Fish Theme in Speech Therapy

It’s Theme Thursday! There are so many fun toys and books about fish! I had to round up some fish themed materials to share with you! This theme can truly be used year round, but it’s especially fun in the spring and summer!

*This post contains Amazon Affiliate links*

First up, let’s talk about some fun fish themed toys! I love using toys during therapy, because they’re so motivating. Toys are the tools of children and they truly bring therapy to life!

I found this cute felt fishbowl at the Target Dollar Spot!

This is such a simple and cheap toy! There are so many ways you can incorporate this into therapy!

1. Flip the fish upside down and have a student select a fish. Whatever number is on the fish is the number of times they have to practice their word or the number of sentences they have to make containing their word! When they’re finished, they get to put the fish in the bowl!

2. Students can take turns describing the fish. If their partner can identify the correct fish they get to keep it! Whoever collects the most fish wins!

3. You can talk about basic concepts (big fish vs. little fish, inside/outside, in/out, etc)

I also found an amazing toy at Aldi for only 10 bucks! It’s called the Color Fun Fishbowl by Learning Resources! I’ve also seen them at Cracker Barrel. Random, I know! haha!

There are so many language goals you can tackle with this cute fishbowl!

1. Describing – blue fish, orange fish, etc

2. Color Vocabulary

3. Counting and Quantitative Concepts

4. Articulation – /f/ or /sh/ sound

5. Prepositions – inside, outside, next to, over, under, etc

6. Requesting

7. WH Questions – Where is the blue fish?

How would you use these fishbowl toys in therapy?! I also found some other cute fishbowl toys on Amazon: My First Fishbowl, Fischer Price Fishbowl, One Fish Two Fish Fishbowl.

I made an articulation fishbowl packet! You can find it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! Inside each fish bowl is a character that represents the sound! For instance, for /p/ there is a pufferfish inside the bowl and for medial /j/ there is an angelfish!

There are 11 target words on each page. It addresses early and later sounds in the initial, medial, and final position! It also addresses /s/ blends, /r/ blends, and /l/ blends! There are multiple pages for everyone on your articulation caseload!

This packet also pairs well with the Target felt fishbowl!

The June Articulation Game Boards feature some fishing themed games!

Lastly, let’s talk about one of my favorite things – books!

The Pout-Pout Fish Goes to School by Deborah Diesen
You gotta love the Pout-Pout Fish! The original book is seriously the cutest and this sequel is perfect for back to school or year round. It follows a repetitive pattern, which is perfect for language therapy. Pout-Pout goes to school for the first time and he gets very discouraged. He has trouble writing, drawing, and doing math. He is about to give up until he meets his teacher and finds all of the other new fish. You can use this book to address:
1. Growth Mindset – It’s so important to instill a growth mindset into our students. This truly is a precious book with a wonderful message!
2. Rhyming
3. Predictions

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
This classic is a must-have! Rainbow Fish is beautiful and everyone admires his sparkly scales… but he doesn’t want to share them. He becomes lonely and a wise old octopus tells him he will only become happy when he gives his scales away. You can use this book to address:
1. Social Skills
2. Problem/Solution
3. Sequencing

You can also make a fun craft companion! You just need bingo daubers or word pieces (found in my no prep articulation crafts bundle or speech therapy crafts bundle), glue, paper plates, and aluminum foil.

You can create an eye with a white circle and black marker or you can use googly eye stickers!

The Copycat Fish by Marcus Pfister
This is an adorable Rainbow Fish book that I found at Goodwill years ago! A little fish in Rainbow’s class just adores him and copies everything that he does. This irks Rainbow and he’s not very nice to the little fish. By the end of the story, he realizes that the little fish just looks up to him and they become friends! You can use this book to address:
1. Social Skills – Explain why it’s important to be ourselves and not copy others. Also, you can talk about how to make new friends.
2. Sequencing
3. Character Development – Rainbow Fish changes throughout the story. He becomes more understanding!

*It looks like The Copycat Fish may be out of print. Keep your eye open at yard sales or Goodwill!

Swimmy by Leo Lionni
I love this classic story! It’s so sweet! Swimmy is the fastest fish in his school. One day, a big fish comes and swallows everyone except for him. He is sad and lonely. As he travels across the ocean, he meets tons of marvelous creatures and his happiness returns. He eventually meets another school just like his own, but they’re scared to venture out into the ocean! He teaches them how to swim together like a giant fish so they can be safe! It’s such an endearing story. A true must-have.
1. Problem/Solution
2. Ocean Vocabulary – Swimmy meets a jellyfish, lobster, etc
3. Describing

Fidgety Fish by Ruth Galloway
Tiddler is a fidgety fish! He has so much energy (just like many students)! haha! His mom sends him outside so that he can play and get his wiggles out, but she warns him of the Big Fish. He darts all over the ocean and lo and behold… he ends up in the Big Fish’s belly! His extra energy saves the day though. He wiggles so much that he gives the Big Fish a bellyache and he burps him back out. haha… It’s very silly and cute. You can address:
1. Adjectives – fidgety, big, wiggly, etc
2. Verbs – Tiddler flips, dives, swims, fidgets, etc
3. Problem/Solution