We were impressed with Spark Cards for speech and language development.

The nice folks at SPARK Innovations sent us a box of Spark cards to review. We are always looking for fun and engaging materials to keep our speech therapy on the cutting edge, so we gladly accepted the offer. We were not paid for our opinion.

According to SPARK Innovations product description on Amazon, SPARK stands for Sentence Formation and Predicting, Answering Questions, Retelling Skills and Knowledge of Basic Concepts. I would add the following

S – Sequencing

P – Problem Solving

A – Analyzing situations

R – Reasoning

K – Kool

The first edition comes with 8 sequencing card sets.

  • Going to the library
  • Preparing for a hurricane
  • Setting up a lemonade stand
  • Going to the vet
  • Playing football
  • Setting the table
  • Going to the beach
  • Planting flowers

The cards are of high quality and are beautifully illustrated in a style that is appropriate for a wide range of ages. The cards are recommended for 3+.

The Kidmunicate Point

We think that SPARK cards are a great tool especially for older children, ages 10+. The amount of detail in the picture scenes make them perfect for sequencing, storytelling and making inferences / predictions. We really liked the questions that are provided on the back of the cards to guide the conversations. It is a great tool to use in therapy and for parents to use at home.

The cards are perfect for problem solving. Each sequence of cards includes one or two problems that the child can identify, describe and solve. The wonderfully detailed scenes provide the countless opportunities to expand vocabulary and discuss sentence formulation – nouns, verbs, verb tenses, pronouns, adjectives and prepositions.

The box is labeled 3+, but we believe that most of the activities and the images that depict them maybe too complex for many kids under 9+. The cards are designed with 6 sequencing cards for advanced audience, but the stories can be reduced to 3 or 4 cards for a more simplistic story.

We will use SPARK cards for our 9+ children and encourage parents to use them to extend the learning at home.