There was a time when I overplanned everything. I thought my language development activities had to be packed with fresh printables, custom visuals, and Pinterest-perfect setups. But my toddlers? They just wanted to play.
That’s when I started using one toy for a whole week and switching up how I used it each day—targeting verbs, expanding utterances, even symbolic play.
The Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Smart Stages Piggy Bank is one of the best toys for early intervention and play-based therapy.
What I love most about this toy is that it engages a ton of developmental skills. It is excellent for targeting coordination, pincer grasp, and functional words like in/out and open/close.
Children love it- putting in the coins, taking out the coins, opening and closing the door, and pushing the pink nose to hear Piggy sing and oink.
While the Piggy Bank is loved by many SLPs and parents, it has a limit—after a while, you’re repeating the same words and progress can stall. That’s where this Piggy Bank Toy Companion saves the day.
Upgrade & Expand
Time to take the piggy bank to the next level with these basic concept coins.
This speech therapy activity requires minimal prep and can completely transform how you target language goals in your sessions! The basic preschool concepts include:
Counting numbers 1-10
Farm animals and wild animals (great for environmental sounds)
Shapes
Basic pronouns (he, she, we, it)
Basic body parts (perfect way to teach self-awareness)
Emotions (social emotional skills)
Opposites
Early prepositions (also great for answering where questions)
Present progressive verbs (those so important -ing verbs).
How to use it:
Print each page (in color or black/white) and laminate it for durability. Cut out the circles. Attach the circles to the coins through velcro adhesive dots. I recommend getting the transparent version of Velcro dots [check the pictures of this post to see what those look like].
This resource will use a lot of sticky dots. It’s time-consuming initially attaching the dots to all the pieces, but it will save you a lot of scrambling in the long run.
FYI: These coins fit on most versions of this toy!
I typically give my early language learners the option of choosing which coins we are going to play with. They are also responsible for putting the circles onto the coins and matching them to the storage page when we finish! (working fine motor, coordination, and semantics all at once)
Easy Storage Options
To keep these circles from getting lost forever, I prefer to store them in plastic zipper bags and print out an extra copy of each page to act as a storage sheet. [see below ⬇️]
This activity is so much fun and a great way to encourage language skills and communication development.
Ready to bring new life to your therapy sessions (or playtime at home)? With easy storage options, this resource is perfect for use at home or in a therapy setting. Download the Piggy Bank Companion for Speech Therapy and start building language through fun, connection, and play—no extra prep required!
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