What We've Been Up To This Term
Term 2 has been full of meaningful community events, fundraising initiatives
and plenty of opportunities to connect with our families.
Mother’s Day Drive
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Mother’s Day Drive. Together, we collected and delivered donations to a local women’s shelter to support mothers and families in need.
Walk for Autism
Our clinics proudly participated in the Walk for Autism, helping to raise awareness, promote inclusion and celebrate the incredible children, families and communities we work with every day.
Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
Our team came together to support the Cancer Council through Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea.
Coming Up Next: Winter Woolies (6 July – 17 July)
Winter Woolies is back!
We invite all children to come dressed in their favourite winter gear when attending their Speech Pathology or Occupational Therapy sessions.
Think:
- Pyjamas
- Oodies
- Ugg boots
- Scarves
- Beanies
- Winter jackets
Our clinics will be transformed into winter wonderlands, with games, activities and plenty of winter fun throughout the school holidays.
Childcare Screeners
Our team has been out and about visiting local childcare centres, providing Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy screeners to help identify children who may benefit from a little extra support.
Early intervention can make a significant difference. If a screener identifies an area of concern, families can access support sooner, giving children the best opportunity to build important skills before they become bigger challenges.
Screeners also provide valuable insights for both educators and parents, helping everyone better understand a child’s strengths and areas for growth so they can create supportive environments that encourage development.
If you’d like our team to visit your child’s childcare centre, we’d love to hear from you!
📧 Contact us at: info@chatterboxspeech.com.au
Important Reminders
Appointments & Cancellations
If you need to reschedule an appointment, please provide at least 48 business hours’ notice. Wherever possible, we encourage families to move appointments rather than cancel them to help maintain consistency and progress towards therapy goals.
Helping Us Keep Everyone Healthy
During the colder months, illnesses tend to spread more easily. Our team continues to follow enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices across all clinics.
You can help by:
- Keeping children home if they are unwell, and where possible, continuing therapy through online sessions
- Practising good hand hygiene
Services Available Across All Locations
Did you know we offer Speech Therapy & Occupational Therapy across all clinic locations? If you’re interested in learning more or booking additional supports, please contact your local clinic or book online.
Fee Update Effective 1 July
Please note that effective 1 July, our service fee will be updated to $269.
In addition, starting October, EFTPOS transaction fees will be removed, meaning no additional EFTPOS charges will apply to your payments.
We appreciate your continued support and look forward to providing you with an even better payment experience.
School Readiness Group – Term 3 Enrolments Now Open
Starting Kindergarten is an exciting milestone, and our School Readiness Group is designed to help children build the confidence and skills they need for a successful transition to school.
Delivered by our Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy team, sessions focus on developing communication, social skills, emotional regulation, fine motor skills, independence, following routines and classroom readiness in a fun, engaging environment.
Term 3 Dates: 24 July – 25 September 2026
Give your child the best possible head start for Kindergarten and help them thrive from day one.
To learn more or enquire about availability, contact our friendly team today.
Speech Resources and Top Tips
Sharlyn Comparet
Speech Pathologist
Speech Budget friendly Resources for Home (Kmart)
7 Piece Bowling Set
Price: $5
There are lots of creative ways to play with a bowling set!
Depending on your speech therapy goal, you might use the bowling set as is, and talk about different actions and items while setting up and playing.
If you’re working with paper resources like flashcards, place a flashcard under each bowling pin. When you knock a pin down, practise saying the target word on the flashcard. Continue until you’ve knocked all the pins down, then shuffle the cards and reset.
If you’re not using paper, then take turns practising the speech therapy skill in between rounds.
What skills it targets / what families can work on
- Speech sounds – put the sound cards under the pins, or stick them on the pins with blue tack, then name the cards you knocked down.
- Spatial concepts – Talk about knocking the pins down from the ‘front’ or the ‘back’. Set the pins up ‘under’ a table or chair.
- Concepts
- Numbers – Count the number of pins you set up and knock down.
- Fast/slow – Talk about rolling the ball fast or slowly to hit the pins.
- Quantity – Talk about how many pins you knocked down. i.e. one pin? Some pins? All the pins
- Same/different – Talk about how the pins are the same, but a pin and a ball is different.
- Concepts
Pronouns – Get a few different people to play and talk about who knocked the pins down after each round (She knocked the pins, He knocked the pins).
Regular past tense – After each round, talk about the actions you did with the ball and pins (knocked, rolled).
Irregular past tense – After each round, talk about the actions you did with the ball and pins (hit, chose, set [up], fell, went, threw).
Following instructions – Depending on the level of difficulty, you can give your child instructions to set up the pins in a particular shape, roll the ball quickly or slowly, knock down all the pins or complete another task (e.g. clap/spin/jump) in between knocking down pins.
Top tips for supporting language development at home this winter!
Model & comment with descriptive concepts:
- “Warm” Jumper
- “Soft” Blanket
Model verbs in indoor activities :
- “Turn on the heater…”
- “Drink hot chocolate…”
Ask Wh- Questions
- “What do we wear outside in the cold?”
- “Why do we need a jacket?”
- “Where” are we going today?
Model vocabulary related to:
- Winter clothing (jumper, scarf, beanie, gloves…)
- Types of weather (overcast, stormy, cloudy, rainy…)
- Comfort foods (soup, hot chocolate…)
- Antarctic animals (polar bear, penguin, walrus…)
Following multi-step instructions
- “Please put on your jacket before going outside”
- “Get your scarf then go outside”
Support predicting skills:
- “What will happen if we don’t wear a jacket in the backyard?”
Coming Up – National Pyjama Day
Friday 24th July
If your child attends Chatterbox on Friday 24th July, we encourage them to come dressed in their favourite pyjamas as we join in raising awareness for National Pyjama Day and support this wonderful cause.
Are You Following Us on Socials?
Stay connected with us beyond the clinic!
If you’re not already following us, we’d love for you to join our community on social media. We regularly share updates, therapy tips, fun clinic moments, and helpful ideas you can use at home.
You can find us on:
Following us is a great way to stay up to date with what’s happening across our clinics and pick up simple, practical ideas to support your child’s development at home.
We’d love to see you there!
For more information please contact your clinic or
speak to your therapist at your next session!
speak to your therapist at your next session!