DIY Story Cubes for Speech Therapy: Boosting Language and Narrative Skills Through Play

Here is my 2nd post all about no-cost/low-cost language activity solutions for your therapy room. Taking a little stress out of your season.

Using DIY Story Cubes in therapy is a wonderful way to nurture language and narrative skills through creative play. To make story cubes, you can repurpose regular dice or make cards, decorating each side with pictures of animals, places, weather, and objects. When children roll the cubes or draw cards, they can build a story around the images they see, sparking curiosity and imagination. This open-ended setup invites kids to think freely, creating unique stories from just a few visual cues—a perfect opportunity for them to explore language and storytelling in a low-pressure environment.

For younger children or those just beginning to work on narrative skills, start with two cubes—one for character and one for setting. This way, the task remains manageable, and they can focus on building a simple plot, like, “The frog (character) at the beach (setting) finds a hidden treasure.” As children grow more comfortable, add more cubes to introduce story elements such as problems, weather, or objects, encouraging more detailed stories. This gradual buildup helps children understand the structure of a story, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, making the activity accessible and developmentally appropriate.

In addition to boosting storytelling, Story Cubes support the development of sentence structure. With each roll, children have the chance to form complete sentences as they describe what’s happening in the story. This exercise not only reinforces grammatical skills but also helps children learn how to structure sentences in a meaningful way. You might ask guiding questions like, “What happens next?” or “How does the character feel?” to help them expand their thoughts. The emphasis on full sentences supports syntax and builds confidence in forming more complex statements, which is a key aspect of language development.

Story Cubes also foster creativity and expression, giving children the freedom to bring their ideas to life. As they spin stories from random combinations of pictures, they develop expressive language, learn to take risks with ideas, and become more comfortable sharing original thoughts. Each story becomes an expression of their individuality, encouraging them to embrace and communicate their perspectives. Whether using two cubes or six, Story Cubes transform therapy sessions into a dynamic language-learning experience that’s as enjoyable as it is beneficial.

If you'd rather not DIY and have a 'done for you' resource, try my Story Telling Dice and my Narrative Development Picture Cards. Or, get the whole Story Telling Bundle here; with 6 really useful resources.

Have some fun and.... keep on talking!