Bella and I are so pleased to share our FIRST Say and Play kit collaboration with Jill Bacigalupi, the owner and founder of Speech and Smile.
Learning how to speak is a unique journey for each us and speech therapy creates a safe environment for little ones to develop and enhance their verbal communication skills. As a late talker, I was immediately drawn to both the product kits and therapy services that Speech and Smile has to offer to children and their families. Play is a first form of communication for a child that allows them to develop their fine motor skills, engage in socialization, and communicate in a nonverbal format. Speech and Smile’s mission of building on this skill to lead to clear verbal communication patterns and a strong sense of confidence in each child is truly inspiring. Jill and her team offer a wonderful variety of products, resources, and therapy services to fit the unique needs of each child.
It is a pleasure to share our first say and play kit collaboration inspired by “Bella Learns to Read“. It is a true honor to have Bella Elephant welcomed into the inspiring world of Speech and Smile!
Keep Scrolling check out this kit and learn more about Jill’s journey as well as Speech and Smile!
Say & Play the Mini Way – Alphabet Storytime Set!
This interactive alphabet and story set is perfect for speech therapy, classroom learning, or gifting to a curious young reader! Packed with playful tools and meaningful literacy connections, it’s a fun and functional addition to any learning space.
This kit features the following items.
📘 Bella Learns to Read – A heartwarming story about a little girl who’s determined to learn her letters and read. The two sweet elephants in the story are brought to life with included mini figures!
🔠 Set of 26 sturdy 3” wooden uppercase letters (A–Z) in a drawstring bag – great for classroom use or home learning
🧺 White rope basket with filler – beautifully packaged, ready for gifting
🧸 Say & Play Mini Objects Kit – One miniature object per letter of the alphabet (A–Z), plus extra objects for each vowel to represent both short and long vowel sounds
🐘 Two Tiny Tinker elephants to represent the characters in the story!Perfect for:
• Story Time and group learning
• Letter-sound correspondence practice
• Preschool, kindergarten, or therapy room use
• A thoughtful educational gift!⚠️ Choking Hazard – Contains small parts. Not suitable for children under 3 or any child who may put items in their mouth.
Meet Jill!
Jill Bacigalupi, SLP, Founder and Owner received her master’s degree from Indiana University, Bloomington. She has been a pediatric speech and language pathologist for 20 years. Jill also collaborates with SLPs and authors around the world to curate and create Say & Play Kits. Also find some of her curated speech therapy products at Super Duper Publications.
Jill specializes in the evaluation and treatment of speech (articulation) and language delays with children. She incorporates regulation and sensory strategies into speech and language therapy. Jill also has a passion to help parents support their child’s communication development outside of the therapy setting. Therapy tips and tools can also be found on her social media sites. Her current online project is a collaborative Say & Play Story Time on YouTube to engage children in literacy using books, read along videos and mini objects.
About Speech and Smile
Speech and Smile is a speech language clinic that provides a variety of services to meet the needs of each young client. Located in Petoskey, MI, their clinic offers in person services including speech therapy services, rapid reading sessions, and tutor sessions. In addition to these services their site features speech kits as well as other speech therapy resources including links to their YouTube channel and lists to toys to help aid young clients on their speech therapy journey.