Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

Attention Therapy Activity Ideas - Stage 2

Activity Equipment What to do Variations
Shooting worms 3 x cups Line up cups upside down Add paint or glitter to
3 x cups with a hole Spray a pile of foam on top of work on colours.
in the top each one Use different numbers/
Shaving foam Count down and push down a sizes of holes.
cup with a hole on top over the
shaving foam
The foam will squirt through the
hole like a worm.
Marble painting Marbles Count out marbles and shot Use stencils/ paper
Tray with paper in glasses shapes to make different
bottom Squirt different coloured paint pictures – e.g. an egg at
Paint into each glass Easter or a tree at
Shot glasses Add marbles to glasses and tip Christmas.
into tray
Move tray around so that
children can watch the marbles
painting.

Splat it Shaving foam Count out blobs of shaving foam Different themes e.g. add
Paint/ dye Add coloured paint tissue paper wings/ eyes
Spatula Say ‘ready, steady, go’ and splat to make flies to splat
with spatula. Spray each blob into cake
cases and add sprinkles/
cherry to make cakes to
splat.
Flour sieving Themed items/ Put items (e.g. toy animals) Theme to topic vocab –
picture onto black paper and name e.g. kitchen utensils,
Flour each one science equipment,
Sieve Scoop up flour and sieve over butterfly lifecycle
Black paper items until they are all white Work on categories – use
Move items and then name two pieces of paper and
silhouettes divide the items between
Shake paper to make them them e.g. sea creatures/
disappear. land animals.
Balloon pop Glitter inside Count out balloons Use different sizes of
balloons Lift high above paper and burst balloons e.g. big/small,
Pin with pin so that glitter sprinkles big/bigger/biggest.
Black paper on paper. Use different coloured
(Warn children about bang and balloons/ glitter.
model putting hands over ears). Fill balloons with themed
tissue paper shapes.
Volcano Sugar free Remove label from bottle. Add plastic bugs and
lemonade Add different coloured food glitter before the Mentos
Mint Mentos colouring and watch the colours Use a magic word and
Food colouring mix pretend it’s a magic
Count out 3 Mentos and drop potion.
into bottle.
 Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

Activity Equipment What to do Variations

Salt sprinkle Salt Scoop up salt and say ‘ready Draw letters/numbers in
Cups with holes steady go’ the salt.
Black paper Sprinkle salt onto paper from
holes in cup to cover black
paper
Draw picture in salt, pause to
allow children to guess what it
is.
Shake paper to make picture
disappear.

Fish in the sea Tissue paper fish Add blue colouring to water and Can theme to topic e.g.
Tray pour into tray butterflies in the sky,
Jug of water Sprinkle on glitter and say ‘look bugs in the garden,
Blue food colouring it’s the sea’. footballs in goal, boats in
Glitter Count out 10 fish together the water.
In turn drop each fish from a
height above the sea, cheer the
fish on together (‘come on fish,
come on fish’)
Cheer when the fish lands in the
sea or, if it misses, say ‘get in
the sea’ and put the fish in the
sea.
Knock it down 10 paper cups/ Count to 10 as you build a Stick themed pictures to
blocks pyramid the cups and name.
Say ‘ready steady go’ together Make different sized
and knock it down. pyramids and model
‘big’/ ‘small’.
Flour castles Box of flour Scoop flour into cup Sprinkle glitter/ powder
4 small cups Black Turn upside down on paper to paint on top to make
paper make a flour castle coloured castles.
Count down together (‘1, 2, 3 Hide small figures inside
splat’) to find when you splat
the castle.
Water gloves Disposable plastic Put some food colouring into Try freezing a glove full of
glove the bottles of water water and glitter, and
Water Pour the water into the glove then smash it!
Food colouring Holding the glove high over the
Pin shower curtain, prick holes with
Shower curtain the pin
Dancing sultanas Bottle Fill the bottle with fizzy water Use food colouring in the
Fizzy water Drop the sultanas into the water.
Sultanas bottle
Watch them dance!
 Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

Activity Equipment What to do Variations

Balloon blow-up Plastic bottle Pour vinegar into the bottom of
Vinegar the bottle
Bicarbonate of Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate
soda of soda into the balloon (using a
Funnel funnel)
Balloon Secure the balloon on to the top
of the bottle, keeping the
balloon flopped over
Hold on tight to the balloon and
shake the baking powder into
the bottle
Watch the balloon blow up!
Bubble snakes Plastic bottle Cut the bottom off the water Food colouring (add
Sock bottle drops of colour on to the
Tape Slide the sock over the bottle sock to make different
Soap and secure with tape coloured bubbles)
Water Mix up some soapy water in a
Dish dish
Dip the sock covered bottle into
the water and blow!

For more ideas and tips, visit Gina Davies Autism Centre on Facebook. Photographs and
videos of ideas can also be found on YouTube and Pinterest. Many stage 2 activities can be
adapted for stage 3. For example, the children can take turns at dropping a fish in the sea or
splatting a flour castle.
 Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

Attention Therapy Activity Ideas - Stage 3

Activity Equipment What to do Variations

It’s raining on you Chair The child sits on the chair under Use other weather – for
Clear umbrella the umbrella example tissue paper for
Watering can Pour water over the umbrella snow or rice for hail.
and sing a song about ‘rain’. Use a foil blanket for
wind.
Sausage roll A blanket Child lies on a blanket.
Roll them in the blanket while
singing a song about ‘sausage
rolls’.

Magic hat Hat Child sits on a chair Make items topic themed
Chair Add items to the hat secretly e.g. add photos of topic
Items to hide in hat Put hat on child’s head vocabulary
e.g. feathers, foam Say magic spell/ sing magic song
letters, tissue Take off hat and see what falls
paper shapes, out.
confetti, cotton
wool balls, small
soft toys.
Wrap the present Large roll of paper Wrap a child in paper
Bow Put a bow on their head
Choose another child to unwrap
them.
Rocket balloons Rocket balloons Child chooses a colour of Children draw eyes on
Balloon pump balloon balloons to make flying
Help them to pump it up caterpillars
Countdown together (3, 2, 1,
blast off)
Treacle tracks Shower curtain Lay out the shower curtain Coloured syrup
Treacle/golden Dip the fork in the treacle/syrup
syrup Hold the fork high over the
Fork curtain and scatter the
Food colouring treacle/syrup
Move the fork around to make
patterns/circles
Frogs in the pond Blue/green water Make the pond by filling the
Tray tray with water and the lily pads
Paper lily pads Children take it in turns to make
Plastic frogs the frog jump into the water
 Children’s Speech and Language Therapy

Activity Equipment What to do Variations

5 currant buns Shaving foam Squirt shaving foam into cake Make ‘eggs’ instead of
Cake cases cases ‘buns’
‘Currants’ Count out currants to add to the
Spatula top
Sing 5 currant bun song and
splat to take the currant bun
away
10 green bottles ‘Wall’ Line up bottles on the ‘wall’
10 green bottles Sing 10 green bottles
Children take it in turns to
knock bottles off the wall.

For more ideas and tips, visit Gina Davies Autism Centre on Facebook. Photographs and
videos of ideas can also be found on YouTube and Pinterest.