Quick and easy Valentine’s therapy activity
You can use this as a quick and easy Valentine’s game or as positive reinforcement for answers and speech productions.
What you need:
- Valentine cards (I used my son’s left over ones)
- Marker or pen
- Candy hearts, stickers, or other treat (optional)
On the inside of the Valentine cards, write a 1, 2, or 3. I put six 1s, four 2s, and two 3s. You can also add a card with a sticker on it as a “pick again” card. Fold the Valentine cards in half so the numbers don’t show, and place them in a bag, bowl, or small box.
When the students respond to their stimuli, let them pick out a card. The numbers written on the inside of the cards can be how many treats they get, spaces they move, or points they earn. (You can choose whether you want the students to put the cards back in or keep them out.)
Have fun!
Becky Wanca
Here are some “sweet” Valentine’s Day therapy materials…
What better way is there to get your message across this Valentine’s Day than to put it on a “candy heart”? There is a cool website that allows you to enter your own word or message, pick the heart’s color, and save the result.
To make your own, go to http://www.cryptogram.com/hearts/
I’ve made some pages of “r” and “l” Valentine’s Day words on hearts for you to print.
L Valentine’s Day words on hearts
R Valentine’s Day words on hearts
Enjoy your week!
Becky
Happy Anniversary, SpeechTherapyIdeas.com!
Wow! Today, February 1st, 2010, marks one year since the launch of SpeechTherapyIdeas.com. My hopes for the website’s first year have been far surpassed. The website’s reach simply amazes me. The monthly traffic has grown tenfold, and it has been visited from 131 countries!
Thank you to those who have shared it with others and to those who have left comments and given me encouragement along the way.
Email a friend or colleague a link to the site.
Here’s to another great year!
Becky Wanca
Snowball Fight – A fun, easy therapy activity
Want to have some clean wintry fun in your sessions? Have a “snowball” fight! This version works in all climates (even in Florida) and is a great motivator for heaps of repetition or practice.
Materials:
1. Scrap paper, ripped (letter size paper ripped in fourths works great)
2. Stimuli for what you are working on
3. Bowl or basket for each student (optional)
Directions:
1. Give each student a bowl or basket to hold the “snowballs” (optional).
2. For each production or answer the child gives, a piece of paper is earned. The child can then ball it up and add it to his or her basket or pile. The students want a lot of “snowballs” and therefore are usually eager to have many turns.
3. Clear a space in the room or go to an open space for your “snowball” fight. Position the students around the outside with an empty space in the middle. You can give each child a turned-around chair as a barrier to hide behind if you want.
4. Set a time limit for your “fight” and let the fun begin! The students can gather “snowballs” and throw them back too (see tips below).
5. Make a game out of cleaning up. See how fast all of the “snowballs” can be tossed into a recycling bin.
Tips:
- Only allow two players to be in the middle space collecting “snowballs” at a time.
- Require players to be in their positions to throw “snowballs”. This keeps players from throwing them from the middle space.
- If you think a single student may be targeted by multiple players, make teams.
This is definitely an activity the students will remember and ask for again and again! Have fun!
Reading and Rhyme – Do we really have time?
“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water…”
Remember poor Jack and Jill? What about the whimsical rhyme about the cat who played the fiddle and the cow who jumped into outer space? These nursery rhymes may seem like silly non-sense, but they actually serve a purpose.
Rhyming helps children notice the sounds that make up words (phonological awareness), which is important to reading acquisition. Because children with speech and/or language disorders are at a higher risk for reading problems, it is even more important that we make sure they are exposed to activities that promote sound awareness.
Do we really have time?
While we can’t possibly cover everything children need to learn during our sessions, we can make sure that they are at least exposed to some of them, including rhymes. Here are some ideas to make this happen…
Encourage caregivers to read nursery rhymes to their child. They can also sing or play songs that contain rhymes. Let them know that it isn’t just a silly activity, but serves a real purpose.
Use nursery rhymes in your sessions. Find rhymes that go with your goals and use them in your session. Sing the songs, say the rhymes, use felt storyboards, or act it out with puppets to make the stories come to life. Here are some examples…
If you are working on…You could use this rhyme.
Over…………Jack be Nimble
Up/down……Hickory Dickory Dock
Body parts…The Hokey Pokey
Weather…….It’s Raining It’s Pouring
For the words and origins of many common (and some not so common) nursery rhymes, visit
http://www.zelo.com/family/nursery/index.asp
Becky Wanca