Focusing on problem solving in speech therapy!
Problems, both big and small, come up throughout our day. Our pen runs out of ink, our pencil tip breaks, we spill something on our clothes, we go to make a bowl of cereal and we have no milk, and so on!
For so many of my clients, problem solving is a tricky component of their speech therapy treatment plan. There is so much involved:
Being able to regulate your emotions in the moment
Identifying an item that’s useful to solve that problem (which requires understanding how we use objects)
Cognitive flexibility, such as using an item in a less-conventional way to solve our problem or shifting our current goals/plan.
Problem solving is part of our Executive Function skills - and from my last blog post, you all know there’s so much to those skills!
So how do I help kids struggling with problem solving in speech therapy?! I’m glad you asked…
For younger kids, we can do so much in (you-guessed-it) PLAY!
Creating problem solving scenarios in play can be really easy once you get the hang of it! Here are some ideas:
Farm play:
The basics: Animals might be hungry, thirsty, sleepy, too hot, or too cold!
Incorporate items like wagons or trucks - then the animals can be too big, they won’t fit, or they accidentally fall out.
Animals or characters might get hurt on the farm - kicked by a horse, fell off a tractor, etc.
Pretend house play:
Of course, the basics - characters that are sleepy, tired, or BORED! Can you imagine?!?!
Lost items in the house - characters that can’t find their clothes, their favorite toy, etc.
In the bathroom - they take a shower but now they’re all wet…
Hopefully you get the idea from these examples! So as these scenarios are created in play, then what? I ask my favorite question of all times: what should we do?!
What should we do?! + Wait!
If my client needs help, I might jump in to grab an item nearby to provide as a visual cue of something they might be able to use. A tissue “blanket” for a character that might be too cold. Tape or band-aids for a character that just got hurt. A snack for a character that’s hungry. Typically, doing so without drawing much attention to this - so the child hopefully comes up with the solution on their own, but these visual cues can be so important! I like to readily have them available as we play!
If you’ve heard me say it once, you’ve probably heard me say it 10000 times - repetition is the spice of life. So whatever problem we’ve experienced in play, especially if the child needed a bit of help to solve it, is very, very likely to come up in our play again that same session - maybe with a different character!
When I’m not working in play, I can also target problem solving in books and games! Here are some of my favorite books and games for problem solving:
Books:
What Should Danny Do?
Variety of options here - School day, sibling problems, and more!
Wacky Wednesday
Goofy and totally funny! Makes problem solving less intimidating!
The Selfish Crocodile
Social problem solving & incorporating feelings
Froggy’s Lemonade Stand
Great repetition with this one because Froggy runs out of lemonade for multiple people!
Games:
Friends and Neighbors
Great visual cues for this, which might be helpful! This is good for younger kids (including preschool).
Lion in my Way Game
One of my favorites! Allows kids to get creative with their solutions.
Tetris - the Board Game
Option for older kids and a game that even adults will enjoy! Not as much social or situational problem solving.
There is so much we can do to promote problem solving skills in kids! Although I touched on younger kids in this blog, we can do a lot in speech therapy to support problem solving with elementary school kids and middle school kids, too. If you have questions about how to do that - reach out to me and let’s schedule a coaching call!
