Green Screen Magic: Using a Green Screen in Online Speech Therapy

As a pediatric telepractice speech-language pathologist (SLP), I'm always looking for ways to make online speech therapy fun! I started providing online speech therapy a few years before the pandemic. As many clinicians, educators and SLPs had to shift to distance learning teaching last year, so many new resources for online learning have been created! I make online therapy fun by sharing interactive games, virtual books and digital materials like Boom Cards through screen share. I also use materials like puppets, real books, picture task cards and toys. Now I can add green screen magic to my list! 

I am so excited about using my new green screen background kit from Play Spark in my teletherapy sessions! It has been a game changer and it’s just one more tool I can use to switch it up and keep kids engaged in online speech therapy. 

What is a green screen exactly? You know how the weather person on the nightly news is standing in front of a map, but you know that they’re not “really” standing in front of the map? This is the same thing. Using a combination of a chroma key on my computer and a green backdrop behind me, I can be superimposed over anything—even speech therapy worksheets and handouts! When I’m able to literally put myself beside each word that a child is practicing on their digital worksheet, it makes practice so much more engaging and exciting!  

GoGo Speech is a great resource for green screen activities. They provide virtual backgrounds that include lots of slides that go together to tell a story. I call these “going on an adventure.” The kids love them! Virtual backgrounds are also great for working on articulation goals! If the child is working on the “R” sound, for example, I have them say “open the door” or "the phone is ringing” to describe what's going on in the scene. Or they have to say their “magic sound” to go to the next scene. Virtual backgrounds are also great for language therapy and working on language goals such as story retell and sequencing past events, answering wh-questions and predicting what will happen next. GoGo Speech even has green screen activities for younger kids in early intervention, such as peek-a-boo and songs. Kids love seeing the dinosaurs fall down and saying "peek a boo" to help the dinosaur pop out. 

Let’s knock on the door! Virtual background by GoGo Speech.

I also love using the magnifying glass that came with my green screen kit. Using a virtual “I Spy” background, we can look for different objects. First one who “spies” it wins! This is great for working on articulation goals, such as the “S” sound. For example, I have the child say “I spy” to practice the “S” sound. It’s also great to target language skills, such as wh-questions. We can ask "Where is the bird?" and we can describe objects using adjectives and prepositions, such as “the blue bird is on top of the flower.” So many possibilities! 

Green screen activities can be used with no prep, no print activities such as Powerpoint slides, Google slides, handouts from Teachers Pay Teachers and Boom Cards! Green screens work great with Zoom. I love that you can do practically anything with a green screen, which makes it versatile and makes remote learning so fun and engaging.

I love online speech therapy and all that it has to offer! I have so much fun planning lessons for my kids and getting creative and silly to make learning fun.

Does your child struggle with speech or language skills? I offer free consultations to kids and families living in Texas and Illinois.