Ideas for how to use "STS House" App

"STS" apps. are unique in that they are designed by our team of Speech-Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists. "STS House" is an animated, interactive tool that allows parents and therapists to create endless teaching opportunities in the areas of receptive and expressive language, auditory processing, speech production, visual- perceptual skills, fine motor skills, and problem solving… just to name a few. Our mission is to help therapists enhance speech therapy and occupational therapy sessions as well as provide families with a fun way to help their children learn. This app is designed for children of all ages and skill levels whether working on simple cause-effect or more complex concepts.

Receptive Language and Expressive Language Activities:

  1. Follow one-step directions in the "Following Directions Mode." Have the child name the object before going on to the next item.
  2. Create your own directions for the child to follow in the "Free Play Mode."
  3. Increase a child’s ability to follow complex directions in the "Free Play Mode." An example might be, "Before you find the lawn mower, find the rake."
  4. Increase understanding of language by giving the child clues about an object in the house or backyard (Free Play Mode). The child then has to guess what object is being described. Once the child is able to guess the correct object, he/she activates the object. To increase the complexity of this activity, encourage the child to remember and list as many clues as possible that were provided by the parent/care provider or therapist.
  5. Increase the child’s ability to describe the objects in each room of the house (color, size, shape, etc.). The family member or therapist has to guess what object the child is describing.
  6. Give the child clues about where specific objects are found. The child then tells what room is being described and is encouraged to name 3 more things that might be found in that room.
  7. Increase utterance length and complexity by encouraging the child to give the directions in the "Free Play Mode."
  8. Increase use of past tense verbs as the child tells what happened once the objects have been activated.
  9. Increase the child’s ability to tell the functions of objects (e.g., An oven is for baking.)
  10. Increase the child’s ability to ask and answer a variety of "WH" questions (e.g., Where is the octopus?).

Speech Production/Articulation Activities:

  1. Encourage the child to say a variety of multi-syllabic words (e.g., Refrigerator, microwave, bathtub etc).
  2. Use "carrier" phrases when working on specific sounds: (e.g., If working on /f/, carrier phrase could be, "I found the ______." If working on /sh/, carrier phrase could be ‘’Show me the ________.")
  3. Encourage the child to find all the objects that have their sound (e.g., If working on /k/ the child could find the kitchen, rake, can opener, microwave etc).
  4. Use the app as a reinforce for accurate production of speech sounds. Encourage the child to say the target sound activate an object for a reward.

Occupational Therapy:

  1. Encourage the child to develop fine motor precision skills by using only an index (pointer) finger (digit isolation) to activate the directions button and the animations. Encourage the child to use various fingers (digits) to learn to discriminate between the dynamic and stabilizing fingers.
  2. Promote manual dexterity by encouraging the child to hold a small object with the ring and pinkie fingers while activating the app with index finger.
  3. Improve visual discrimination by encouraging the child to find the objects in the competing background. For example, in the bedroom, the child is required to return the clothing items back to the clothes hamper, some of the objects are more difficult to find.
  4. Improve visual-motor skills: Encourage the child to describe the motor plan that he/she will use to wipe the screen off in activities such as: water sprinkler, putting clothes in hamper, and popping bubbles.
  5. Increase visual memory skills as the child looks at each room and is required to write down or remember 5 things that he/she saw in each room.
  6. Practice problem solving by guessing where Little Chicken is hiding? Where will he be next? What will he do when he is found?

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