If you've ever picked your child up from a speech therapy session and found them jumping on a trampoline, crawling through a tunnel, or tossing bean bags — you might have thought, "Is this actually therapy?"
The short answer: yes, absolutely. And there's a good reason why.
Movement isn't just a fun add-on to therapy. It's connected to how children learn, use language, and stay settled enough to take on new challenges. Let's look at why moving the body can be one of the most useful tools in a speech pathologist's toolkit.
The Brain-Body Connection
For a long time, movement and language were treated as separate systems — one handled by the body, the other by the brain. But neuroscience has shown us that these systems are far more intertwined than we once thought.
The cerebellum, traditionally known as the brain's "movement centre," also plays a role in language processing, attention, and cognitive function (Mariën et al., 2014). The motor cortex, which controls physical movement, sits close to Broca's area, which is involved in speech production, and the two are connected. Motor and language development also tend to unfold together in early childhood (Iverson, 2010).
That's interesting background, and it's worth being clear about what it does and doesn't show. It doesn't, on its own, prove that adding movement to a therapy session improves speech or language outcomes. What we see in practice is that movement helps some children feel comfortable, interested and able to take part, and distracts others, so it's a choice we make child by child.
What Is Embodied Cognition?
There's a growing body of research around a concept called embodied cognition — the idea that our thinking isn't just something that happens "in our heads." Our bodies play an active role in how we understand, learn, and remember.
For children, this is especially true. Young children learn about the world through movement and sensory experiences long before they learn through words and abstract ideas. When a toddler pushes a ball and hears you say "roll!", they're linking the word to the physical experience. That's embodied learning.
Research suggests that when children physically act out concepts — like jumping for "up" or crouching for "under" — they understand and remember those concepts more effectively than when they simply hear or see them (Glenberg et al., 2013). Movement gives language something to "stick to" in the brain.
Movement and Executive Function
Adele Diamond's influential research on executive function has highlighted the strong relationship between physical activity and cognitive skills like attention, working memory, and self-regulation (Diamond, 2015). These are exactly the skills children need in order to learn in therapy.
Think about it: a child who can't sustain attention, hold instructions in mind, or manage their frustration is going to struggle to learn new speech or language skills — no matter how well-designed the activity is. Movement helps build the cognitive foundations that make learning possible, and it's one of the ways we manage cognitive load across a session.
Diamond's research also shows that the type of movement matters. Activities that combine physical movement with cognitive challenge — like an obstacle course where you have to remember a sequence, or a game where you move in response to a verbal instruction — are particularly effective at supporting executive function development (Diamond, 2015).
Movement and Regulation
Any parent or therapist knows that a child who is overwhelmed, anxious, restless, or shut down finds it much harder to take part, let alone take on new words or sounds. We adapt what we're doing to how the child is going, rather than pushing through.
Movement is one useful tool for supporting regulation. Proprioceptive input (heavy work, pushing, pulling, carrying) and vestibular input (swinging, rocking, spinning) help the nervous system find a "just right" state for learning. Many children and clinicians find this helps, and it fits with what we know about arousal and attention.
For many children, especially those who are neurodivergent, starting a session with movement can be the difference between a productive session and a difficult one. It's not a reward or a distraction; for those children it's part of getting ready to learn. One of the great advantages of mobile speech pathology is that a session in your home can start with a run around the garden or some jumping on the trampoline (one at a time, with an adult watching from the ground) — things that simply aren't possible in a waiting room. Children who have a movement break before a session are often more settled and ready to join in.
Why Sitting Still Isn't Always Best
There's a persistent idea that "real learning" happens when children sit quietly at a table. But for many children — particularly young children, active children, and neurodivergent children — sitting still actually makes learning harder, not easier.
Sitting still requires significant cognitive and physical effort. For some children, the energy they spend trying to keep their body still leaves less brain power available for the actual learning task. It's like trying to have a phone conversation while balancing on one foot — you can do it, but not as well as when you're comfortable and settled.
Australia's Early Years Learning Framework (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022) recognises that children learn through play, movement, and active exploration of their environment.
This doesn't mean table-based work is never appropriate. For some children and some goals, sitting at a table is exactly right. But it shouldn't be the default for every child, every session, every time.
What Does This Mean for Speech Therapy?
When your child's speech pathologist incorporates movement into a session, they're drawing on what we know about how children learn, and on how your child responds. The kinds of things going on under the surface are:
- Using movement to support regulation — helping your child reach a calm, alert state before introducing challenging tasks
- Embedding language targets in physical activities — so learning is meaningful and memorable
- Combining cognitive and motor challenges — to build executive function skills alongside communication skills
It's Not Just About Having Fun (Though That Helps Too)
Let's be clear: fun matters. Children who enjoy therapy are more engaged, more motivated, and more likely to practise outside of sessions. But movement-based therapy isn't just about making sessions enjoyable. It's about using what we know about the brain to create the best possible conditions for learning.
When you see your child bouncing on a ball while naming pictures, or running to collect words hidden around the room, or acting out a story with their whole body — that's evidence-informed practice in action. I've often found that movement helps when it's serving the language goal, and gets in the way when it's just keeping a child busy — the distinction matters more than the movement itself.
If you're curious about how we use movement in your child's sessions, or if you'd like ideas for active learning at home, we'd love to chat.
Ready for practical strategies? Read our companion article: Using Movement in Speech and Language Sessions: Practical Ideas | Brisbane
Alexandra Bouwmeester is a Senior Speech Pathologist (MSPA, CPSP) with over 14 years' experience. She offers mobile speech pathology across Brisbane's south side and Logan, designing active, movement-rich sessions that meet children where they are.
References
Australian Government Department of Education. (2022). Belonging, being and becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (V2.0).
Diamond, A. (2015). Effects of physical exercise on executive functions: Going beyond simply moving to moving with thought. Annals of Sports Medicine and Research, 2(1), 1011.
Glenberg, A. M., Witt, J. K., & Metcalfe, J. (2013). From the revolution to embodiment: 25 years of cognitive psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(5), 573–585.
Iverson, J. M. (2010). Developing language in a developing body: The relationship between motor development and language development. Journal of Child Language, 37(2), 229–261.
Mariën, P., Ackermann, H., Adamaszek, M., Barwood, C. H. S., Beaton, A., Desmond, J., ... & Ziegler, W. (2014). Consensus paper: Language and the cerebellum: An ongoing enigma. The Cerebellum, 13(3), 386–410.
