To start, select cards that have interesting pictures on the front and cut each card along the fold to separate the picture from the rest of the card.

Here are some therapy activities you can do with the cards:

• Hang up a few different pictures where all of the students can see them.  Have each student secretly choose one of the pictures and then write five words to describe it.  Read the descriptive words aloud and see if the other students can guess which picture it describes.

• Put out a few pictures and have the students each choose one to write a story about.  Remind them to use descriptive words and to include characters, a setting, and a plot.  Let the students share their stories with the group.

• Have the students find part of a picture that has their sound, cut it out, and glue it on a piece of paper.  They can then write and/or say at least one sentence that includes the word.  Older students can write a tongue-twister using the word.

• Let the students each cut out a part of a picture and glue it on a piece of paper.  Then have them draw a scene around the picture that includes other pictures with their target sounds.

• Cut a few cards apart like puzzles and write words that go together on the back of each one (e.g., words that begin with the /s/ sound on the pieces of one card, words that begin with the /r/ sound on another).  Mix up the pieces.  Once students have sorted the pieces into groups that go together, they can turn the pieces over and put the cards’ pictures together.

Please comment with any other ideas you have for reusing holiday cards.

Happy New Year!

Keep your students motivated with this hands-on reinforcement activity.  This quick and easy candy cane craft can be used with any goal and can be enjoyed by students of all ages.

What you need:

• candy cane craft page provided, printed on white cardstock (one page for every three students)
• red paper or cardstock
• glue stick
• scissors

What to do:

1. Cut out the white paper candy canes.
2. Cut the red paper into small strips, creating ten for each student.
3. Give each student a paper candy cane.
4. After each turn or answer, give the student a red strip of paper.  This continues until all ten of his or her strips have been earned.
5. The student can then glue one red stripe onto his or her candy cane for each of the next ten turns.
6. Trim the extra red off of the sides of the candy canes and have the students write their names and the year on the back.

Have fun!

Getting Started

First the students trace their hands on pieces of paper.  Next, they draw the legs and feet at the bottom and add a beak and wattle to the thumb.  You can either have them draw an eye or glue a googly eye on the thumb.  Depending on which goals you are targeting, you may want the students to make multiple turkeys, or maybe even a flock of turkeys!

Making it Work

Now that your students have made their turkeys, what can you target?  Just about anything!  Try out some of these ideas or come up with your own.

Have your students…

• write a Thanksgiving word that contains their target sound on each finger.  They can practice the word on the first finger one time, the word on the second finger twice, etc.  This can also serve as a take home practice page.
• write a main word (e.g., turkey) on the palm and descriptive words or a sentence on each finger (e.g., It’s a bird, It has a wattle, etc.).
• write what they are thankful for on each finger.
• follow directions for coloring their turkey (e.g., Put three orange stripes on the first finger.)

As a free bonus, here is a list of Thanksgiving words for you to use for discussing vocabulary or as stimulus words for articulation.  Keep it handy when you’re trying to think of seasonal words to use in your sessions.

Getting Started
Our sessions usually start with someone asking one of these questions…”Are they real?” or “What are those?”  Yes, they are real, and they are all gourds.  Once on this path, we discuss that pumpkins are gourds.  I have them use their knowledge about pumpkins to figure out how gourds grow (on vines), whether they are a fruit or vegetable (fruit), and their characteristic parts (a hard rind, seeds, and pulp).

Describing, Comparing, and Contrasting
I then focus on describing and/or comparing and contrasting.  To do this, the students describe one gourd with as many adjectives as possible while I write down their responses.  I provide reminders for them to include words that describe its shape, size, color, texture, etc.  We do this again with a different gourd.  To take this to the next level, comparing and contrasting, we look at both lists and find which adjectives fit both gourds and fill those in the center area of a Venn diagram.  The other adjectives go in the outside areas of the Venn diagram.  If time allows, I pick different gourds and have the students fill in a diagram on their own.

“Guessing Gourds” Game
“Guessing Gourds” is another fun describing activity you can do.  Start by assigning numbers to the gourds.  Then have a student describe one of the gourds, while the other students try to guess which gourd it is.

More Fall Ideas and Materials
I hope you find these ideas helpful.  There are many other fall ideas and materials on our website.  To see them all, open the search menu on the home page and type in “fall” as the keyword.  Members can also access and print a Venn diagram from here.

Please share your comments with all of us.  We’d love to hear your fall ideas or feedback on these activities.

Pick up a box of Valentine’s cards! They can be turned into customized therapy materials in just a matter of minutes! And did I mention how inexpensive they are? I found boxes of cards with licensed characters on them at the dollar store!

Here are some ideas of what you can do with them…

• Make matching sets to work on “same” and “different”.

• Create stimulus cards to use in your sessions. You can write words on them for articulation practice or language activities (e.g., antonyms or multiple meaning words). Fold them in half and let the students pick them out of a bag, bowl, or small box.

• Add numbers to the cards to tell the students how many responses to give, spaces they move, or points they earn.  More specific instructions for this activity can be found at the last link below.

Some other Valentine’s Day ideas I’ve posted can be found through these links…

Valentine’s Day Activities for Speech Therapy

Here are Some “Sweet” Valentine’s Day Therapy Materials

Quick and Easy Valentine’s Therapy Activity

If you have a Valentine’s Day activity to share with us, please comment below. We’d all “love” to hear about it!

Becky Wanca

Using characters they love to make therapy fun

Here are some examples of activities you can do with your students’ favorite characters:

• Practice their speech sounds at the word, sentence, or conversational level.

• Practice basic concepts (e.g., numbers, colors, prepositions, pronouns) with cut-out pictures of the characters.

• Make up a story together using words of order (e.g., first, next, finally, etc.)

• Talk about the characters, setting, and plot of an episode.

What if I don’t know anything about the shows?

• Ask the students to tell you about it. They are usually more than willing to chat about their favorite t.v. shows.

• Search online. Almost every show has a significant presence on the world-wide-web devoted to it. Once you find the website for that show, look around for information on the characters, setting, etc. You can often find printable pages to use as well.

• Go to the bookstore. Many popular shows have small paperback books that include stories from the episodes.

Where can I find materials?

You can create your own materials or adapt purchased games, books, or pictures. Some places to find show-related items to use include websites, bookstores, party stores, and toy stores.

Here are some websites that may be useful

http://www.nickjr.com/
http://www.nick.com/
http://tv.disney.go.com/playhouse/
http://home.disney.go.com/tv/
http://pbskids.org/

Leave a comment to let us know how you include kids’ favorite shows or characters in your sessions.

Becky Wanca

Materials:

• 2 paper plates per child
• black crayons for coloring the pot
• scissors tape or stapler
• paper coins – Here is a page of coins for you to print out or you can use a circle paper punch. You can use colored paper or color it yellow or gold yourself.

Preparation:

• Gather the materials.
• Cut a part off the top side of one paper plate to make it resemble an open pot.
• Cut out the coins and decide what the targets are going to be (i.e., sounds, antonyms, etc.).
• Attach the plates together if you want to have this done ahead of time.

Activity:

1. Have the child color the back of the cut plate and the top part of the other plate black. If working with a group, the children can color while waiting for their turns.
2. Tape or staple the plates together so that they create a pocket.
3. Spread the coins out on the table or put them in a bag or bowl for the children to pick from.
4. Have the child pick a coin, practice the targeted activity, and then put it in his pot.
5. If there is time, review the stimuli in the child’s pot.

Again, for a printable page of coins to use in this activity, click here.

Materials:
- a cardboard tube from a paper towel or toilet paper roll for you and each child (decorating is optional)
- stimulus cards or pictures

Use:
Word level – Have the child look through a tube at stimulus cards (or around the room to find objects with the target sound) and then say the word.

Sentence level – Depending on what level you are working on, the child could simply say, “I see a __.” or a more complex sentence such as “The __ is next to the window.”

Groups – Play the game “I Spy” with the tubes and have the children guess what the person has spotted. Be sure to let them know what sound is being targeted.

Extra ideas:
Use this activity in pirate, explorer, and astronomy themes.

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

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