Welcome to Magic Studio
Magic Studio is a drag-and-drop card deck builder designed specifically for speech-language pathologists, teachers, and parents who create interactive therapy activities. Instead of adapting generic tools like Google Slides or PowerPoint for speech work, Magic Studio gives you purpose-built elements for articulation drills, language activities, vocabulary practice, phonological awareness tasks, and social-emotional learning — all in one visual editor.
Every deck you build is a collection of cards, and every card is an 800×600 canvas where you place elements freely. There are 22 element types, from simple text and images to interactive widgets like multiple choice, drag-and-drop sorting, flip cards, spinners, recording prompts with real-time pronunciation scoring, and more. You build in the editor, preview exactly what students will see, and publish with one click. Students open a link in any browser — no app install needed — and start practicing immediately.
Who is this guide for?
SLPs
Build therapy decks aligned to IEP goals with built-in scoring and progress tracking.
Teachers
Create interactive classroom activities for vocabulary, reading comprehension, and phonics.
Parents
Support home practice with engaging digital activities your child's therapist can customize.
What can you create?
Magic Studio decks can be used for virtually any speech-language therapy activity. Here are some of the most common use cases:
- Articulation drills — target word flashcards with images, audio models, and recording prompts for students to practice specific sounds.
- Language activities — WH-question comprehension, story sequencing, category sorting, sentence building, and vocabulary matching.
- Vocabulary games — flashcard decks with flip cards, matching pairs, and multi-choice definitions.
- Phonological awareness — syllable counting, rhyming pairs, and sound discrimination tasks.
- Social-emotional learning — emotion identification, perspective-taking stories, and self-check-in activities.
- Fluency practice — timed reading passages with recording capture for rate and smoothness tracking.
Quick Start (5-minute tutorial)
You can go from zero to a published, playable deck in under five minutes. Here is the fastest path:
Create a new deck
From your dashboard, click the "New Deck" button. Give your deck a title and optionally pick a category and target sound. You can also start from a template if you want a head start.
- Templates give you pre-built cards with common speech therapy layouts already set up, like articulation drills, minimal pairs, or vocabulary flashcards.
- If you start blank, you get a single empty card with a white background, ready for your first element.
- You can always change the deck title, category, and settings later from the deck settings panel.
Add your first card
Your deck starts with one blank card. Use the card sidebar on the left to add more cards, duplicate existing ones, or reorder them by dragging.
- Each card is an independent 800x600 canvas where you place elements freely.
- Cards play in order from top to bottom in the sidebar. Students swipe or tap arrows to navigate between them.
- Think of cards like slides in a presentation, but interactive.
Add elements to the card
Click the "+" button in the top toolbar to open the element picker. Start simple: drop a Text element for your prompt and an Image element for a visual.
- Elements appear at the center of the canvas. Drag them to reposition, and use the corner handles to resize.
- Double-click a Text element to type directly on the canvas.
- You can layer elements on top of each other. Elements added later sit on top of earlier ones.
Add interactivity
Make your card interactive by adding a Multi-Choice element, Answer Buttons, or a Fill in the Blank. Set the correct answer in the properties panel on the right.
- Multi-Choice is the fastest way to add a full A/B/C/D question with automatic scoring.
- Answer Buttons give you more control over positioning and styling when you need custom layouts.
- Fill in the Blank is great for recall tasks where students need to type their answer.
Preview your deck
Click the Preview button in the toolbar to see your deck exactly as students will experience it. Test every interactive element to make sure answers score correctly.
- Preview mode renders on the same canvas size as the editor, so what you see is what students get.
- Interact with every button, flip card, and drag-and-drop to verify behavior.
- Close preview to return to the editor and make adjustments.
Publish
When you are happy with your deck, click Publish. Your deck becomes available to your students immediately. You can keep editing after publishing; changes save automatically.
- Published decks get a shareable link you can send to students or parents.
- You can unpublish a deck at any time to hide it while you make major changes.
- Students see the latest saved version every time they open the deck.
The Editor
The Magic Studio editor has four main areas: the canvas (center), the toolbar (top), the card sidebar (left), and the properties panel (right). Understanding how they work together is the key to building decks efficiently.
Canvas
The canvas is the central workspace where you place and arrange elements. It is an 800×600 pixel design area that maps directly to what students see in Play mode. When you position an element at a specific location on the canvas, that is exactly where it appears on the student's screen.
Click an empty area of the canvas to deselect all elements. Click an element to select it (blue handles appear for resizing and rotation). Drag an element to reposition it. Use the corner handles to resize and the rotation handle to rotate.
Elements layer on top of each other in the order they were added. Elements added later appear on top of elements added earlier. To control layering, add background shapes first and interactive elements last.
Toolbar
The toolbar runs across the top of the editor. Here is what each button does:
Opens the element picker. Browse all 22 types and click to add one to the current card.
Step backward or forward through your editing history. Also available via keyboard shortcuts.
Opens the deck in Play mode so you can test every interaction exactly as students will experience it.
Makes the deck available to students. You get a shareable link after publishing.
Opens deck-level settings: title, description, category, target sounds, difficulty, and cover image.
Opens the in-editor help modal with quick references for every element type.
Card Sidebar
The card sidebar sits on the left side of the editor. It shows thumbnail previews of every card in your deck, ordered from top to bottom. The order in the sidebar is the order students navigate through in Play mode.
Click a thumbnail to switch to that card. Drag thumbnails up or down to reorder cards. Right-click (or long-press on mobile) a thumbnail for options: duplicate, delete, or toggle template card status.
Use the "+" button at the bottom of the sidebar to add a new blank card. The new card appears at the end of the deck and becomes the active card in the editor.
Properties Panel
The properties panel sits on the right side of the editor. When no element is selected, it shows card-level settings (background color, background image, template card toggle, accessibility text). When you select an element, the panel switches to show that element's type-specific properties.
Every element has a shared set of common properties at the top of the panel: position (x, y), size (width, height), rotation, opacity, border settings, lock state, drag behavior, hide-on-tap toggle, and alt text. Below the common properties, you will see the type-specific properties that are unique to each element type.
Changes in the properties panel take effect immediately on the canvas. There is no "apply" button. Adjust a value and see the result in real time.
Auto-Save & Undo/Redo
Magic Studio saves your work automatically every second. A small indicator in the toolbar shows the last save time, so you always know your work is safe. There is no manual save button because you never need one.
Undo and redo work across all operations: adding elements, moving them, changing properties, deleting cards, and more. The undo stack is preserved for your entire editing session.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Magic Studio supports standard keyboard shortcuts for common editing operations. All shortcuts work when the canvas has focus. If a shortcut is not responding, click an empty area of the canvas first.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘ + Z | Undo the last action |
| ⌘ + Shift + Z | Redo the last undone action |
| ⌘ + C | Copy the selected element |
| ⌘ + V | Paste the copied element |
| ⌘ + D | Duplicate the selected element in place |
| Delete / Backspace | Delete the selected element |
| Escape | Deselect all elements |
| Arrow keys | Nudge the selected element by 1 pixel |
| Shift + Arrow keys | Nudge the selected element by 10 pixels |
Elements Guide
Elements are the building blocks of every card. Each one serves a specific purpose — displaying text, playing audio, capturing a student's answer, recording their voice, or running a self-contained mini-game. You can mix and match any combination of elements on a single card.
Magic Studio includes 22 element types grouped into six categories. This section covers every element in detail: what it does, when to use it in therapy, its key configurable properties, and practical tips from working SLPs.
Content Elements
Content elements are the visual foundation of every card. They display information but do not capture student responses. Use them for prompts, instructions, images, and visual structure.
The Text element is the most frequently used element in Magic Studio. It renders a block of text on the card canvas with full control over font family, size, weight, color, and horizontal alignment. Double-click any Text element on the canvas to edit it inline, just like a word processor.
What it does
Displays a single block of text with automatic line-wrapping inside its bounding box. You control the box dimensions by resizing, and the text reflows to fit. There is no rich-text formatting within a single element (no bold-within-regular), but you can place multiple Text elements side by side for mixed styles.
Text elements are purely visual. They do not capture input, do not score, and do not respond to taps in Play mode. Their job is to present information: titles, instructions, target words, labels, and any static content the student needs to read.
Because Text is a first-class canvas element, it has all the shared properties: position, size, rotation, opacity, border, lock state, drag behavior, and alt text. You can rotate text at an angle, make it semi-transparent for watermarks, or even make it draggable for sentence-building activities.
When to use it
- Card titles and section headings that tell the student what to do on this card.
- Target words for articulation practice, displayed large and bold alongside a matching image. For example, the word "rabbit" in big bold letters centered above a rabbit picture.
- Multi-step instructions that explain a complex activity. Use left-aligned text at a comfortable reading size.
- Labels inside custom UI you build from shapes and buttons, such as category headings in a sorting layout.
- Persistent elements on template cards, like a deck-wide title bar or a "Card X of Y" counter that appears on every card.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Use larger text for headings and medium sizes for instructions. Keep text big enough to read easily on a tablet at arm's length, which is how most therapy sessions work.
- Stick to high-contrast color combinations. The default dark text on the default off-white card background is the most readable option for struggling readers.
- Double-click to edit inline. Press Escape or click outside to finish editing. This is faster than using the properties panel for quick text changes.
- For multi-line text, use left alignment. Centered paragraphs are significantly harder to read because the line starts jump around.
- If you need mixed formatting within a line (one bold word in an otherwise normal sentence), use two Text elements positioned side by side rather than trying to force it into one element.
The Image element displays a picture on the card canvas. You can upload images from your device, paste a URL, or search the built-in word bank of over 9,400 sound-tagged therapy images. Images are the single most important visual element for speech therapy activities because visual prompts drive comprehension, recall, and engagement across all age groups.
What it does
Places a picture on the canvas with independent control over position, size, rotation, border, and corner radius. The image can be displayed in two modes: "contain" (the full image is visible with letterboxing if needed) or "cover" (the image fills the box completely, cropping if the aspect ratio differs).
Uploaded images are stored securely in the cloud and delivered fast to students everywhere. The editor handles everything automatically — you just pick a file.
Every Image element has an alt text field for accessibility. Screen readers announce this text, and it appears in the card's accessibility summary. Setting meaningful alt text is required for decks that meet accessibility standards.
When to use it
- Target word pictures in articulation practice. The classic setup is a clear picture of the target (a rabbit for /r/, a sun for /s/) with the word displayed in a Text element below it.
- Answer choices in point-to-the-picture or receptive vocabulary tasks where the student selects from multiple images on a card.
- Visual scaffolds for language tasks: scene images the student describes or retells, sequence images for narrative work, or diagrams for expository language.
- Background decoration on template cards: a textured paper look, a branded border, or themed visual elements that appear on every card.
- Draggable tokens for custom drag-and-drop activities. Toggle the isDraggable property and the image becomes a movable piece on the student side.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Always set the fit mode deliberately. Use "contain" for word-bank flashcards so nothing gets cropped, and "cover" for decorative backgrounds that should fill the entire box.
- Fill in alt text for every image. Even decorative images should have alt text set to an empty string so screen readers know to skip them.
- If your image looks blurry or pixelated after scaling up, upload a higher-resolution source. The editor does not upscale images.
- For drag-and-drop activities, enable the isDraggable property on the image. It becomes a draggable piece that students can pick up and drop on Drop Zone elements.
- To use a word-bank image, open the Image properties panel and use the search feature. You can search by word or by target sound to find appropriate therapy images.
The Shape element is a colored rectangle with optional border and corner radius. It is the low-level building block for card layout and visual hierarchy. Use shapes to create background panels, section dividers, highlight boxes, callout areas, and color-coded tokens.
What it does
Renders a solid-filled rectangle with configurable color, opacity, border radius, and optional border. Shapes are non-interactive by default: they do not capture input or affect scoring.
Think of shapes as building blocks for your card's layout. They sit behind or around other elements to give the card visual structure. A semi-transparent blue shape behind a text block creates a callout panel. A thin dark shape across the card creates a section divider.
Shapes can also be made draggable, turning them into simple colored tokens for drag-and-drop sorting activities. Four colored shapes with isDraggable enabled, combined with matching Drop Zones, creates a basic color-sorting activity.
When to use it
- Background panels behind text blocks to create contrast and visual grouping.
- Section dividers between different parts of a card, such as separating the prompt area from the answer area.
- Color-coded sorting tokens for drag-and-drop activities where each color represents a category.
- Highlight boxes around a target word or active area to draw the student's attention.
- Progress bar backgrounds or decorative frames on template cards.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Layer shapes under other elements by adding them first. Element order is z-order: elements added later render on top of elements added earlier.
- For a subtle background effect, lower the shape's opacity to 20-30% so the card background shows through. This creates a gentle tinted panel.
- Shapes are the cheapest element to render. Do not hesitate to use many of them for rich, structured card layouts.
- For outlined-only shapes (no fill, just a border), use the element's border settings rather than the shape's own color. Enable the border, set the color and width, and set the shape color to transparent.
Caption Pic is a combined image-plus-caption widget. It displays a picture on top and a styled caption bar underneath, all as a single draggable and resizable unit. This is the ideal element for flashcard-style tiles where you need a picture and a label that move and resize together.
What it does
Renders an image area on top and a caption text bar on the bottom, locked together as one element. The caption bar has its own font size, font weight, text color, and background color, so you can style it independently from the image.
Compared to placing a separate Image element and Text element and trying to keep them aligned, Caption Pic guarantees the caption stays anchored to the image. When you resize the widget, both parts scale proportionally. When you drag it, both move together.
Caption Pic is especially useful when you are building grids of consistent picture-word tiles. Six Caption Pics in a 3x2 grid create a professional-looking flashcard set without fiddling with 12 separate elements.
When to use it
- Vocabulary flashcard tiles with a picture on top and the target word label underneath.
- Choice option grids where each option needs both a visual and a short text label.
- Picture dictionary reference cards that display on a template card for the whole deck.
- Any layout where you need multiple consistent image-plus-label tiles and want them to stay aligned.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Caption Pic is ideal for repetitive picture-word tiles. For a single large hero image with a separate description, use a standalone Image plus a standalone Text instead.
- Keep captions to one or two words. The caption bar is narrow and long text will either truncate or look cramped.
- Use a high-contrast background color on the caption bar (white with dark text, or a bold color with white text) so the label reads clearly against the image above it.
- Always set alt text. For students using screen readers, the caption text and the alt text should together fully convey the meaning of the tile.
Interactive Elements
Interactive elements capture student responses and drive scoring. They are the core of every graded activity, from simple yes/no questions to multi-choice comprehension quizzes.
Multi-Choice is a complete multiple-choice question widget contained in a single element. Provide a list of text options, designate the correct one, pick a layout mode, and the widget handles rendering, touch interaction, and scoring automatically. It is the fastest way to add a graded question to any card.
What it does
Renders a set of option buttons (2-6 text choices) in either a vertical stack or a 2-column grid layout. When a student taps an option, the widget visually marks their selection and scores the attempt against the configured correct index.
The randomize option shuffles the order of choices each time the card loads, preventing students from memorizing answer positions across repeated plays. The correct index is tracked internally, so randomization does not break scoring.
Multi-Choice is a contained widget. Unlike individual Answer Buttons (which you place and style separately), Multi-Choice owns its entire layout, spacing, and feedback. This makes it faster to set up but less flexible for custom card designs.
When to use it
- Sound identification: "Which word starts with /r/?" with four text options.
- Receptive vocabulary: "Which word means 'very happy'?" with synonym choices.
- Reading comprehension: a question about a passage with full-sentence answer options.
- Grammar practice: "Which sentence is correct?" with grammatically varied choices.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Turn randomize on for any question the student will see more than once. Otherwise they memorize position instead of learning content.
- Use the grid layout for short options (one to two words each) and vertical for sentences or longer phrases.
- Keep the option count to four for most activities. Six is the maximum before mobile layouts become cramped.
- Pair the Multi-Choice with a Text element or Image above it for the question prompt. The widget itself does not include a question area.
- If your answer options are images rather than text, use Multi-Picts instead.
Fill in the Blank provides a text input field where students type their answer. You configure a list of acceptable correct answers, and the widget scores the submission against that list. It is the element of choice for productive recall tasks: vocabulary, spelling, cloze sentences, and grammar exercises.
What it does
Renders a styled text input with a placeholder hint. When the student types and submits their answer, the entered text is compared against the correctAnswers list. If any entry in the list matches (with optional case-insensitive comparison), the attempt is scored as correct.
The correctAnswers list supports multiple acceptable answers, which is essential for open-ended prompts where several responses are valid. For example, a cloze sentence "The dog ran ___ the yard" might accept "across", "through", and "around".
Fill in the Blank requires the student to recall and type, which is a significantly higher cognitive demand than tapping a button. Use it with students who can spell confidently, and prefer Answer Button or Multi-Choice for younger or less confident writers.
When to use it
- Vocabulary recall: "What is a word for a baby dog?" with the answer "puppy".
- Spelling drills where the student must reproduce a target word from a picture prompt.
- Cloze sentences with a blank space the student fills in with the missing word.
- Grammar exercises: verb conjugation ("Yesterday I ___ to the store"), article selection, or pronoun practice.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Always include multiple acceptable answers when reasonable. Students get frustrated when they know the concept but typed a synonym you did not list.
- Keep caseSensitive off unless you are specifically grading capitalization as a learning objective.
- For younger students who cannot spell reliably, use Answer Button or Multi-Choice instead. Fill in the Blank is best for students with functional writing skills.
- Add common misspellings or alternate word forms to the correctAnswers list to reward partial knowledge rather than penalizing imperfect spelling.
- Make the answer field large enough so on-screen keyboards on tablets don't overlap it.
The WH-Question element is purpose-built for WH-question practice, one of the most common goals in speech-language therapy. It combines a question type tag (who, what, where, when, why, how), a prompt, an optional supporting image, and a correct answer into a structured widget that tracks performance by question type for progress reporting.
What it does
Renders a structured question prompt with the WH-type displayed as a visual tag (e.g., a "WHERE" badge above the question). The element optionally shows a supporting image and stores the correct answer for scoring.
The key advantage over a plain Text element is metadata: the questionType field feeds into progress reporting, so you can see breakdowns like "85% accuracy on WHERE questions, 40% on WHY questions" over time. This data-driven insight is what SLPs need for IEP progress monitoring.
WH-Questions are typically paired with a Recording Prompt (for verbal answers) or a Fill in the Blank (for typed answers) on the same card. The WH-Question provides the structured prompt, and the companion element captures the response.
When to use it
- Structured WH-question comprehension drills across a deck of cards, with each card targeting a specific question type.
- Reading comprehension after a passage: one WH-Question per key detail, systematically covering who, what, where, when, why, and how.
- Scene description work: an image of a scene paired with a WH-Question about what is happening, who is involved, or where it takes place.
- Story retell with targeted questions that probe understanding at each level of the narrative.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Set questionType accurately. It feeds into progress reports, and incorrectly tagged questions produce misleading data.
- Pair with a Recording Prompt for open-ended verbal responses, which is the most common format in speech therapy.
- Keep the correctAnswer short and specific. It is matched against student input, not displayed to the student.
- Build decks that systematically work through all six WH-types for a given topic. This creates a comprehensive comprehension activity.
- For younger students, start with who, what, and where before introducing when, why, and how. The latter require more abstract reasoning.
Drag & Drop
Drag-and-drop elements let students physically move items on screen. They are perfect for sorting, matching, sequencing, and any kinesthetic learning activity. These range from low-level building blocks (Drop Zone) to complete self-contained activities (Categorize).
A Drop Zone is a labeled target area that accepts draggable elements. When combined with any element that has its isDraggable property enabled, it forms the foundation of every custom drag-and-drop activity. For pre-built sorting, see Categorize. For pre-built sequencing, see Reorder.
What it does
Renders a colored rectangular target with a label on the canvas. In Play mode, draggable elements (images, shapes, text, etc.) can be picked up and dropped onto the zone. The Drop Zone checks the dropped element's ID against its acceptsIds list to determine whether the drop is correct.
Drop Zones give you fine-grained control that pre-built widgets cannot match. You can have multiple zones per card, mix image and text draggables, create custom spatial layouts, and define per-zone acceptance rules. The trade-off is more setup work compared to Categorize or Matching Pairs.
When a correct element is dropped, the zone provides positive visual feedback. When an incorrect element is dropped, it snaps back to its original position. This behavior is automatic and does not require any configuration beyond setting the acceptsIds list.
When to use it
- Custom matching activities where each item has one correct target slot, such as matching labels to parts of a diagram.
- Sorting tasks with two to four categories and mixed draggable types (images plus text elements).
- Sentence building where draggable word chips land in ordered zones to form a grammatically correct sentence.
- Labeling activities: draggable text labels dropped onto target zones positioned over an image, such as labeling parts of the mouth.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Always set acceptsIds for each zone. A zone that accepts everything is not an activity; it provides no learning feedback.
- Use visually distinct colors for zones in multi-category sorts so the grouping is obvious before the student starts dragging.
- Make zones physically larger than your draggable elements. Small drop targets are frustrating to hit on touchscreens, especially for younger students with developing fine motor skills.
- For straightforward sorting tasks, consider using the Categorize element instead. It handles the entire experience in one element.
- Remember to enable isDraggable on the source elements. A Drop Zone on its own without any draggable elements does nothing.
Matching Pairs is a self-contained memory-style matching game. Provide a list of left-right pair entries, and the widget renders a grid of face-down tiles that students flip two at a time to find matches. It handles shuffling, flipping animations, match detection, and a completion state, all from a single element drop.
What it does
Takes an array of pair objects (each with a left string and a right string) and creates a shuffled grid of face-down tiles. Each pair generates two tiles: one for the left value and one for the right value. Students tap to flip tiles two at a time, trying to match the left item with its corresponding right item.
When a match is found, both tiles stay face-up and are visually marked as matched. When tiles do not match, they flip back face-down after a brief pause. The widget reports a completion event when all pairs are found.
Matching Pairs is text-only. Both the left and right values are rendered as text on the tiles. If you need image-based matching, use Drop Zones with draggable Image elements instead.
When to use it
- Vocabulary matching: target words on one side, definitions on the other.
- Animal-sound pairs for early language work (Dog/Woof, Cat/Meow, Cow/Moo).
- Rhyming word pairs for phonological awareness (Cat/Hat, Ball/Wall, Dog/Fog).
- Synonym or antonym matching for vocabulary expansion activities.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Keep pair counts between four and eight. More than eight makes the grid overwhelming on mobile devices.
- Use short text for each side. Long definitions get truncated or become unreadable in small tiles.
- Pairs are shuffled automatically each play, giving the same deck infinite replay value for memory practice.
- For picture-based matching, use Drop Zones with draggable Images instead. Matching Pairs is strictly text-tile based.
The Reorder element presents a scrambled list of items that students drag into the correct sequence. It is the go-to element for sequencing, sentence building, and any step-by-step ordering task. The widget handles shuffling, drag-and-drop interaction, and scoring in a single element.
What it does
Takes an array of items in their correct order, shuffles them for the student at play time, and renders a vertical list of draggable cards. Students drag items up and down to rearrange them. When satisfied, the student submits and the widget scores the attempt against the original (correct) order.
Unlike building a sequencing activity from individual Drop Zones and draggable Text elements, Reorder is a single element that manages the entire experience. The trade-off is that the layout is always a vertical list; you cannot customize it to be horizontal or grid-based.
When to use it
- Sentence unscrambling: words presented in random order that the student drags into grammatical order.
- Story sequencing: events from a narrative presented out of order for the student to arrange chronologically.
- Step-by-step instructions: "How do you make a sandwich?" with the steps to be ordered correctly.
- Number or letter sequences for math-language crossover tasks with younger students.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Keep items to four to six for younger students and six to eight for older students. More than eight becomes a memory test rather than a sequencing exercise.
- Use short item text. If a single item wraps across multiple lines, the drag targets become confusing and hard to manipulate.
- Use three or more items minimum. Very short lists (two items) have a 50% chance of landing in the correct order on load, which defeats the purpose.
- Combine with a Text instruction above the element for visual clarity, even though the widget has its own prompt property.
Categorize is a complete sorting activity contained in a single element. Define category groups with their correct items, and the widget renders an unsorted item pool at the top and labeled target groups below. Students drag items from the pool into the correct group, and the widget scores on submit.
What it does
Takes an array of groups (each with a label and an items array) and renders two areas: an unsorted pool of all items (shuffled) and the labeled target group containers. Students drag items from the pool into the group they think is correct.
On submission, the widget checks where each item ended up against the configured correct groupings and scores the attempt. This is functionally equivalent to building multiple Drop Zones with draggable Text elements, but far faster to set up and more polished in the student experience.
Categorize handles text items only. If you need to sort images into categories, use Drop Zones with draggable Image elements for a custom build.
When to use it
- Vocabulary category sorts: animals vs. foods vs. colors, things that float vs. sink, living vs. non-living.
- Articulation sound sorts: grouping words by their starting sound or by the position of the target sound (initial, medial, final).
- Grammatical category sorts: nouns vs. verbs, present tense vs. past tense, adjectives vs. adverbs.
- Functional category sorts: things found in a kitchen vs. a bedroom vs. a bathroom.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Use two to three groups for most students. Four groups is the practical maximum before the layout becomes cramped on mobile.
- Keep item counts balanced across groups. Students become uncertain when one group has five items and another has only one.
- Short item text works best. A category sort with long phrases becomes a reading comprehension test rather than a sorting activity.
- Pair with a TTS Button if you have early readers so they can hear each item spoken before sorting it.
Media & Audio
Media elements bring sound into your decks. Play pre-recorded audio clips, synthesize speech from text, or capture student recordings for pronunciation practice and progress monitoring.
The Audio Trigger is a tap-to-play button that plays a pre-recorded audio file when the student taps it. Upload your own recording, and the editor stores it securely for instant playback. This is how you attach pronunciation models, environmental sounds, or spoken instructions to any card.
What it does
Renders a circular icon button (speaker or music note style) on the canvas. In Play mode, tapping the button plays the associated audio clip. No scoring, no response capture; its sole purpose is to deliver audio on demand.
Audio Trigger is distinct from TTS Button (which synthesizes speech from text using the browser) and Recording Prompt (which captures the student's voice). Use Audio Trigger when you have a specific recorded clip that you want the student to hear.
The autoPlay option plays the audio automatically when the card appears, but use this sparingly. Auto-playing audio can be disorienting, and iOS Safari's autoplay restrictions may block it entirely without a prior user gesture.
When to use it
- Modeling target pronunciations: record yourself saying the word correctly and let the student replay it as many times as they need.
- Sound discrimination drills: two Audio Triggers on one card, each playing a minimal-pair word, with the student picking which one they heard.
- Spoken instructions for non-readers: "Tap the picture that matches the word I say" as an audio clip so students who cannot read still understand the task.
- Environmental sound identification: multiple triggers playing everyday sounds (door closing, dog barking, phone ringing) with matching image answer choices.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Keep autoPlay off by default. Auto-playing audio is jarring and does not work reliably on iOS Safari without a prior user gesture.
- Record in a quiet room with a decent microphone. Even AirPods produce acceptable quality. Bad audio is worse than no audio.
- Trim silence from the start and end of clips before uploading. Dead air at the beginning makes the trigger feel slow and unresponsive.
- Keep file sizes under 500KB where possible so playback starts instantly, even on slower cellular connections.
- Pair an Audio Trigger with an Image and a Recording Prompt on the same card for a complete listen-see-say workflow.
The Recording Prompt turns any card into a microphone capture station. The student taps record, speaks, and the recording is saved to their session for the clinician to review later. When paired with a word or phrase target, recordings can optionally be scored by real-time pronunciation scoring in the background.
What it does
Renders an interactive widget with a record button, a live waveform visualization (optional), and a replay control. On the student side, tapping record requests microphone permission, begins capture for up to the configured max duration, and saves the audio blob to the session's attempt record.
When pronunciation scoring is turned on for the deck, recordings are automatically analyzed for accuracy at the sound level. Scores appear in the student's progress view, not on the card itself, keeping the experience encouraging rather than judgmental.
Recordings are stored per-attempt, so the same student can redo a card multiple times and the clinician sees every recording in the session history. This is invaluable for tracking progress over time.
When to use it
- Articulation practice: the target word or phrase is displayed on screen and the student records themselves saying it.
- Narrative and retell tasks: the student records a short story or description of a scene image.
- Fluency drills: timed reading passages where the student's recording is reviewed for rate and smoothness.
- Social language practice: the student records a response to a conversational prompt or social scenario.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Choose the shortest maxDuration that fits the task. Five seconds is enough for single-word drills and keeps recordings focused.
- iOS Safari requires a user gesture before granting microphone access. The first tap on a Recording Prompt will trigger the permission dialog; subsequent taps record immediately.
- Keep showWaveform enabled. Students, especially younger ones, need visual feedback that the microphone is active and capturing their speech.
- Pair with an Audio Trigger (model pronunciation) and a Text target word on the same card for a complete listen-read-record workflow.
Game Widgets
Game widgets are self-contained interactive tools that add variety and engagement to your decks. They handle their own state and interaction, so you drop one on a card and it works out of the box.
The Flip Card is a two-sided card element with a tap-to-flip animation. It is the classic flashcard interaction: the student sees the front face, thinks of their answer, and taps to flip and reveal the back face. Perfect for vocabulary, question-answer drills, and any self-paced practice where you want the student to commit to a response before seeing the answer.
What it does
Renders a rectangular widget with two faces, each with its own text content, background color, and font size. Tapping anywhere on the card triggers a smooth flip animation that reveals the other side. It is a single element from the editor's perspective but displays as two alternating views in Play mode.
Both faces hold text only. If you need an image on one side and text on the other, place an Image element above or beside a Flip Card on the same card rather than trying to embed images into the Flip Card itself.
Flip Cards do not score. They are a self-check tool: the student attempts the prompt mentally, flips to verify, and moves on. Combine with a Recording Prompt if you want to capture their verbal attempt before the reveal.
When to use it
- Vocabulary flashcards: the target word on the front, the definition or translation on the back.
- Question-answer drills: a comprehension question on the front, the answer on the back.
- Self-check practice: the student attempts a pronunciation or recall task, then flips to verify.
- Language expansion: a simple word on the front, a full sentence using that word on the back.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Keep front text short and back text longer. The front is the prompt (a word, a question); the back is the full answer or explanation.
- Use visibly different colors for front and back. If both faces are the same color, students cannot tell whether the flip actually happened.
- For image-on-front flashcards, place a separate Image element above a smaller Flip Card rather than trying to put images into the Flip Card text fields.
- Students of all ages love flip cards. They are consistently one of the most engaging elements because the reveal mechanic creates natural curiosity.
The Spinner is a colorful game-show-style wheel with configurable segments. Tap to spin, and the wheel decelerates to a random stop on one of the segments. It is a more visual and engaging alternative to Dice when your choices have meaningful text labels rather than just numbers.
What it does
Renders a circular wheel divided into color-coded wedges, each with a text label. Tapping triggers a spin animation with realistic deceleration. When the wheel stops, the landed-on segment is highlighted. The result is purely random; no scoring is involved.
Spinner is functionally a randomizer with a festive presentation. Use it when you want students to experience the excitement of a game-show wheel rather than just seeing a number from a die roll.
When to use it
- Random prompt selection when choices have meaningful names (sound positions, activity types, prompt categories).
- Turn-taking in group therapy sessions with each segment labeled with a student's name.
- End-of-session reward randomizers with segments like "Sticker", "Dance break", "High five".
- Articulation category practice: segments labeled "Initial /r/", "Medial /r/", "Final /r/", "Blends", "Sentences".
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Four to six segments is ideal. More than eight makes labels hard to read on the wheel.
- Use high-contrast colors between adjacent segments so the wheel is easy to read, both stationary and mid-spin.
- Keep segment label text to one to three words. Longer labels get cramped in the wedge shape.
- If your choices are just numbers, use Dice instead. Spinner is best when choices have meaningful text.
- Pair a Spinner with a set of related prompt cards so every spin drives a real activity rather than being a standalone toy.
The Dice element is a tap-to-roll die that lands on a random number. It is the simplest randomness tool in the editor, perfect for turn-taking, random prompt selection, and adding a game-like feel to structured drill practice.
What it does
Renders a visible die that animates a roll when tapped. It lands on a random integer from 1 to the configured number of sides. The result stays visible until the student rolls again. The element is stateless: no scoring, no history, just a random number display.
Think of Dice as a "random number generator" with a fun visual presentation. It works best when paired with numbered prompts, word lists, or game mechanics that use the rolled number.
When to use it
- Turn-taking in group therapy where the number determines who goes next or how many words to practice.
- Random prompt selection from a numbered list on the same card.
- Adding game mechanics to drill practice: "Roll the die, do that many /r/ words."
- Articulation board games where the die determines how many spaces a token moves.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Use 6 sides for most therapy contexts. It matches common board game expectations and is the most familiar to students.
- Match the sides number to the number of prompts or items on the card so every roll produces a meaningful result.
- For simple two-way decisions, use 2 sides (a coin flip). For more than six labeled choices, use a Spinner instead.
- The Dice element does not produce scoring data. Do not expect correctness tracking from it.
The Timer element adds a visible countdown clock to any card. Use it for fluency drills, timed practice rounds, breathing exercises, or any activity where pacing is part of the therapeutic goal. Optionally, the timer can automatically advance to the next card when it reaches zero.
What it does
Renders a circular countdown display that counts down from the configured duration in seconds. The countdown runs in real time with visual updates every second (or as a progress ring if showSeconds is off). When it reaches zero, the timer can either stop and display zero, or automatically advance the deck to the next card.
Timers are visual-only. They do not score anything and do not capture responses. Their purpose is to influence student behavior through time awareness. Students naturally speed up or focus more when they see a clock counting down.
When to use it
- Fluency drills: the student reads as many words as possible in 60 seconds.
- Timed articulation practice: "Say the /r/ words for 30 seconds. How many can you do?"
- Breathing exercises or brain breaks with a 60-second calm-down timer between intense drill sections.
- Session pacing across a long deck: each card has a 45-second timer with autoAdvance to keep the session on track.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Leave autoAdvance off unless you specifically want time pressure. Most students need flexibility to finish at their own pace.
- Use warm colors for urgency drills and cool colors for breathing or relaxation activities. Color sets the emotional tone.
- Keep durations under 90 seconds. Longer timers lose meaning for students who do not have strong time awareness.
- Hide seconds (showSeconds off) for younger students. A progress ring is less clinical and anxiety-inducing than a ticking number.
The Emotion Picker is a ready-made widget for social-emotional learning. It displays a grid of labeled emotion faces and asks the student to pick the one that matches a given situation. The widget handles layout, selection, scoring, and visual feedback in a single element drop.
What it does
Renders a configurable set of emotion icons with text labels (happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, disgusted, etc.). Students tap the emotion they think matches the prompt, and the widget scores against the configured correct emotion.
The Emotion Picker is a specialized version of a picture-based multiple choice that uses built-in emotion icons instead of uploaded images. Use it when the question is specifically about emotions and you want consistent, clear iconography without sourcing your own emotion images.
When to use it
- Social story comprehension: "How does the boy feel when his friend leaves?"
- Session check-ins at the start or end of therapy: "How are you feeling today?"
- Emotion labeling practice from photos of facial expressions or illustrated scenes.
- Perspective-taking tasks: "How does the mom feel in this story?" across multiple story cards.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Start with four emotions for younger students (happy, sad, angry, scared). Six is the maximum before the grid feels overwhelming.
- For pure self-report with no grading, leave correctEmotion empty. The widget becomes a data capture tool without scoring pressure.
- Pair with an Image or short scenario in Text above the picker to provide context for the emotion question.
- Combine with a Recording Prompt for older students: first they pick the emotion, then they explain their reasoning verbally.
The Syllable Counter shows a word and asks the student to tap it once per syllable. Each tap produces visual feedback (dots or a pulse animation), and when the student submits their count, the widget scores it against the correct syllable count. It is one of the few elements built specifically for phonological awareness work.
What it does
Displays a target word at a configurable font size with a large tap target area. Students tap the word once for each syllable they perceive. The widget tracks the tap count visually (with dots below the word) and scores the attempt when the student submits.
This element replaces what would otherwise require a Text element, multiple Answer Buttons (one per possible count), and manual scoring logic. It packages the entire syllable-counting interaction into a single drop.
When to use it
- Phonological awareness drills at the syllable segmentation level.
- Early literacy intervention: tapping out compound words and multi-syllable vocabulary.
- Warm-up activities before phoneme segmentation or blending tasks.
- Rhythm and prosody exploration: "How many beats does 'butterfly' have?"
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Model the first word in the deck yourself (or add a TTS Button) so students hear the correct segmentation before they start tapping.
- Begin with two-syllable compound words (baseball, sunshine, rainbow). They are the easiest entry point for syllable awareness.
- Use a large font size for the word. It needs to be both readable and comfortable to tap.
- Pair with an Audio Trigger for words with irregular or ambiguous syllable counts so students hear the pronunciation first.
Layout
Layout elements help you build structured visual arrangements. Multi-Picts handles image-based multiple choice as a single unified widget rather than individual images you manage by hand.
Multi-Picts is the image-based counterpart to Multi-Choice. Instead of text options, students pick from a grid of pictures. It is the ideal element for receptive vocabulary tasks, sound discrimination by picture, and any activity where the answer is best represented visually rather than as text.
What it does
Renders a grid (or horizontal row) of image tiles, each with its own image source and alt text. Students tap an image to select it as their answer. The widget scores the selection against the configured correct index.
Like Multi-Choice, Multi-Picts handles layout, selection state, and scoring in a single element. The randomize option shuffles the order of image tiles each play to prevent positional memorization.
Multi-Picts is image-only. You cannot mix text and image options in the same widget. If you need labels under each image, consider using multiple Caption Pic elements with Answer Buttons, or place a Text prompt above the Multi-Picts widget.
When to use it
- Receptive vocabulary: "Point to the rabbit" with four animal pictures in a grid.
- Sound discrimination: "Which picture starts with /s/?" with four images of objects starting with different sounds.
- Category identification: "Which one is NOT a fruit?" with three fruit images and one non-fruit image.
- Any comprehension or identification task where the answer is best represented by a picture.
Key properties
Tips & best practices
- Set alt text on every option. It is essential for accessibility and also used to describe options in the attempt history.
- Turn randomize on for most cards to prevent students from memorizing "always the top-left picture."
- Use grid layout for four or more options and horizontal for two or three.
- Keep image styles consistent within a single widget. Mixing word-bank illustrations with photographs is visually distracting.
- If options need visible text labels, use Caption Pic elements paired with Answer Buttons instead.
Working with Cards
Cards are the pages of your deck. Each card is an independent 800×600 canvas where you arrange elements. Students navigate through cards in order, swiping or using navigation arrows. Here is everything you need to know about managing cards.
Adding and removing cards
Click the "+" button at the bottom of the card sidebar to add a new blank card. The new card is appended to the end of the deck and becomes your active canvas. To remove a card, right-click its thumbnail in the sidebar and select "Delete". Deleted cards are removed permanently, but you can undo the deletion immediately with ⌘+Z.
Reordering cards
Drag card thumbnails up or down in the sidebar to reorder them. The order in the sidebar is the order students experience in Play mode. There is no separate "card order" setting; what you see in the sidebar is what the student gets.
Card backgrounds
Every card has a background color and an optional background image. Set these in the properties panel when no element is selected (click an empty area of the canvas). The background color defaults to white. Background images are stretched to cover the full 800×600 canvas area.
Template cards
Marking a card as a "Template Card" in its properties makes every element on that card appear on every other card in the deck. This is perfect for persistent elements like a title bar, a logo, a back button, or a card number counter.
Template card elements render behind the main card's elements. Edit the template card once and every card in the deck updates automatically. You can have multiple template cards in a deck, and their elements stack in order.
Accessibility text
Every card has an "Accessibility Text" field in its properties. This is a plain-text description of the card's purpose and content, used by screen readers and displayed in the accessibility summary view. Write a one- to two-sentence description of what the card presents and what the student should do. For example: "Card shows an image of a rabbit with the target word and a recording prompt asking the student to say the word three times."
Deck Settings
Deck settings control the metadata and publishing status of your deck. Access them from the gear icon in the toolbar. These settings affect how the deck appears in search results and how it is categorized.
Title & Description
The deck title is what students and other therapists see first. Keep it clear and descriptive. The description provides more detail about what the deck covers and is shown in search results.
Cover Image
The cover image is the visual thumbnail for your deck in lists and search results. Upload a representative image or let the system generate one from your first card.
Category & Target Sounds
Categorize your deck (articulation, language, vocabulary, fluency, etc.) and tag the target sounds it addresses. This helps other therapists find your deck and helps the system recommend it to students working on specific sounds.
Difficulty & Grade Range
Set the difficulty level and grade range so your deck is matched to appropriate students. This metadata is used for recommendations and filtering in the deck library.
Publishing & Visibility
Published decks are visible to your students via a shareable link. Unpublished decks are private drafts. You can toggle publishing at any time without losing any content.
Sharing
After publishing, you get a unique shareable link. Students open this link in any browser to play the deck. No app install, no account creation required for students.
Previewing & Playing
How preview mode works
Click the Preview button in the toolbar to see your deck exactly as students will experience it. Preview mode renders the same 800×600 canvas with all interactive elements live: buttons respond to taps, drag-and-drop works, audio plays, recordings capture, timers count down, and scoring functions.
Use preview mode before publishing to verify every interaction. Test every Answer Button, flip every Flip Card, drag every draggable, and record into every Recording Prompt. It is much faster to catch issues in preview than to hear about them from a student mid-session.
Score tracking and completion
In Play mode, the deck tracks the student's responses on every card that contains interactive elements. Correct and incorrect answers are tallied and stored in the session record. When the student reaches the end of the deck, they see a completion summary with their score.
Score data flows into the student's progress dashboard, where clinicians can review accuracy over time, compare performance across sessions, and track progress toward IEP goals.
How students experience the deck
Students open a shared link in any browser. They see the first card and navigate forward by swiping left, tapping an arrow button, or (on cards with autoAdvance timers) waiting for automatic progression. Each card is self-contained: the student interacts with its elements, and when they move to the next card, their responses are saved.
Mobile and tablet experience
Published decks are fully responsive. On phones and tablets, the canvas scales to fit the screen while maintaining the 800×600 aspect ratio. All touch interactions work natively: tapping buttons, dragging elements, swiping between cards, and recording audio. The interface is designed for 44px minimum touch targets, which is the recommended size for children's apps.
Tips & Best Practices
Design tips for effective therapy activities
- One goal per card. Each card should practice one specific skill or ask one question. Cramming multiple goals onto a single card overwhelms students and muddies your data.
- Use large, clear images. Pictures should be unambiguous and instantly recognizable. If a student has to squint or guess what an image shows, the visual is not doing its job.
- Write short, direct instructions. "Tap the word that starts with /s/" is better than "Look at the words below and identify which one begins with the /s/ phoneme." Students scan; they do not read paragraphs.
- Limit choices to four. Research consistently shows that four options is the sweet spot for multiple-choice in educational settings. More options increase cognitive load without improving learning.
- Use consistent layouts across cards. If the target image is always top-center and answer buttons are always bottom, students spend less time figuring out the interface and more time on the actual skill.
Accessibility considerations
- Fill in alt text on every Image and Caption Pic element. This is the most impactful accessibility action you can take.
- Write accessibility text on every card describing the card's purpose and expected student action.
- Use high-contrast color combinations. The default dark text on light backgrounds is the most readable option.
- Ensure text is at least 18px for body content and 24px for headings. Small text is inaccessible at arm's length on tablets.
- Add TTS Buttons for non-reading students so they can hear instructions without relying on an adult to read for them.
Sizing elements for mobile
- Touch targets (buttons, draggable elements, flip cards) should be at least 44px in both width and height. This is Apple's Human Interface Guidelines minimum and works well for children's motor skills.
- Test at 375px viewport width (iPhone SE) to check for layout issues. Elements that look fine on desktop may overlap or become too small on a phone.
- Avoid placing interactive elements too close together. On a phone, two buttons side by side with no gap will cause accidental taps on the wrong one.
- Drop Zones should be generously sized. Dragging to a small target on a touchscreen is significantly harder than clicking on desktop.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Forgetting to set correctIndex or answerState. If you add a Multi-Choice or Answer Button without setting the correct answer, the card will not score, and your progress data will be empty.
- Placing too many elements on one card. A card with 15 elements is overwhelming. Spread content across multiple cards for a better experience.
- Using auto-play audio on every card. This is disorienting and breaks on iOS Safari without a prior user gesture. Let students tap to play audio at their own pace.
- Skipping preview before publishing. Issues like mispositioned elements, broken drag-and-drop, or wrong correct answers are easy to catch in preview and painful to discover during a therapy session.
- Ignoring the template card feature. If you have a title, logo, or navigation element on every card, put it on a template card. Copying it manually to 30 cards and then needing to change it is a time sink.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Magic Studio free to use?
What devices does Magic Studio work on?
Can students use my decks on iPads?
How do I share a deck with my students?
Can I edit a deck after publishing it?
How does pronunciation scoring work?
What audio formats can I upload for Audio Triggers?
Can I use Magic Studio for teletherapy?
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