Back to School Speech Therapy Activities: 9 No-Prep Resources for Busy SLPs
- jordanne9
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
The first few weeks of school can feel overwhelming for speech-language pathologists. Between new schedules (and re-doing schedules, and re-doing schedules), evaluations, screenings, meetings, and getting to know students, planning engaging therapy sessions often falls to the bottom of the to-do list.
That's why I rely on no-prep and low-prep back-to-school speech therapy activities that help me target multiple goals while keeping students engaged. Whether you're working on articulation, language, following directions, or spatial concepts, these resources make it easy to start the year strong.
Here are some of my favorite back-to-school speech therapy resources from my Teachers Pay Teachers store, Buzzing Bee SLP.
Need a quick activity for the first week of school?
My Back-to-School Color by Number Activities are perfect for building rapport while collecting speech samples and targeting articulation goals. Students stay engaged as they color school-themed pictures while practicing their target sounds.
Best of all, they require virtually no prep just print and go!
Hands-on activities are a great way to increase participation during the first few weeks of school.
These Back-to-School Accordion Crafts combine creativity with meaningful speech and language practice. Students create an interactive craft while working on articulation, vocabulary, WH questions, describing, grammar, and other language skills.
They also look cute and the kids get excited to show them off!
These Articulation Bracelets transform speech practice into a wearable craft. Students practice their target sounds while creating bracelets they can proudly wear throughout the school day and take home to encourage that carry-over practice we are all striving to accomplish.
Students love showing off their creations, and wearable crafts always instill a sense of pride in my elementary students.
Nothing says back-to-school quite like apples!
This Apple Articulation and Language Craft allows students to practice speech and language goals while creating a seasonal craft. The classic cut-and-paste format provides a hands-on component that keeps students engaged and focused. Best of all, it targets a wide range of speech and language goals which is perfect for mixed groups or easy planning for your whole caseload!
If you're looking for a resource packed with speech and language targets, the August Academics Packet is a must-have.
This comprehensive resource includes activities designed specifically for the beginning of the school year. It provides opportunities to target a variety of language skills while incorporating academic themes students are already encountering in the classroom.
This is another great resource for easy mixed group planning or entire caseload planning in one comprehensive packet.
6. School-Themed Individual Targets Packets
If you are looking for materials that take a deeper dive into individual language targets such as prepositions, plurals, or present progressive verbs, you can check out these packets that target individual language skills in a variety of ways while sticking with that fall/beginning of the school year theme.
Every SLP needs reliable print-and-go articulation materials.
My School Articulation Worksheets provide structured practice opportunities while maintaining a fun back-to-school theme. These worksheets are no prep, print and go and make it easy to collect high numbers of target productions without extensive prep time.
8. Back-to-School Book Companions
Books are one of the easiest ways to target multiple speech and language goals in a single session.
Two of my favorite back-to-school book companions include:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â If You Take a Mouse to School
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Time for School, Little Blue Truck
Both resources are optimized for mixed groups and contain a mixture of articulation targets, language targets, and story retell pictures.
Visual crafts are fun for kids of all ages. These foldable crafts perfect for mixed groups target a variety of articulation and language targets while keeping students engaged and giving them a product to be proud of!
Start the School Year with Less Planning and More Fun
The beginning of the school year doesn't have to mean spending hours creating therapy materials. By using engaging back-to-school resources, you can focus on building relationships, establishing routines, and helping students make progress toward their communication goals.
Whether you're looking for articulation activities, language practice, hands-on crafts, or book companions, these resources are designed to make therapy planning easier while keeping students excited to learn.