Verb Pictures for Speech Therapy ~ How to Teach Action Words

When children are learning their first words, they need a combination of nouns, verbs, and other word types.

Teaching action words is a great way to expand a child’s emerging vocabulary and help them produce multi-word utterances.

On this page, we’ll show you how to find verb pictures for speech therapy as well as how to teach action words to children to expand their vocabulary skills.

First Words Curriculum for Speech/Language Therapy

First Words Curriculum

A Structured Program for Helping Children Learn their First Words

Where Can I Find Verb Pictures for Speech Therapy?

I often use verb pictures during my speech therapy sessions.

I use these while teaching new vocabulary words or practicing grammar skills in sentences.

Here are a few of my favorite ways find verb pictures for speech therapy:

  1. Google Image Search:
    I always have at least one photo album on my work iPad full of pictures that I’ve grabbed from a simple Google image search. I find pictures of children doing various actions and then I save those images as a photo album. This allows me to easily scroll through pre-selected images for practice.
  2. The Therapy Materials in the SLK Curriculum:
    We have covered many topics inside our SLK Curriculum and there are images inside those therapy kits. Select the specific skill the child needs to work on (vocabulary, grammar, etc.) and you’ll find a pre-made therapy workbook with images for practice. Click Here to Subscribe to the Curriculum.
  3. AI-Powered Therapy Material Generators Inside the SLK Curriculum:
    My other favorite tool is our AI Speech Bots! We’ve created AI-powered bots that will generate any therapy material you need. In particular, our image generator will create custom images that target any skill and are tailored to any interest. You could generate an image that contains the K-Pop Demon Hunters doing a variety of actions. Or a Minecraft-themed image with actions represented. Tailor the materials to the interest of your client and you’ll see faster progress! Click Here to Use the Image Generator Inside the Curriculum.

How to Use Verb Pictures in Speech Therapy:

Vocabulary:

  • Receptive Actions: Place a few pictures in front of your child. Ask him to point to one of the cards (“point to running” or “which one is dancing?”). This skill is easier than having him tell you what the people are doing. Start with this and once he can do it, move on to expressive.
  • Expressive Actions: Show your child one of the pictures. Ask her to tell you what the person is doing. Help your child tell you the name of the action.

Grammar

  • -ing: Help your child use the “-ing” word ending on the end of a verb. When you ask your child what someone is doing, have him say “jumping” or “running”.
  • Pronouns: You can also use these pictures to help your child use the words “he” and “she”. Have your child tell you the whole sentence “She is jumping” or “he is touching his toes”.
  • Possessive Pronouns: Once your child gets good at saying “he” and “she”, start working on “his” and “her”. You can have your child make longer sentence like “She is clapping her hands” or “He is blowing his bubbles”.
  • Helping Verbs: Make sure you have your child use the helping verb “is” when she makes sentences about the cards.

Answering Questions

  • Who Questions: Lay a few pictures out in front of your child and ask her who is doing a certain action. Have her answer by saying “the boy, the girl, or the woman”. Or, you could give each of the people names.
  • What Questions: Ask your child what people are using to perform their action. For example, you could ask “what is she riding?” or “what is she playing with?”
  • Where Questions: Ask your child questions about where people are in the pictures. You could ask “Where is she laying?” or “Where is she eating?”

A Structured Curriculum for Teaching First Words:

Need some help teaching vocabulary words to children? Our First Words Curriculum will give you no-prep activities that you can use with a child to grow their vocabulary, including action words!

First Words Curriculum for Speech/Language Therapy

First Words Curriculum

A Structured Program for Helping Children Learn their First Words

Carrie Clark, Speech-Language Pathologist

About the Author: Carrie Clark, MA CCC-SLP

Hi, I’m Carrie! I’m a speech-language pathologist from Columbia, Missouri, USA. I’ve worked with children and teenagers of all ages in schools, preschools, and even my own private practice. I love digging through the research on speech and language topics and breaking it down into step-by-step plans for my followers.

Fun Fact: I sunburn very easily, it’s kind of ridiculous.  I have to be very careful when out in the sun, especially if we travel South at all.

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