Snapdragon Speech

Snapdragon Speech Snapdragon Speech is a private practice located in the Ballarat area

As the year winds down, we want to remind all our families that Snapdragon Speech will be closing for Christmas and will...
24/12/2025

As the year winds down, we want to remind all our families that Snapdragon Speech will be closing for Christmas and will also be taking a temporary pause on all services for the next six months, with a planned return in July 2026.

We are so grateful for your support and trust throughout the year. Wishing all our families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with joy, love, and special moments with your little ones! ✨

Thank you for being part of our Snapdragon Speech community - we can’t wait to reconnect in 2026. 💙

Resource of the Week – Toy Cars!Toy cars are a classic resource with endless potential for supporting speech and languag...
23/12/2025

Resource of the Week – Toy Cars!

Toy cars are a classic resource with endless potential for supporting speech and language development:

🚗 Imaginative play: Children naturally create stories, characters, and events with cars—perfect for building narrative skills and expanding their play ideas.
🗣️ Prepositions & spatial language: Cars are ideal for exploring words like over, under, behind, through, next to, and around as they move through different “roads” or setups.
💬 Requesting & commenting: Kids practise communication by asking for specific cars (“red car”), making choices, and commenting on what’s happening (“It crashed!”, “Go fast!”, “Stop!”).

A simple toy with endless opportunities for connection, communication, and fun!

Gestalt language processors learn language in “chunks” or whole phrases, such as “Let’s go!” or lines from a favourite s...
20/12/2025

Gestalt language processors learn language in “chunks” or whole phrases, such as “Let’s go!” or lines from a favourite show, before breaking them down into individual words.

Support focuses on helping children move from using these chunks to creating flexible, original sentences, while valuing their natural way of learning language.

Resource of the Week – Dirty Dinos!Dirty Dinos by Orchard Toys is a playful board game that offers plenty of speech and ...
20/12/2025

Resource of the Week – Dirty Dinos!

Dirty Dinos by Orchard Toys is a playful board game that offers plenty of speech and language opportunities:

🦖 Vocabulary building: Kids learn and use dinosaur names, clothing items, and action words as they help clean up the dinos and move around the board.
🎲 Turn-taking & social communication: The simple gameplay supports waiting, watching others, celebrating wins, and using predictable phrases like “my turn” or “your turn”.
🗣️ Describing & commenting: Children are encouraged to describe what they see (“He’s muddy!”, “Clean now!”, “Blue sponge”), compare characters, and talk about what’s happening in the game.
💡 Early concepts: Supports understanding of early concepts such as clean/dirty, colours, counting, and simple rules.

A fun, engaging game that naturally creates moments for communication, connection, and early language learning.

🎉📚 End of Term & End of School Year 📚🎉As we wrap up another busy and exciting school year, we want to celebrate all the ...
19/12/2025

🎉📚 End of Term & End of School Year 📚🎉

As we wrap up another busy and exciting school year, we want to celebrate all the growth, achievements, and milestones our students have reached. Every step forward, big or small, is something to be proud of!

To all our families and students, thank you for letting us be part of your journey this year. Your hard work, perseverance, and positivity have been truly inspiring.

We hope everyone enjoys a well-deserved break, and we can’t wait to see you back next year for more learning, laughter, and progress. 💙

Key word sign combines speech with simple signs for the most important words in a sentence. For example, if you say “Tim...
18/12/2025

Key word sign combines speech with simple signs for the most important words in a sentence. For example, if you say “Time for lunch”, you might sign “time” and “lunch” while speaking.

It’s used to support understanding and expression, especially for children who find talking hard. Key word sign can make communication clearer and reduce frustration.

🎄 The lead-up to Christmas can feel exciting — but also a bit much for some kids.The usual routines shift, there's a buz...
17/12/2025

🎄 The lead-up to Christmas can feel exciting — but also a bit much for some kids.

The usual routines shift, there's a buzz in the air, and everything seems to speed up. For children who thrive on structure and predictability, this time of year can feel really big.

Here’s how we support holiday transitions in therapy (and how you can support them at home too):
✔️ Use a visual calendar to count down to Christmas
🧠 Talk through what’s changing — and what’s staying the same
🎁 Practise new routines through pretend play (e.g. visiting family, opening gifts)
⏳ Slow down when you can
💬 Let your child know it’s okay to feel excited and overwhelmed

When we support kids through transitions with compassion and clarity, we give them a sense of safety and agency — even in the busiest season.

By around 4 years, your child’s language skills are blossoming into more detailed conversations! Here’s what they might ...
15/12/2025

By around 4 years, your child’s language skills are blossoming into more detailed conversations! Here’s what they might be doing:

👂 Understanding and answering more complex questions
🗣 Using sentences of 5 words or more, with clearer grammar
🔄 Telling simple stories or describing past experiences
👀 Identifying and naming colours, shapes, numbers, and letters
🎭 Engaging in imaginative play with characters and roles

Tip:
Encourage your child to tell you about their day or make up stories - it helps develop their vocabulary, grammar, and narrative skills.

What exciting stories is your 4-year-old sharing lately? We’d love to hear!

Woof! 🐶 Honey here with your festive reminder:🎄 Don’t eat the tinsel (trust me)💬 All communication counts — even barking...
13/12/2025

Woof! 🐶 Honey here with your festive reminder:
🎄 Don’t eat the tinsel (trust me)
💬 All communication counts — even barking
🧁 Have a snack, then take a nap
💛 You’re doing great, humans

From all of us at Snapdragon Speech (including me, the best clinic dog ever), we’re wishing you a season full of connection, play, and peace — however that looks for you 💙

Resource of the Week – Mr Potato Head!Mr Potato Head is a timeless favourite that’s brilliant for supporting early speec...
12/12/2025

Resource of the Week – Mr Potato Head!

Mr Potato Head is a timeless favourite that’s brilliant for supporting early speech and language skills:

👃 Body part vocabulary: A fun way for children to learn and label body parts while exploring different combinations.
🗣️ Descriptive language: Kids naturally use describing words as they create silly or unexpected faces—great for adjectives, features, and comparing (“big eyes”, “no hat”, “funny mouth”).
🎭 Play-based communication: Builds opportunities for turn-taking, requesting pieces, making choices, and engaging in simple storytelling about their creations.

A simple, familiar toy with endless potential for boosting communication through play!



Incorporate Mr Potato Head into sessions to blend creativity with language development!

🎄 A hilarious Christmas tale where the pigeon tries to take control of Santa’s sleigh! This book is great for building e...
10/12/2025

🎄 A hilarious Christmas tale where the pigeon tries to take control of Santa’s sleigh! This book is great for building expressive language and following directions.

Try these activities to support language development:
🎄Character actions: “What does the pigeon do to try to convince us to let him drive the sleigh? Can you act like the pigeon?”
🎄Predicting outcomes: “What do you think will happen at the end of the book? What do you think Santa will say to the pigeon?”
🎄Storytelling: Ask your child to create their own version of the story. What other things might the pigeon try to do to take over Christmas?

What’s your favourite book for talking about Christmas traditions or holiday excitement?

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS)CAS is a motor speech disorder where the brain has difficulty planning the movements ne...
08/12/2025

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS)

CAS is a motor speech disorder where the brain has difficulty planning the movements needed for speech. The child knows what they want to say, but it’s hard for the mouth to move in the right way to make the sounds.

Therapy focuses on lots of practice with speech movements, often in short, frequent sessions. With time, children with CAS can learn to speak more clearly and confidently.

Address

15 Dawson Street South
Ballarat Central, VIC
3350

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm

Website

https://events.humanitix.com/speechie-library-talks-2024-ballarat-library

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