives, what it eats, and more!
If you’re looking for something simpler for a younger child, we love these animals, too. They’re perfect for building the animal the correct way and practicing animal sounds. Feed the animals, give them a bath—the possibilities are endless!
12. SpinAgain
This toy will have your child wanting to make it spin again…and again! The name says it all. It’s fantastic for building cause-and-effect understanding, practicing turn-taking, and encouraging requesting. Simple, engaging, and battery-free—check, check, check. We love it!
13. Toy Bus
This toy is packed with language-building opportunities! Practice early sound imitation like “wee,” “vroom,” or “beep beep,” or demonstrate opposites such as fast and slow. Sing The Wheels on the Bus and pause to let your child fill in the lyrics. For preschoolers, create simple sentences during play (“She is getting on the bus!”) or drive the bus to a “school” you’ve set up somewhere in your home to extend the fun. Kids love vehicles, and we’re sure this toy won’t disappoint!
14. Bath toys: Creatures, Stacking Cups, Bath Books
Bath time is such a great opportunity to encourage speech and language development. It’s full of interactive moments and gives your child a calm space to learn. When kids are relaxed and regulated, that’s when optimal learning happens! Plus, it’s part of your daily routine, making it easy to build language into the moment.
Target core words like up, down, in, or out; read waterproof books; or explore cause-and-effect play like pouring water. If you have an older child, consider toys that let them create "potions" or build water towers. Splish splash!
15. Pop the Pig
Oh my…this pig! Kids just can’t get enough. Pop the pig, or games similar to this, encourage turn-taking, problem-solving, and predicting skills, while also giving plenty of opportunities to practice following directions. Plus, it offers playful exposure to colors, numbers 1–4, and counting, making learning feel like part of the fun. Ever since this pig hit the market, the speech therapy world has never been the same!
16. Hedbanz
Hedbanz is a fantastic game for boosting both expressive and receptive language skills. Kids can practice describing items by color, size, category, or other features, while also working on identifying items based on descriptions. The game is easily adjustable for different skill levels, making it perfect for involving siblings too.
17. Marble Run
Who doesn’t love a marble run? These toys are always a hit with little builders. Marble runs naturally encourage problem-solving, critical thinking, and language skills. Children can describe their designs, explain the steps they took to fix problems, compare different runs, and use sequencing words like first, next, and finally. Plus, talking about cause-and-effect as the marble rolls helps develop vocabulary, reasoning skills, and conversational skills, all while having endless fun!
These interactive sticker books are wonderful! Your child can bring their own scenes to life, tell creative stories, or make up silly scenarios. They can even practice listening skills by following your directions to build a specific scene. Hours of imagination and learning packed into one fun activity!
19. Figurines
Oh, what fun! These figurines open up a world of play possibilities. We also love that they’re travel-friendly, easy to toss into a tote for on-the-go fun. Don’t forget, play can happen anywhere!
20. Critter Clinic
The Critter Clinic is always a crowd favorite—and it’s one you might not already have! This toy encourages fine motor skills while making play even more engaging. Kids love the thrill of hiding and discovering items! Use the animals that come with the clinic or sneak in anything behind the little doors for extra fun. Practice words like “open” or “help,” pretend to care for the animals, or turn it into a guessing game by having your child figure out what’s behind each door based on your clues!
These timeless toys prove that learning doesn’t need batteries, just imagination and connection. We hope this list helps you pick gifts that spark joy and build meaningful speech and language skills all year long.
Our team at OWLS Therapy wishes you a wonderful holiday season filled with play, laughter, and learning. Happy gifting! 🎁✨
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