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5 Board Games that Encourage Teamwork with Kids
…and How to Build Language Skills While You Play! As a pediatric speech-language pathologist and mom of two, I’m always looking for ways to turn everyday moments into opportunities for connection, communication, and growth. One of my favorite sneaky (and super fun!) ways to support language development? Team-based board games. Teamwork-focused games not only teach kids valuable social-emotional skills like cooperation, turn-taking, and problem-solving—they also open the door for rich language use without any pressure. You’re bonding, laughing, and playing…and your child is practicing communication skills the whole time. Here are 5 of my go-to cooperative board games for my own kids and in my therapy room along with tips…
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3 Space Books for Toddlers & Young Kids
As a pediatric speech-language pathologist and a parent of two young explorers, I’m always looking for ways to turn everyday moments into rich opportunities for building language and connection. And storytime? It’s one of the very best tools we have. When we read with our kids, we’re doing so much more than sharing a book. We’re expanding vocabulary, modeling sentence structure, sparking imagination, and encouraging those back-and-forth interactions that are the foundation of strong communication skills. And so much more! Books with strong visuals, engaging storylines, and built-in opportunities for conversation are especially powerful. And what better theme to spark curiosity and new words than outer space? Rockets, astronauts, planets,…
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The Best Summer Books for Toddlers & Young Kids
Check out some of my go-to summer-themed picture books that are not only engaging and fun but also packed with opportunities to build language through repetition, rich vocabulary, and playful conversation starters. Whether you’re at the beach, on the go, or enjoying a lazy day at home, these books are easy to incorporate into your daily routine. Pediatric SLP approved!
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6 Books to Encourage Making Simple Inferences During Storytime
Helping Kids Make Simple Inferences During Storytime: A Pediatric SLP + Mom’s Guide As a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and a mom of two young kids, I’ve spent a lot of time reading children’s books – both at home on the couch and in therapy sessions on the floor with little ones. One of my favorite things about sharing books with kids is that it creates so many natural opportunities to build cognitive and language skills, without needing anything extra. Just a good story and a little curiosity! One of the most powerful (and surprisingly simple!) skills we can help kids develop during shared reading is inferencing—the ability to figure out…
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Birthday Books to Celebrate Your Child
As a mom of two little ones and a pediatric speech-language pathologist, I’m always thinking about how everyday moments — like getting ready for a birthday — can spark rich language learning. One of my favorite ways to do this? Through books. Birthdays are full of exciting, familiar routines: baking cakes, sending invitations, opening gifts, singing songs. These predictable events make birthday books a perfect opportunity for language growth. When kids can anticipate what’s coming next in a story, they’re more likely to join in, use new words, and retell the story later — all key skills for building strong communication. So today, in honor of my 5 year old’s…
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Promoting Phonological Awareness through Books with Rhyming Text
As a pediatric SLP and mom of two busy, curious toddlers - I’m always on the hunt for ways to make learning both meaningful and fun. One of my favorite tools? Rhyming books! In this post, I’ll share why rhyming stories do more than just entertain - they help build critical early language skills like phonological awareness, which lays the foundation for reading success. Check out this list of some of our family’s favorite rhyming reads that get my kids giggling and learning. Whether you’re a fellow parent, a teacher, or a caregiver, you’ll walk away with simple, playful ways to support early literacy - one rhyme at a time.
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Helping Kids Navigate Big Emotions: Books to Help Your Child Process Feeling MAD
As a pediatric SLP and a mom of two busy little ones, I know firsthand how intense and confusing being mad can be for kids (and for us grown-ups, too!). Whether it’s a full-blown meltdown over a broken toy or frustration after a tough day, helping our kids recognize, understand, and express their anger in healthy ways is such an important part of their emotional development. Books can be incredibly powerful tools in these moments. They offer language for feelings, provide safe and relatable stories, and open the door for conversations that help kids feel seen and understood. Books can help support your voice as a parent trying to teach…
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3 Books Promoting the use of AAC Devices
This blog post explores a thoughtful collection of children's books that feature characters who use AAC to communicate. These stories not only promote awareness and inclusion but also empower kids who use AAC by showing them represented in literature. The post highlights a range of titles—from picture books to early readers—that celebrate diverse ways of communicating, teach empathy, and normalize the use of communication devices in everyday life. Whether you’re a parent, educator, or therapist, these books provide a meaningful way to spark conversations about communication differences and support language development through storytelling.
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Books that Promote Autism Acceptance, Neurodiversity, & Inclusion
April is Autism Acceptance Month, and April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. Let’s promote awareness and acceptance year round, and start by having conversations about neurodiversity at home! As a speech language pathologist who has worked in pediatrics for almost 10 years, there is one major thing I’ve learned – as clinicians, we are always learning! As a mom of an almost 5-year-old and a 3-year-old, my goal is to start talking about neurodiversity early. Here are some books we’ve added to our library that have been helpful so far, especially with my oldest! Books that Promote Autism Acceptance, Neurodiversity, & Inclusion Reading with your kids is a great…
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Best Spring Books for Toddlers & Young Kids
We are all so. ready. for spring. Am I right? Before having kids, I always loved implementing seasonal and themed books into therapy sessions whenever possible. As a mom of a 3YO & 4YO, I love storing our seasonal books. When it’s time to pull them out, it feels like old friends. Seriously. One of the best things? My kids have come to love the day we pull out seasonal books for whatever is coming up next! It feels like Christmas morning without buying any presents, and that is a parenting win. So let’s get into it! Our current *growing list* of spring favorites, sorted by topic. See tips at…
