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Bugs? Pests? Insects? Ew! While we may not be huge fans of bugs in real life, our littlest students can’t get enough! We have rounded up (no pun intended) some of our favorite must have bug themed activities for preschool speech. And even better? A lot of these bug activities are great for some speech fun with older kiddos too!
Fly Swatter Speech Sounds
What better way to target speech sounds than to let students whack things with fly swatters, right?! But in all seriousness, my articulation groups (specifically my 3rd grade boy crew…just saying) LOVED this activity. However, it could work for a variety of age levels. Like most of us, we see kids for multiple sessions a week. This activity was easily broken up into two sessions which made planning for the week a breeze. All you need is different colored fly swatters (I had orange, blue, green, and yellow), target word bug pictures, crayons, scissors, and scotch tape/sticky tack.
During the first session of the week, I printed each set of target sound bugs and assigned each student a color that corresponded to the different fly swatters I had. My students practice while they colored and cut out their bugs.
During the next session of the week, I cut and taped the bugs to the wall. They used their fly swatters to swat only their bugs’ color. Once they practiced the word on each bug, they taped it on to a bug container paper template for some more take home practice!
Sensory Jar Speech Bugs
For a little bit more of a subdued activity, we decided on a sensory jar! Sensory jars are perfect for little hands and curious eyes…and even better with speech sounds hidden inside. Check out how Mandy dyed rice and used pictures to make a bug themed sensory jar.
First, she dyed the rice used to fill the sensory jar. To make the rice, mix rice, vinegar, and green food coloring in a large bowl. You can add more food coloring to get the desired color. Line a cookie sheet with paper towel and spread the rice in an even layer. Let the rice sit overnight then fill the container in the morning.
Mandy printed the target word bug pictures at 35% so they would fit in the jar. After coloring and cutting out each picture, she placed them inside the jar along with the green rice. After that, her daughter was able to rotate and turn the jar to see each of the bug pictures. Such a fun and unique way to practice articulation sounds!
These sensory jars would also be easy to fill with letters, numbers, or even sight words! For a non-academic activity, fill with plastic bugs to pair with bug themed books, centers or calming corners.
Looking for another fun sensory activity? Check out our 3 Spring-Themed Speech & Language Activities blog post for more spring speech plus sensory ideas!
Speech Sound Bug Containers
This next activity was my favorite to assemble and share with my students! I made each of my students a speech sound bug container. Items needed included: speech sound bug pictures, clear bug container, mini magnifying glasses, shredded paper, and tape. I printed the speech sound bug pictures at 60% and colored them. After cutting them out, I taped them inside the bug container facing outward. My students used mini magnifying glasses to search and find target sounds!
My students really enjoyed using the little magnifying glasses. I actually filled three different containers so each student had a container filled with their specific target sound. They were so excited and kept looking at each other’s containers eager to share their words. Lots of spontaneous productions!
Garden Speech Bugs
How many of you have one of those Boon Grass Drying Racks at home? (IYKYK, right???) If not and you have littles at home, you probably have something similar! For this next bug themed articulation activity, I washed my drying rack super well and filled it will speech sound bugs!
I printed the target words at the normal dimensions, colored them, then laminated the pictures for durability and reuse. I mixed a variety of initial, final, and medial /k/ sounds for the particular group I had. After picking a bug out of the “grass” using tweezers, students practiced their sound and placed the bug in a butterfly net.
For those of you that co-treat with occupational therapy, this would be the perfect activity to incorporate some fine motor skills as well. I had large plastic tweezers in addition to some handy scoopers available to help pick up the bugs and leaves.
Articulation Catching Bugs Craftivity
This next bug themed activity is great for those of you looking for something to send home for additional practice. I let students pick their background…the empty bug container, bug jar, or tree stump. Students colored their bug catching picture page and all the pictures with their target words. They cut out each individual picture (with some help if needed of course) and pasted each picture on the bug catching page. They practiced each target word throughout the entire craft.
Most of my students have speech-language notebooks that go back and forth between school and home each week. We paste in our weekly activities (depending on the session’s materials). If students practice for 5-10 minutes per night, they earn a Paw Print (our school’s PBIS incentive). I love this Spring Articulation Catching Bugs Craftivity because it easily pastes right into their speech notebooks and is great for additional home practice! Grab your craftivity here!
This craftivity is also perfect to pair with any bug themed center or book if your students don’t have notebooks. We love these cute and popular bug books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Beetle Bop, or You’re My Little Cuddle Bug.
Liking the target speech sound bugs we used for each of our must have bug activities? We used the bugs found in our Spring Articulation Catching Bugs Craftivity described above for all five activities. So easy to simply print and go plus super versatile. All initial, final, and medial sounds are included even blends and vocalic /r/. Check out our TPT store page for a more complete description of the sounds included.
These cute speech sound bugs are also part of a Spring Articulation Craftivity Bundle which includes building caterpillars, filling the sky with raindrops, and planting beautiful flower gardens. Great for more spring fun with your preschoolers!
Hopefully our creepy crawlers didn’t gross you out too much! But we love all of these must have bug themed activities for preschool speech. Each activity has so many possible variations and adaptations for whatever your caseload needs. We hope you enjoy them as well!
Happy bug catching, fellow SLPs and mamas!
Talking Mama Bears