Word associations are an important part of vocabulary development. They help build stronger connections between words children already know and make it easier to understand and remember new words. So, how do you teach word associations in speech therapy? Let’s dive in! Here’s a step-by-step guide to teaching this important language skill.
What Are Word Associations?
Word associations are words that go together because they are related to each other in some way. For example:
- Dog → bone, bark, leash, cat
- Rain → umbrella, boots, puddle
- School → teacher, backpack, homework
Why Are Word Associations Important?
Word associations help children build connections between words and ideas. When children think about how words are related, they strengthen their understanding of vocabulary and how words are used together.
Practicing word associations can support children’s ability to:
- Understand vocabulary when they hear it (receptive language)
- Use vocabulary when speaking (expressive language)
- Describe how words are related to each other
- Make connections between words and ideas
Understanding word associations can also support other language processing skills such as:
- Categorizing
- Describing attributes
- Comparing items
Helping children learn multiple types of information about words (for example, what something is, what it does, or how it relates to other things) is consistent with evidence-based vocabulary instruction, which encourages building deeper and more detailed word knowledge.
Because of this, making word associations can be an important step when helping children develop stronger vocabulary skills in speech therapy.
When Are Word Associations Typically Learned?
Children begin learning word associations early in development as they build vocabulary and learn about how words are related to each other. For example, children may learn that dog goes with bone, spoon goes with bowl, or rain goes with umbrella through everyday experiences and conversations.
Many children begin demonstrating an understanding of simple word associations during the toddler and preschool years as their vocabulary grows and they start making connections between words and ideas.
However, some children may need additional support learning word associations, especially if they have language delays or difficulties with vocabulary development. In these cases, direct teaching and practice with word associations can help children build stronger vocabulary connections and deepen their word knowledge.
How To Teach Word Associations in Speech Therapy
Step 1: Introduce What Word Associations Are
Start by introducing pairs of words and explaining how they are connected.
You might say:
- “An umbrella goes with the rain.”
- “A pencil goes with paper.”
- “Cereal goes with milk.”
Using visuals and real objects can help children clearly see how words are related. Make sure to use common items the child has likely been exposed to and provide plenty of models and examples to help the child understand how two words can be connected.
Step 2: Practice Word Associations in Different Ways
Once children understand what word associations are, they can practice the skill in different ways. Activities can gradually move from recognizing associations to naming them.
1. Identify the Associations
Start with recognition tasks where the child can identify what goes together. I usually offer visual choices here for extra support. This helps them understand the concept of word associations with scaffolding.
For example:
- “What goes with milk: cereal or a tree?”
- “What goes with a toothbrush: a ladder or toothpaste?”
2. Match and Sort Items
Once the child understands word associations, they can match and sort items that go together.
For example:
- Matching two items that go together (e.g., bed and pillow)
- Sorting items associated with a topic or location (e.g., things you find at the beach vs. things you find in school).
These activities help children notice connections between multiple items.
3. Find Multiple Associations
To practice flexible thinking, you can have the student find multiple items that are associated with an item.
For example:
- You could say, “What goes with a bee?”, and have more than one correct option available from the choices (e.g., “honey, hive, shoe”). The student can select both honey and hive as both are associated with bees.
4. Name Associations Independently
Next, the student can practice expressively naming an association without visual choices.
For example:
- “What goes with the moon?”
- “What goes with a chair?”
5. Apply Word Association Knowledge
Finally, students can apply their knowledge of word associations in more open-ended activities and natural contexts.
For example:
- Books and stories
- Play activities
- Guessing games
More on that in the next section!
Activities to Teach and Practice Word Associations
Here are some of my favorite ways to teach and practice word associations in speech therapy sessions:
Toys
Toys are great to introduce and practice associations naturally. You can use any play set as most items included in the play set are likely related to one another! For example:
- Toy animal sets (like the farm set)
- Mr. Potato Head
- Car and truck sets
- Play kitchen and play food sets
- Dress-up clothes or costumes
- Toy doctor kit
- Toy tool sets
The farm animal toy set is amazing for teaching and practicing associations. You can also include items from other play sets as items that are not associated with a farm. For example:
- Identifying an association: “What goes with the barn: the cow or the car?”
- Sorting: “Let’s put all the things that go with a barn in our barn here” and place all related items in the barn.
- Naming: “What goes with eggs? What goes with milk?”
Books
Books are also great for making word associations. For example, you can talk about how objects in the pictures are related to other things:
- “The shovel goes with the sand.”
- “The boat goes with the water.”
Structured Activities
Structured activities like printable activity sheets can help children practice word associations in a focused way. They’re great to use as mini-lessons to pre-teach a skill before practicing it in natural contexts like books and toy play.
If you’re looking for no-prep materials for teaching word associations, I created a Word Associations Activity Packet that includes visuals for introducing the skill and structured activity pages that include different ways of practicing word associations.
Adapting Activities for Older Students and Virtual Sessions
Older students
When working with older students, you might want to use activity sheets or classroom assignments to ensure the activities match the student’s age and interests. One activity I really like for older students is a Word Association Chain. Start with a word, then take turns with the student naming words that are related. You can do it in two ways:
1. All words relate to the first word
Start with a word and continue naming words that relate to that original word.
For example: apple → pie, juice, tree, fruit, banana, core, seeds
2. Each word relates to the last word said
Start with a word, and each new word must relate to the word that was just said.
For example: apple → pie → oven → kitchen → chef → restaurant → menu
Teletherapy
You can teach word associations virtually with a variety of activities like games, online books, picture scenes, and digital worksheets. For example, see the image below for an activity to target word associations, which is included in the Activity Packet. Students can also look around the room and name things that relate to those objects, e.g., chair, table, clock, etc. The Word Association Chain game I described in the older students section above also works very well virtually!
Carryover and Home Practice for Word Associations
Practicing word associations outside of speech therapy helps the child strengthen their language processing skills and apply what they’ve learned in other situations.
Caregivers and teachers can support this skill during daily routines by asking simple questions such as:
- “What goes with this?”
- “What else can go with this?”
- “What do you think of when you hear this word?”
These conversations can happen naturally during activities like:
- cooking
- cleaning
- getting dressed
- making crafts
- playing with toys
Talking about how different words and ideas are related during everyday routines helps children build stronger connections between words and expand their language processing skills.
You can also use information handouts to provide caregivers and teachers with simple ideas for practicing word associations outside the therapy room.
What’s Next After Word Associations?
Once children understand word associations, they can continue developing their language processing skills by learning other types of word relationships.
Some related vocabulary development skills include:
- Object Functions (what we use objects for)
- Categories (grouping words by shared features)
- Describing attributes (what something looks like, feels like, or does)
- Similarities and differences
These skills help children build deeper vocabulary knowledge and stronger connections between words and ideas.
A Step-by-Step Resource for Teaching Word Associations
We’ve discussed how to teach word associations in speech therapy step by step. Whether you’re a speech therapist, parent, or educator, teaching this skill can be simple and effective! If you’re looking for a structured way to teach and practice word associations, my Word Associations Activity Packet provides leveled activities designed to support this skill.
The packet includes visuals to help introduce word associations as well as structured activity pages that target different ways of practicing the skill, such as identifying, matching, sorting, naming, and fun guessing games to apply knowledge of word associations in an interactive and engaging way!
These activities are perfect as mini-lessons to introduce the skill or to use during therapy sessions for structured practice and alongside play-based activities to support vocabulary development.
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