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Looking for creative ways to use your speech therapy flashcards? Magnetic wands are one of my favorite tools for turning traditional flashcard drills into fun, interactive speech and language activities. Whether you’re targeting articulation, vocabulary, or grammar, these hands-on games help students stay motivated while getting lots of meaningful practice. In this post, I’ll share ideas for using magnetic wands with flashcards, links to free seasonal printable games, and ways to expand your collection with themed and holiday flashcards.
For many SLPs, we serve a wide range of ages, and treatment areas. And, so days we need to get in a lot of meaningful trials and the easiest way to do that is with speech therapy flashcards. But, after a while using them session after session, they can get boring for both you and your students. Here are some reasons you should use them more in therapy to help you with quick planning:
If you have articulation and phonology flashcards but would love more themed speech therapy action cards, here are ready-made flashcards for many themes:
I have found that simple tricks and materials can bring an activity to life. Do you notice that too with therapy? There are certain materials that have become staples in my room. My magnetic wand and chips are one of those. They can be used across a lot of grades and goals.
I got my magnetic wand and chips on Amazon. You might have a magnetic wand in some of your Super Duper resources that you can use as well! Where else have you found magnetic wands and chips? I would love to know in the comments.
Magnetic wands can turn a simple set of speech therapy flashcards into a fun, hands-on game that keeps students motivated while practicing their goals. When kids are engaged, they’re more likely to retain the skills they’re working on—so you get better practice and happier learners.
I first learned about using paper clips and magnetic wands with speech therapy flashcards from my friend Lauren over at Busy Bee Speech. She created a super cute “Catch the Gingerbread Man” version of this game, and I’ve used that idea ever since with my own students throughout the year.
To play, simply click the pink button below to download my free seasonal magnetic wand printables. Then, print the pictures for the current season (popsicles and suns for summer, pumpkins for fall, snowflakes for winter, etc.).
When placing magnetic chips under the speech therapy flashcards, vary the number of chips hidden underneath. Students use the wand to lift the card and collect their “treasure.” Whoever has the most treasure at the end wins.
If you’re looking for a quick, low-prep way to use your speech therapy flashcards, the Big Roller Game is always a hit. You only need a few tools, magnetic wands, chips or paperclips, and a die to turn ordinary drills into an exciting speech therapy dice game that works for articulation or language practice.
To make it even more fun, add your own twist when someone rolls a six:
Roll a 6 → steal 2 coins from another player, earn an extra turn, or lose all your coins for that round. This flexible game is great for mixed speech therapy groups—you can easily target articulation, grammar, or vocabulary goals all in one round.
Tip: Store your magnetic wand and chips in a small plastic pencil case for easy transport between sites.
If you love using simple props like paperclips, check out my post on Ways to Use Paperclips in Speech Therapy for even more ideas. Need more mixed group inspiration? I share several of my favorite activities in this post full of mixed group game ideas.
✅ Grab your free seasonal magnetic wand printables to use with any flashcard set—articulation, verbs, or vocabulary—and bring new excitement to your sessions!
If you need articulation flashcards to pair with these games and activities, grab this set with all the sounds. Not only does each set come with real photo, black and white, and color printing options, you also get 10 games and play-based articulation activities to use with the flashcards1
With this same activity, work on getting the student to communicate using the CORE vocabulary of “go,” “my turn,” “like,” “more,” “all done,” “there,” and “here”. Students can request the color that they want, how they feel while playing with the magnetic wand, and work on social exchanges like “this is fun.” I like to withhold the wand and the magnetic chips to also work on initiation and joint attention.
These wands also work on cause/effect, which is great for trying to get joint attention and keeping kids motivated to request more of something. Put paper clips on the cards so kids can pick up a card while modeling AAC CORE vocabulary. Or, put 2-3 cards face forward as answer choices. Ask a wh-question, or “pick the ____.” Students can make their answer choice with the wand.
Put fringe vocabulary in their communication book/board or device for “sticks”, “pick up”, and “I got them all”. What other fringe vocabulary would you add? I use my low-tech communication boards with students who are non-verbal, have limited verbal skills, or simply benefit from visual cues to help me reduce my verbal prompts.
Using speech therapy flashcards doesn’t have to feel repetitive or boring. With magnetic wands, a few chips, and a touch of creativity, you can turn your sessions into interactive games that make practice fun for every student. Try one of my free seasonal magnetic wand printables linked above, or explore more articulation activities for speech therapy and articulation games for even more ideas.
If you’re looking for ready-to-use flashcards that work for articulation, verbs, and vocabulary, you’ll love the materials inside the Themed Therapy SLP Membership.
You can also find my Speech Therapy Themes Language Activities Bundle and Holiday & Seasonal Language Activities Bundle on TPT for low-prep, flexible flashcards that pair perfectly with magnetic wand games.
Use these articulation flashcards for 23 speech sounds to get high trial drill practice!
Whether you’re targeting articulation, grammar, or vocabulary goals, these flashcard ideas will help your students stay motivated and make meaningful progress—all while keeping therapy playful and productive.
