Seasonal Plans

FIVE Popular Thanksgiving Activities For Kids

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With Thanksgiving just around the corner, there’s still time to weave in some engaging Thanksgiving activities for kids that build on speech and language skills. Here are five updated ideas to bring the holiday spirit into your sessions while supporting language development.

Warning: smiles are contagious!

Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Kids: Creative Playdough Crafts

First up is my Play dough appetizer tray. I’ve seen many play dough trays, like Pre-K Pages‘, so I created my own version with personalized contents. I utilized my craft supplies and bought decorative leaves and alphabet letters to enhance the activity.

We have worked on requesting, commenting, and following directions while making unique turkeys. Some used Popsicle sticks for legs, others used pipe cleaners and decorative leaves to create feathers for their crafts. The Popsicle sticks have also come in handy for cutting the dough. Hands down, this activity has been highly preferred among many (including caregivers.)

Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Kids: Creative Playdough Crafts
 
 

Sorting Pie: A Fun Thanksgiving Activity for Kids

Next, is my sorting pie from Learning Resources. What better way to prepare for Thanksgiving than to sort some fruit into a pie? You could even grab some mini pumpkins at a local dollar store to make a pumpkin pie!

The game includes two sets of tongs for choice making and multiple choice boards for matching colors, objects, or numbers. My clients aged 2-7 enjoyed requesting more, naming colors, commenting, and matching objects to pictures using this super, cute pie.

 
Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Kids: Crafts
 

Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Kids: Colorful Tablecloth

Another hit during Thanksgiving was my paper tablecloth. I scored this find while looking for Halloween clearance items at Target, so I grabbed a few to use across a couple of years. My younger clients have colored while listening to auditory bombardment lists containing target speech sounds, while my older clients have played tic-tac-toe or earned a chance to color as a reward for completing work.

Here are a couple more ways I’ve used the tablecloth in speech and language sessions:

  1. Thanksgiving Word Webs

    • Have your clients create word webs related to Thanksgiving. They can write or draw pictures of foods, animals, or objects associated with the holiday. For example, the word turkey could have words like feathers, farm, and gobble branching from it.
    • Speech Focus: Use this activity to target initial sounds like /t/ in “turkey,” /f/ in “farm,” or /g/ in “gobble.”
    • Language Focus: Encourage clients to describe the items in their word web using adjectives (e.g., “The turkey is big” or “The pie is delicious.”).

     2. Thanksgiving Scenes for Storytelling

    • Draw or color a Thanksgiving scene on the tablecloth, such as a family at a dinner table, a farm, or a harvest field. Use this to encourage storytelling, helping clients sequence events and build narratives.
    • Speech Focus: Have clients focus on sentence structure and practice articulation by retelling what is happening in the scene.
    • Language Focus: Guide the children in using past-tense verbs (e.g., “The family ate turkey” or “The farmer picked pumpkins”) while narrating their story.

These simple activities provide fun and interactive ways to work on both speech and language goals, making the tablecloth a versatile tool for your sessions!

 

Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Kids: Interactive Books

Years ago, I purchased a collection of interactive Thanksgiving books from Jenna at Speech Room News. This collection contains books that target action words, commenting about likes and dislikes, and other thematic vocabulary. I have used these colorful books to engage busy toddlers, assist in sentence completion tasks, and promote answering questions about action words using speech generating devices.

Thanksgiving-Themed Pretend Play: Farm House

What’s a speech and language session without some pretend play time? I paired my farm house with Fisher Price Thanksgiving pieces to talk about sitting at the table, eating, and bringing food from the farm to the dinner table. You can pick up some shredded, yellow paper to use as hay for the barn and easily dispose of it between clients. Below are some additional details to enhance speech and language sessions:

TaskMaterials NeededSpeech TargetsLanguage Examples
Setting the Thanksgiving TableFarmhouse toy, Fisher Price Thanksgiving pieces, toy plates and cups/t/, /b/, /s/ sounds“Put the turkey on the table.”
“Give the plate to the pig.”
Bringing Food from the FarmToy animals, toy food, shredded yellow paper (hay), toy truckAction words: bring, carry, load“The cow carries the food to the table.”
“Let’s load the truck with hay.”
Feeding the Farm AnimalsToy farm animals, toy food (popcorn kernels, pumpkins, etc.), toy bucketVocabulary: food, animals, farm“The horse is eating corn.”
“Feed the cow some pumpkins.”
Harvesting Crops for DinnerShredded yellow paper (hay), toy vegetables (corn, pumpkins), toy basketsSequence: first, next, last“First, we pick the corn. Then, we take it to the kitchen.”
Driving the Tractor to the FarmToy tractor, farm animals, toy food/k/ and /t/ sounds“Drive the tractor to the kitchen.”
“The cat is sitting on the tractor.”
Talking About the FeastFarmhouse toy, toy food, Thanksgiving toy piecesPhrases: in, on, next to“The turkey is on the table.”
“The chair is next to the pig.”
Describing the Thanksgiving MealToy food, farmhouse toy table, plates and utensilsAdjectives: hot, cold, big, small“The pumpkin pie is big.”
“The hot turkey is ready to eat.”

By incorporating these fun Thanksgiving activities for kids into your therapy sessions, you can engage young clients in meaningful ways while supporting their speech and language development.

SEVEN Not-So-Spooky Halloween Activities For Kids

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Styrofoam Pumpkin Halloween Craft for Preschoolers

Halloween activities for kids make fall one of my favorite seasons, with the changing colors, cooler days, slower pace, and holidays abound. As I transform my office into a festive space, I’m excited to share some affordable ways to incorporate a Halloween and fall theme into your speech and language sessions. In this recently updated post, you’ll find seven engaging activities, complete with a table for sensory bin ideas and a curated list of books with targeted speech and language goals. Let’s dive into these fun ideas!

Setting the Scene with Decor

Over the years, I’ve amassed a collection of Halloween decorations during post-season clearance sales at Target and Walmart. Seasonal items from the Dollar Tree also help me create a fun, inviting atmosphere. By adorning my space with plastic tablecloths, colorful banners, and haunted houses for storage, I aim to bring a smile to each client’s face. This vibrant decor encourages clients to comment and label objects, enhancing engagement during therapy sessions.

Halloween activities for kids decor

A favorite find has been a clearance door covering adorned with removable stickers from Target. These stickers have provided joy to multiple clients over the years. We work on following directions with commands like, “Put five pumpkins on the fence,” or “Give each pumpkin and ghost a hat.” This activity allows me to target both familiar and novel commands, adapting it to meet the varied needs of my clients.

Popular Halloween Books for Children

Halloween Activities for Kids: Book Recommendations

Book Title Age Range Incorporate Speech & Language Goals
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything Toddlers to Pre-K Sequence events as the old lady encounters different items in the story.
Room on the Broom Toddlers to Early Elementary Identify and describe the characters on each page.
We’re All in the Same Boat Toddlers to Early Elementary Discuss emotions and feelings of the characters throughout the story.
Five Little Pumpkins Toddlers to Pre-K Use finger plays to count and act out the pumpkins.
Boo! A Made-You-Look Book Toddlers to Early Elementary Practice vocabulary by naming items that appear in the illustrations.
Spookly the Square Pumpkin Toddlers to Early Elementary Discuss shapes and colors while reading.
The Ghosts of John* Toddlers to Early Elementary Explore descriptive language by talking about what makes something spooky.

Halloween Activities for Kids: Fun Pumpkin Craft

Halloween activities for kids pumpkin craft

A perennial favorite is my Styrofoam pumpkins craft, featuring plastic facial parts from the Dollar Tree. This activity not only makes requests with complete sentences like “I need a mouth” or “I want eyes,” but it’s especially beneficial for my young language learners using speech-generating devices.

Clients love taking their creations home, and some caregivers have reported purchasing additional pumpkins and facial parts to enjoy this activity with siblings. I cherish when we discuss activities in the speech room that can be generalized to other settings—what a fantastic way to practice functional and seasonal vocabulary!

Turning Toys into Halloween Fun

This year, we’re getting creative by turning any toy into a Halloween theme! Using tissues and elastic bands, kids can make ghosts to hang from their toys or Magna-tile creations. This simple yet enjoyable activity promotes creativity while allowing children to practice vocabulary and sentence structure as they describe their spooky designs.

Make a Scarecrow Snack

One surefire way to win over kids is through food! We’ve created a scarecrow treat to practice sequencing, commenting, and requesting. I found this fun snack recipe in a Pillsbury Halloween cookbook years ago when my son was little. Here’s how you can make it:

First, spread white icing on a vanilla cookie.
Second, shred some Triscuit crackers to make straw.
Place shredded crackers on the sides of the cookie.
Add a candy corn nose.
Use chocolate chips for eyes and black icing for a mouth.
Add a gumdrop hat and then enjoy your treat!

Playdough Halloween Activities for Kids

Halloween Activities for Kids: Playdough Fun

Playdough Halloween activities for kids

Many of my activities for little ones aged 2-7 involve hands-on play and sensory time, and playdough is a fan favorite! I make my own batch using a quick and easy recipe. When we move on to a new color, I send the previous batch home with the client and whip up a fresh one.

I once discovered a sound sequencing activity using playdough and mini erasers. Clients worked on sequencing simple CV, VC, and CVCV combinations while pushing the objects into the dough. We can easily spend half of our hour-long session just playing with dough!

Halloween Activities for Kids: Sensory Bins

I love switching out sensory bins for seasonal activities. In September, we practiced sounds and words while digging through a bin filled with leaves, and in October, we hunted for targets in a Halloween-themed bin. Near Thanksgiving, I mix Velcro foods with fake gourds to target CVC words like “cut.” I typically find most of my sensory bin materials at the Dollar Tree and dispose of items that can’t be sanitized, replacing them each season.

 
Fall
 
Halloween
 
Thanksgiving

More Sensory Bin Ideas for Halloween

Theme Name Materials Needed Targets for Speech & Language
Ghostly Discovery White rice, small ghost toys, spoons Practice “more,” “help,” and descriptive words for what they find.
Pumpkin Patch Orange sensory balls, green leaves, toy pumpkins Target vocabulary for colors, sizes, and textures.
Spooky Sounds Black beans, plastic spiders, scoops Describe the sounds of each object and practice action words like “scoop” and “dig.”
Witch’s Brew Green water beads, plastic cauldrons, spoons Focus on verbs (mix, pour) and adjectives (slippery, slimy).
Monster Mash Brown rice, monster figurines, measuring cups Use comparative language (biggest, smallest) and practice counting.

Using Legos in Halloween Activities for Kids

I often have a couple of upper elementary students working on articulating /s/ or /r/. They love earning a Lego brick for each target they practice. Once all targets are earned, clients can create a Halloween character. Kids are often more imaginative than I am, and I let them lead the way in crafting without a predetermined plan. Here’s what one fifth grader created—clearly, he’s a Minecraft fan!

Halloween activities for kids Lego Ideas

Conclusion: Recap of Seven Activities

I hope you enjoyed this fall post and found new resources for your speech sessions! Incorporate these not-so-spooky Halloween activities—popular children’s books, a fun pumpkin craft, Halloween-themed toy creations, a scarecrow snack, playdough fun, sensory bins, and Lego creativity—to create a fun and engaging atmosphere for speech and language development. Happy Halloween!

FREE Love Idioms Game for Valentine’s Day

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Valentine's Day Reinforcement Boxes and Tokens
FREE Love Idioms Game for Valentine's Day

Add love idioms and fun to your Valentine’s Day plans with my free updated resource for engaging students in meaningful lessons! Engage upper elementary students with this FREE love idiom game for Valentine’s Day, teaching 20 idioms through meaningful conversations and context clues. I also enhanced the graphics with adorable Valentine’s heart emotions.

Don’t worry about finding materials – a quick trip to the Dollar Tree for small gift boxes and heart decor should do the trick. Alternatively, you can use Hershey’s Kisses if supplies are scarce. As for gameplay, students collect heart tokens in their boxes as they answer questions correctly. But here’s the twist – instead of counting tokens to determine the winner, students rely on their senses to make the call. So, get ready to shake things up and spread some Valentine’s Day cheer in your classroom!

FREE Love Idioms

Why wait? Go grab your FREE love idiom game for Valentine’s Day for upper elementary students that encourages conversations.  Now, you can teach your students to use context clues in interpreting 20 idioms. This resource includes idioms and sayings related to “heart,” “love,” and “red,” ideal for Valentine’s Day lesson plans! I even updated the graphics with this sweet, Valentines heart emotions listed for FREE by Creating4 the Classroom Clipart.  

Valentines Day Idioms Game

The Dollar Tree usually has small, Valentine gift boxes and plastic heart table decor, but if the shelves are cleared, then you could use Hersey’s Kisses. To play the game, students collect a heart token in their box as they answer questions correctly. Instead of counting tokens, players used other senses, like weighing boxes or listening for noise when shaken, to determine winners.

FREE Love Idioms Game for Valentine's Day

With this updated love idiom game for Valentine’s Day, you have a fantastic resource to engage upper elementary students in meaningful conversations. Incorporating idioms related to “heart,” “love,” and “red,” it’s perfect for any Valentine’s Day lesson. The simple gameplay, utilizing Dollar Tree finds or Hershey’s Kisses, adds a tactile and sensory dimension to the activity. Whether students collect heart tokens or listen for the noisiest box, they’re in for a memorable, enjoyable learning experience!

SEVEN Awesome Speech Therapy Toys for Summer

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Boy playing in the sand at the beach with his father using speech therapy toys

If you read my post on toy selection, then you already know the four important features that I consider in a toy for enhancing speech and language development. Speech therapy toys play a crucial role in engaging children and promoting their communication skills in an enjoyable way. Since I am a big fan of summer, I thought I would share some of my favorite summertime toys to support communication development for some fun in the sun. You will find that my recommendations are free of noises, bells, and whistles, so no need to stock up on batteries or worry about recharging something.  

Speech Therapy Toys: New Sprouts Camp Out 

New Sprouts speech therapy toys

New Sprouts Camp Out by Learning Resources is most appropriate for children between 2-5 years old. Here are some suggestions for building communication:

  • Expand your child’s pretend play skills while “roasting” a hot dog and marshmallow and then blow on these as they get “hot”.
  • Pack up all the goodies in the carry bag and bring it outside the next time you are going to roast marshmallows to help your child build longer play sequences and imitate actions.
  • Build comprehension by asking “Get/Give me” for designated objects.
  • Work on answering WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE questions such as, “What do you do when you are hungry?”
  • Make comments about each item to model expanding speech development like, “I love eating roasted marshmallows!”

Smart Snacks Alpha Pops

Smart Snap Popsicles- speech therapy toys

Smart Snacks Alpha Pops from Learning Resources is appropriate for children 2 years and older. This toy collection contains a rainbow of make-believe frozen, Popsicle treats with uppercase & lowercase letters for learning matching, color recognition, fine motor skills and imaginative play. Below are some additional suggestions to foster fine motor and speech/language communication:

  • Pull apart all Popsicle sticks and hide them under dry beans, water beads, or any filling of your choice. Then, have your child build hand skills by pushing the pieces together as he/she locates matches.
  • Build phonemic awareness by asking your child to find the letters that make the sound “Buh.”
  • Increase speech skills by modeling sounds.
  • Talk about words that start with the targeted letter.

Speech Therapy Toys: Pop up Pirate

Pop the Pirate speech therapy toy

The Pop up Pirate game is suitable for 3 years and older as there are some small parts. I typically incorporate a pirate-theme sometime in my summer speech and language lessons while we talk about the ocean and the beach.

  • Build sharing and taking turns by having children use a gesture, sound, or word to make a request for “Me,” “My turn,” or “It’s my turn.”
  • Ask questions with “yes” or “no” answers such as: “Did the pirate pop?” or “Is that a red sword?”
  • Increase following directions with “Take two swords” or “Get a yellow sword.”
  • Practice simple to complex speech by modeling “pop,” “more pop,” “I want more pop!”

Hydro Hoops

Hydro Hoops speech therapy toys

Hydro Hoops is a new water play toy that I have been using in my speech and language pool group sessions this summer. Recommended ages are for 5 years and older, but I have used it with supervision with children as young as 3 years old.

  • Practice turn taking and sharing during pool play.
  • Model making appropriate comments when children make and/or miss baskets.
  • Build social comprehension by asking a child to throw the ball to another.
  • Role-play initiating asking to join a game with others.

Speech Therapy Toys: Ocean-colored Water Beads

Ocean colored water beads- speech therapy toys

Ocean-colored water beads! While the recommended age for these is 3 years and older, I have used them with children through 10 years. These make a great filler for sensory bin exploration!  Here are some suggestions for objects that you can hide in a container of these delightful beads:

  • miniature ocean animals
  • Learning Resources Alphabet Popsicles
  • seashells
  • colored fish

Buckets

Using buckets in summer activities with young children not only provides entertainment but also serves as an effective way to develop comprehension and language skills. By giving children commands to place objects either inside or on top of the buckets, parents or caregivers can create engaging and interactive learning experiences. This activity allows children to follow simple to complex instructions, enhancing their ability to understand and express language while also promoting fine motor skills and spatial awareness. You can even build on this activity by using a variety of buckets such as:

  • one small and one large
  • castle-shaped
  • square and round
  • animal faces

Speech Therapy Toys: Bubbles by Gymboree

Gymboree bubbles- speech therapy toys

I’m not going to even try to sugar coat my feelings here, you NEED Gymboree Bubbles! These bubbles last longer, require less solution, and float on water, providing both entertainment and physical activity for children. The one downfall is that you can’t offer your bubble wand to little ones for sanitary reasons so they can work on some oral motor coordination. However, children can still try and blow the bubbles in the air, which often is a good starting place for toddlers trying to learn how to blow a bubble anyways. Once you break open the bubbles, here are some speech and language suggestions:

  • Ask if your child wants a “big” or “small” bubble to work on concepts.
  • Count the bubbles as you pop them with your finger.
  • Sing a song about bubbles to build rhythm and prosody (intonation) for speech.
  • See if your child can round his lips to blow the bubbles in the air. If not, then squeeze those cute, little cheeks in a bit to help him.

While I have deemed these toys to be ones you can use in the summer, all the above suggestions could be used year-round. There are no definitive rules when it comes to play, except of course to have fun!!

Cooking up Fun with Food-Themed Pediatric Speech Therapy

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Inexpensive Pediatric Speech Therapy Materials

Delve into the deliciously effective world of food-themed pediatric speech therapy! From vocabulary expansion to articulation practice, discover how incorporating food can enhance engagement and communication skills in therapy sessions. In this blog post, I will explore creative activities, effective strategies, and the mouth-watering benefits of using food as a tool for speech and language development. Get ready to spice up your therapy sessions and satisfy your speech goals with a side of culinary fun!

Condiment Flashcards

I typically find die cuts like the ketchup and mustard ones pictured below at the Dollar Tree.  These are a quick and easy way to create flashcards.  I used the condiments ones to make an association memory game.   In keeping with the theme, all the word pairs were food related. The burger cards were meant to be coasters, but I used them for retelling stories and sequencing tasks.  I also kept extra picnic-themed paper plates and popcorn containers on hand for both decorative purposes and for use in sorting activities.

Food-themed pediatric speech therapy materials

I Scream, You Scream

The FREE ice cream lesson pictured below came from Jenn at Crazy Speech World. She put together this fun noun and verb matching game for sentence construction. I edited some verbs to address irregular tense and picked up these mini decorative trays that reminded me of an ice cream parlor.

Food-themed pediatric speech therapy ice cream sentences

Popcorn

At the end of last school year, I had many requests to repeat a popcorn lesson that I found at Speech Time Fun. You can find this freebie that targets naming synonyms here.  All my students especially loved using the elephant card that caused you to put back all the popcorn that you had collected during game play. I used my Dollar Tree popcorn buckets for students to collect their popcorn pictures.

Food-themed pediatric speech therapy popcorn game

Pediatric Speech Therapy Game Changers

I also had a couple games that I found at Job Lot in Massachusetts years ago. The one below targeted using social manners and it came with the adorable picnic basket and blanket. I could easily work on vocabulary and turn taking with this gem.

Food-themed pediatric speech therapy picnic manners game

The other Job Let find was a pizza game that focused on listening skills. It came with the items pictured below plus an additional pizza in a box. The object was to follow directions by accurately placing tokens with pictures on them onto the pizza. If you followed directions accurately, then you moved ahead on the large pizza spatula board.

Food-themed pediatric speech therapy pizza listening game

Pediatric Speech Therapy TpT Materials

But wait, there’s more!  I purchased one of the “Moore” bundles on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) that included several food themed lesson plans all to benefit the therapists who lost supplies following a devastating tornado. First up, was from one of my all time favorite bloggers, Rose at Speech Snacks. Her donation to the bundle was a restaurant package that included a fun game board with cards, categorization drills, auditory processing activities, and using manners. Never fear, you can buy yours here!

Yet, another score from my TPT “Moore” bundle purchase came from, The Buckeye Speech Path. This ‘Build a Pizza’ activity was an open ended speech game that you can purchase here on TPT.

As you can see, I created a binder full of food lesson plans for this unit. The next one was a barrier game freebie from Carrie’s Speech Corner using a lunch tray and some rather healthy food choices too.

Last, but not least, I created an activity to build expressive language skills using a lunch box theme. I took pictures of some items inside a lunch box to clip on the outside handle. Students needed to first describe the pictured object and then reach into the box with their eyes closed and feel around for it.

Food-themed pediatric speech therapy lunchbox game

Takeaway Thoughts

In conclusion, incorporating a food theme into speech and language sessions can be a tasty and effective way to engage and motivate clients of all ages. From building vocabulary to improving articulation and fostering social skills, the possibilities are endless. By tapping into the universal love for food, speech therapists can create meaningful and memorable experiences that promote communication growth. So, why not add a pinch of culinary creativity to your therapy toolkit and watch your clients flourish with each delicious session? Let’s savor the joy of learning and communication, one bite at a time!

Fun & Functional DIY Games to Play with Kids

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Are you looking for a fun and functional DIY games to play with kids? I can promise you that my seasonal category games will exceed your expectations. Using bags and items you have around the house, you can quickly create an electronic free way to engage with your child and foster language skills.

DIY games using mom's purse

DIY Games With Mom’s Purse

My love for bagging up objects started with this fun activity that I found on Make Learning Fun during Mother’s Day 2012.  Basically, you play a guessing game about items typically found in mom’s purse.  It was a HUGE hit with preschoolers and middle school students during the spring season, and it was easily adaptable.  All you need to do is search your home for a variety of items that are typically found in a mom’s purse.  I purchased most of my items at the Dollar Tree, bag included!

After your search for objects is over, take a picture or make a computer generated one for each item in the bag.  Then print, hole punch, and clip all pictures to your purse for safe keeping.  During the game, children take turns using just their hands to feel inside the bag for the picture target.  I like to set a timer for one minute to keep the game moving along. Older children can use descriptive words to talk about what item they are looking for while younger ones can reach in and search while you provide descriptors.  Here are some of the many speech and language goals that can be incorporated into this activity:

  • articulation practice at the word/ phrase/ sentence level
  • describing objects by function
  • discussing objects by shape/ size/ textures
  • using slow, smooth fluent speech to talk about object features
  • answering “why” questions about various bag contents

DIY Games Using Beach/Pool Bags

DIY games using pool bag

You can create a seasonal category game for the summer months too.  All you need to do is grab your pool or beach bag, which may already have plenty of items packed in it for the summer, and take a picture of each item.  Then, using contact paper, laminate the pictures and hole punch the stack.  You can use a round clip to attach the pictures to the handle of the bag.

Now, it’s time for some fun!  Following the cards in sequential order, have children take turns reaching into the bag to feel for the item on their picture.  Describe the item by size, shape, texture and more, prompting children to use descriptive words. My middle schoolers loved revisiting the guessing game after enjoying the “Mom’s Purse” activity during spring.

If you want to work on following descriptive directions, you can ask your children to locate the above items given clues, and then play the seek and find game later.  Below are some clues you can provide for items like the ones pictured above:

  • Find something made of plastic that helps us see underwater.
  • Get something in a hard can that protects our skin outside from the sun.
  • Find some small, bumpy treasures that we brought home from the beach.
  • Get the soft, large thing that dries us off.
  • Find three plastic things we can play with in the water. 

DIY Games with School Lunchbox

Since it’s harder to ask kids to reach into such a small space like a lunchbox and feel around for things, I created some “What am I” guessing cards.  Grab your level 1 card deck here.  If you are looking for something a bit more challenging, then snag your level 2 rhyming card deck at this link.

The contents of my lunchbox included: water bottle, spoon and fork, sandwich container, Ziploc bag, straw, note, and a napkin.   Once kids guess the object, have them search the lunchbox to retrieve the match.  I also took pictures of all objects in case I want to use this as a matching picture to object task for my preschool kids.  This is a perfect, fun game for your “Back to School” lesson planning and a great way to recycle your child’s former lunchbox!  Enjoy!!

Christmas Stocking

DIY Games for Christmas

I replaced typical gifts in a seasonal game with mini objects targeting speech sounds or vocabulary to enhance expressive skills. For suggestions and sources, see my post.

Given the number of targets that you may use with this game, I typically forego creating pictures as I have with my other guessing game bags.  Think of it this Christmas activity as a sensory bin without the box. For articulation practice, clients can pick one item at a time from the bin and say the word 3-5 times.  Language clients can describe the item retrieved, answer questions about it, or use the target in a sentence.  

Improve Reading Comprehension with Winter Literacy

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As the winter chill settles in, it’s the perfect time to cozy up with some winter-themed literacy activities to improve reading comprehension! Whether you’re a speech pathologist looking for engaging classroom resources or a parent eager to enhance your child’s reading skills at home, this winter literacy post (featured in ASHA 1/10/13) has you covered.

Exploring winter literacy with my elementary clients has been a delightful journey. During one winter break, I crafted several engaging lessons, pairing seasonal books with practical activities. Organizing these books can enhance thematic learning experiences and streamline access to resources for speech and language therapy sessions. For more details about my unique storing system, read my organization post.

Improve reading comprehension with Tracks in the Snow

Improve Reading Comprehension with: Tracks in the Snow

Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee suits 1st and 2nd graders. It aids in teaching irregular past tense verbs. I decided to create a list using sentences with present tense verbs from the story.  Kids take turns changing verbs to past tense, earning animal track cards or tokens for correct answers. The person with the most tracks or tokens wins! You can grab your list here for Tracks in the Snow:

Improve reading comprehension with The Missing Mitten Mystery

Improve Reading Comprehension with: The Missing Mitten Mystery

My next book, The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg is a funny story about a little girl who retraces her steps outside in search of a missing mitten. I found this book by Scholastic for a quarter at my local library sale! Moreover, I needed a lesson for some 3rd graders that focused on simple comprehension questions following a short reading, and this book fit the bill! If you can find this book at your local library or bookstore, then you can use these comprehension questions!

Improve reading comprehension with In the Snow: Who's Been Here?

In the Snow: Who’s Been Here?

Another score at the library sale was, In the Snow: Who’s Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George. I highly recommend borrowing or purchasing this book because each page gives clues about a winter animal that has crossed the trail in the woods just prior to the children’s walk. Great for vocabulary building and also for answering who/what questions!!

Improve reading comprehension with The Hat

Improve Reading Comprehension with: The Hat

The Hat by Jan Brett follows Hedgie the hedgehog as he gets a sock stuck on his prickles and faces the curiosity of other animals. As the story unfolds, readers discover how Hedgie’s predicament turns into a whimsical adventure. If you have not seen the FREE templates at www.makelearningfun.com that go along with the stories, The Mitten and The Hat both by Jan Brett, then you should follow this link to take a look!

Improve reading comprehension with Owl Moon

Improve Reading Comprehension with: Owl Moon

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen depicts a young girl and her father as they embark on a magical journey into the woods on a moonlit night. Together, they search for owls, experiencing the wonder and quiet beauty of nature. I found some great worksheets for this award winning story at this blogger’s TpT site.

Addendum 1/3/2013

After borrowing Katy and the Big Snow, I crafted a vocabulary lesson plan, prompted by a comment on this post. Follow this link for complete details.






Simple Speech Therapy Early Intervention Activity using Eggs

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Eggs with various interactive toys for speech therapy early intervention activity

Crack open the door to engaging speech and language development with our simple yet effective speech therapy early intervention activity using eggs! All you need are a dozen plastic eggs and small objects to fit inside each one. There’s something magical about finding mini treasures that delights children between the ages of two and five. I’ve used this activity during the spring/Easter season and beyond with great success! For more winning, speech therapy early intervention activities, head to this post.

Communicative Purpose in Speech Therapy Early Intervention

In the world of speech pathology, we often reference: communicative purpose.  These are the various ways that we express our intentions to connect with others.  The greatest thing about using this simple activity of filling plastic eggs with treasures, is that you can elicit several purposes for social communication.  Below is a sample of a speech session from start to finish using eggs filled with objects to tempt communication with young children:

  • Requesting object: indicating a choice for an egg with pointing, eye gaze, reaching, or vocalizing
  • Requesting assistance: reaching, signing, vocalizing, or expressing “help” to open an egg
  • Greeting: waving and/ or saying “hi/ hello, bye/ see ya” as you take objects in and out of eggs
  • Requesting action: gesturing and/ or vocalizing to say “go” after a verbal prompt of “Ready, set…” with a wind up toy; matchbox car/ small vehicle; or spring-loaded pop-up toy
  • Requesting continuance: gestures, signs, and/ or vocalizes “more”
  • Labeling: using a sound/ syllable/ word for famous characters like Elmo, Sponge Bob, and Dora
  • Commenting: using facial expressions, sounds (ew), words (yuck, wow) to make comments about sticky, slimy, gooey, messy things
  • Responding to questions: Potato Head pieces for naming and/ or identifying body parts
  • Protesting: shaking head “no”; pushing object away; placing it in an egg; or vocalizing “no”
  • Requesting termination: gesturing, signing, and/ or vocalizing “all done”

Treasure Hunt

While you may find many objects around your home, below are some great places to look for more items to fill in eggs.
  • The Dollar Tree typically has a wind up toy or two somewhere in the store or you can find bundles on Amazon.  I like having one of these in each sound box because they allow for a little more opportunity for target practice while you play with it.  You may also find magnet numbers, miniature animal figures, individually packaged specialty characters, and small Koosh objects at your local Dollar Tree store.
  • Target Dollar spots sometimes have mini object erasers in a pack of 4 for $1.  I found a fruit one on clearance for 30 cents that had a strawberry, banana, grapes, and a watermelon.  
  • Party stores often have trinkets for favors or decor for themed parties 
  • Walmart carries seasonal favors that are fairly priced.  I found a collection of stretchy body parts during Halloween a few years ago that the kids love.
  • IKEA sometimes carries animal finger puppets in a collection of 5-6 that are fun for varying play during a seek-and-find game.
  • Dinky Doodads on Etsy.

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