language

Five No Screen Time Options to Stimulate Communication

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Five No Screen Time Options to Stimulate Communication (iPad with coffee and keyboard)

Chances are you are using your iPad, phone, or laptop to read this post. Truth be told, I used my iPad to write it and later signed on my laptop to publish it. I was constantly on some form of electronic device, making it all the more important to find activities that promote communication with no screen time.

I disliked being connected to devices and despised the example I was setting for my own son.  Alas, he was just as reliant on his devices as I was, as were so many children. Electronics have become our social time and way to escape the stresses in the world. During the pandemic, social media served as our only connection with friends and extended family. As a parent, we chose our electronic battles and set limits, but we need to model the behaviors we expect from our children too.

Let’s discover five electronic-free options that ignite communication and engagement, offering enriching experiences beyond the digital realm for your child. These activities foster connection, creativity, and social interaction, laying a strong foundation for communication skills development in children.

Healthy Alternatives

Below are some electronic-free options to offer when the cell phones are on the charging station. These were games and toys that I had used with my own son over the years that helped him reconnect with his peers and family during social interactions.

Uno Roboto: Fun with No Screen Time

Uno Roboto is a portable, lively version of the traditional card game. This game allows players to record names and create “house rules” that they use during gameplay. It’s an excellent option for families looking for fun ways to reconnect and interact without screens.

Dry Erase Activity Cards: Creative No Screen Time Fun

One summer, I hole punched some dry erase activity cards, divided the cards into two stacks, attached them with a binder ring, threw a few markers and tissues in the swim bag, and watched the kids sit for at least an hour going through each and every card in their deck. This activity is perfect for stimulating creativity and communication without the need for electronics.

Hangman: Classic No Screen Time Entertainment

While writing this, memories surfaced of childhood games played with my sister at restaurants, before iPhones entertained us during waits. I remembered enjoying hangman and came up with an idea to draw a page and slide it into a dry erase pocket sleeve. This classic game is a fantastic way to engage children in a no screen time activity that promotes spelling and problem-solving skills.

The Alphabet Game: On-the-Go No Screen Time Activity

This next idea requires nothing more than your voice. No materials, pens, markers, or devices are necessary, and you can safely play it in the car with your kids while you drive. It is the alphabet game. All you need to do is call out something you see while driving that begins with a letter in the alphabet. The objective is to “spy” things in alphabetical order before the journey is over or until the next rest stop. This game is a great way to keep kids entertained and learning without screens.

Books: Timeless No Screen Time Engagement

Last, but certainly not least, there were books! When my boy was a toddler, I kept mini books in my diaper bag like First Words and Lift-the-Flaps. These kept him busy and entertained while in the shopping carriage or at the restaurant table. To this day, he has a book with him in the car, so it seems like we got him on the right track! Books are an excellent no screen time option that fosters a love for reading and learning.

Takeaway Thoughts

Great apps exist, but this post wasn’t about disregarding them. I suggest apps for therapy but advocate for balance. It is virtually impossible to build turn-taking and communication skills when a young child plays on a device. I rarely use my iPad as a reinforcer for completing tasks in speech sessions because it closes the door rather than opens one for expanding communication. Some time ago, I cleared all the games off my phone and I never looked back. You could do it too, it isn’t too late! If nothing else, turn off your phone when you’re at the park with your kids or during speech sessions you attend. You’ll be amazed by the interactions when you’re present.

Excellent Expanding Expression Tool (EET) Visuals

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Complete EET kit

Expanding Expression Tool (EET) by fellow Speech Pathologist, Sara L. Smith, is a dynamic, multi-sensory approach for improving oral language and writing for students in kindergarten through high school. There are many reasons why you should use expanding expression tool visuals both in school and home.  Let’s take a closer look at the program and how I have incorporated it into my speech and language therapy practice.

Expanding Expression Tool Components

Just in case you have not seen an EET kit, here are the basic components:
First, you get the manual with the kit which includes five sections:  introduction, general descriptions, additional prompts, organizers, and parent program.  You will find baseline data sheets, worksheet activities for each descriptor bead, classroom prompts, student organizers, home activities, and much more in this manual.

EET

Included in the kit are two sets of beads, a large one for classroom instruction and one small strand for individual use.  The latter helps students become more independent with expressive language skills in a less conspicuous manner while still getting visual and tactile cues. Parents can purchase the smaller strand for home practice at this link. Basically, each bead represents a descriptor cue for target vocabulary and here is the breakdown:

  • Green=What Group does it belong to?
  • Blue=What does it Do? What is its Function?
  • Eyeball=What does it Look like?
  • Wood=What is it Made of?
  • Pink=What are its Parts?
  • White=Where can you Find it?
  • ?=What Else do I know about it?

Also included in the kit are picture cards with familiar objects, which you can break out for immediate EET practice.  Some of the cards include the EET coding, which is great for cuing students at their desk.  A few of the other cards in this deck offer lesson plan ideas.

The foam dice in the kit are perfect for playing games. Just roll the dice and answer the color-coded question about the target object.

Expanding Expression Tools in Action

Years ago, I used EET with a private language client who was in the fourth grade and received special education programming. She attended private speech and language sessions at my practice, Naperville Therapediatrics, twice weekly for 60 minutes. In August 2013, language testing revealed limited vocabulary use, reduced sentence structure, and delayed comprehension. While she did very well during discrete learning trials, she struggled with retaining and recalling information.  Her school special education team asked if I could help increase this student’s ability to use and comprehend vocabulary, especially homophones, so I researched the EET program to address these delays.

When I compared how this client responded at baseline to her responses while using the EET beads, she recalled a little more detail about each subject.  Here is one before/ after example taken recently after having covered worksheets for the following:  group, function, and “looks like.”

Tell me everything you know about Beluga Whales-

Baseline response on 1/7/2014:  
“It has sharp teeth and of course it has to eat fish.  Swallows fish.  It is a carnivore too because it likes to eat meat.  And it can make an echo.  If it’s danger and it makes sound.”

Halfway through program on 3/7/2014:
Animals (ocean/sea)
Swims underwater; moves its head (modeled demonstration); eats fishes; uses echolocation
White and Brown
Bones
It has little teeth.  They do not chew, they swallow.
See them at aquarium

Analysis

At baseline, she told me about it: group (carnivore), parts (teeth) and what it does (eats fish and echoes.)  Using the EET beads, she added a few more details about the following: what it does (moves head, swims underwater), what it looks like (white and brown), made of (bones), and where you may see them (aquarium.)  If we look at this data from a percentage standpoint, then she used 3/6 (50%) description points at baseline and 6/6 (100%) details with EET beads.  She increased the number of details provided in three other samples too.  Continued improvement was noted as we progressed through the workbook programming.

Expanding Expression Tool Seasonal Ideas

Since I’m a big fan of seasonal units and visual cuing, I thought it would be appropriate to take clip art and add lines to the image for EET description. Below are some of my ideas for each season/ holiday:

  • New Year’s party hat
  • Hot chocolate mug
  • Valentine cupcake
  • Basketball
  • Umbrella
  • Flower
  • Sun
  • Fireworks
  • Pail and shovel
  • Swimming pool
  • Leaf
  • Pumpkin
  • Turkey
  • Snowman
  • Christmas tree/ dreidel.

I am so appreciative of Sara’s efforts and hard work in designing this EET program.  For details on using EET to improve writing, you can visit my guest post by Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan. If you would like more information about the EET program, then click on the title links below for descriptions and ordering details:

Expanding Expressions Home Page

Toolkit

Understanding the Speech Evaluation Process in Schools

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Teaching reading a book surrounded by attentive children

One of the most important aspects of my job as a speech-language pathologist is caregiver education. Understanding the speech evaluation process is crucial for qualifying for speech therapy services in the school system. It is easy for professionals to take for granted the understanding of acronyms, evaluation timelines, and criteria for qualification of speech services. So, I thought I would take a moment to walk you through the eligibility process as it pertains to both the public and private school settings here in Illinois, while defining some key terminology along the way.

Step One: Screening Consent

Some public-school districts may have either your child’s teacher or school speech pathologist contact you to consent to a screening. Parents may express concerns at conferences. In IL private schools, parent consent via email or phone is required for speech and language screenings.

Step Two: Screening

A school SLP addresses speech articulation, expressive language, receptive language, fluency, voicing, and social skills. When caregivers and/or teachers express a concern about the students’ communication, I have them complete a one-page screening request form. The screening questionnaire helps tailor the assessment, focusing on concerns like articulation, vocabulary, or comprehension of directions. A speech only screening is an informal collection of information that typically takes 15-20 minutes. A screening does not assess but helps decide if further assessment is needed.

Step Three: Initial Team Eligibility Meeting 

If further testing is required after screening, caregivers meet with a team comprising the speech pathologist, teacher, and school representative. The 60 school days clock starts ticking when consent is signed, so all testing and reports must be completed within that timeline. You’ll get a notice before the meeting to discuss test results and eligibility for special education services with the team.

Step Four: Speech Evaluation

Common Speech Evaluation Tests Used by School Speech Pathologists

  1. Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation (GFTA)
  2. Arizona Articulation and Phonology Scale (Arizona-4)
  3. Clinical Assessment of Articulation and Phonology (CAAP-2)
  4. Kaufman Speech Praxis Test for Children (KSPT)
  5. Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP)
  6. Structured Photographic Articulation Test-Third Edition (SPAT-3)
  7. Photo Articulation Test (PAT-3)
  8. Hodson Assessment of Phonological Patterns (HAPP-3)
  9. LinguiSystems Articulation Test (LAT)
  10. Bankson-Bernthal Test of Phonology (BBTOP)

In both public and private elementary schools, I commonly received referrals for speech articulation issues. Generally speaking, your child may be found eligible for speech articulation services if scores are well below the average expected range. You will read more about this in the standard score section of this post. Often, a child with one, developmentally appropriate sound error may not qualify for school speech services.

Developmentally appropriate sound errors:  These errors are on sound targets that the student may not yet be able to produce due to age.  Like all other areas of development, some children can master sound targets sooner than others. Much of this depends on growth of the oral cavity, hearing acuity, and exposure. The preschooler struggling with /r/ may lack oral cavity growth, hindering tongue movement. Recurring ear infections could impact hearing certain sounds. If we allow some time, the sound targets may naturally become clearer.  The chart pictured below depicts recent research information for sound development.

Understanding the Speech Evaluation Process in Schools: McLeod-Crowe-2018 English consonants Treehouse


Keep in mind that these rules do not apply for a highly unintelligible child. Typically, professionals identify a child with a significant speech challenge in early intervention, preschool, or kindergarten.

For more information on qualifying for speech services under these conditions, please refer to the following posts: Phonological Processes, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, and Speech Sound Development. Explore this resource for a more comprehensive understanding of testing expressive and receptive language.

Step Five: Eligibility Meeting to Review Speech Evaluation Results

Each team member will discuss your child’s test results reviewing strengths and identifying areas of need if indicated.  Typically, we use tests that yield a standardized score (SS).

Standard Scores: These scores compare the student’s results to a national average, indicating if the student is above, below, or at the average compared to peers of the same age.

Standard deviation: This formula reveals the distance to the average range. Every 15 points represents one unit of standard deviation. The range of average for most tests is from 85-115.  You should ask your child’s team what the standard deviation requirements are for eligibility.

Students scoring 70 are one standard deviation below average, indicating a mild delay. Those scoring more than 2.5 standard deviations from the norm are classified as having a severe-profound communication delay.  The visual below from Teach in the City is a great representation of standard score classification.

Understanding the Speech Evaluation Process in Schools: Bell Curve

Adverse impact on student’s educational performance:  This line is the “Be all, end all,” in the school system. The initial team reconvenes to report scores and determine if the delay affects the child’s learning in school. If a delay in any area of communication (speech, language, voice, fluency, social) affects a child’s ability to be understood by school staff and/or peers, the child will likely qualify for services.

Least restrictive environment: Once a child qualifies for special education services, the team will discuss the least restrictive setting and frequency for educational support. Basically, this means that if your child demonstrated a mild delay in speech articulation, then the service delivery should match, not exceed his needs.

Step Six: Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

In the public-school setting, educators develop an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), while in private schools in Illinois, we create an abridged version known as an Individualized Service Plan (ISP). Either way, the plan is good for one year, at which time the team meets to review student progress, develop new goals, alter service times, or in some cases discharge services altogether. It is not uncommon to hold an IEP meeting with the eligibility.

An IEP starts 10 school days after the meeting. Address questions or concerns with the team and review the draft. At any point in the year, caregivers can request a team meeting to edit goals. If you move to another district or state, your new district must follow the IEP, as it is a legal document.

If your child qualifies for special education, the team will reconvene in three years for updates. Ask questions anytime. Remember, you’re an essential part of your child’s journey. Your involvement ensures the best outcomes. Don’t hesitate to advocate for your child.

Conclusion: Understanding the Speech Evaluation Process

Navigating the speech evaluation process can be challenging, but it’s essential for securing the right services for your child. As caregivers, your involvement and understanding of the process—from initial screening to the development of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)—are crucial. Remember, each step, whether it’s understanding standardized scores or determining the least restrictive environment, is designed to support your child’s unique communication needs. Keep asking questions, stay engaged, and collaborate with the school team to ensure your child receives the best possible support for their speech and language development.

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.






FREE Seasonal Words That Have Multiple Meanings

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Pen circling a date on a calendar for planning teaching of words that have multiple meanings

One vocabulary area that seems to challenge many is: providing two or more different definitions for words that have multiple meanings. Targeting multiple meaning words over a few weeks isn’t enough; I’ll focus on them throughout the school year for measurable gains. So, I developed word banks for monthly calendars based on a seasonal activity, event, or category. I found that asking students to provide a definition relative to the theme was very helpful.

Lesson Plan

At the beginning of every session, each student would provide one definition for the day’s target word. Every Friday, I wrote “Review Day” on the calendar so students could pick whatever word they wanted from the past week.  Sometimes, there were small candy incentives for accurately providing at least two, different definitions.  Below are word banks you can use to make your own calendars.

Seasonal Words That Have Multiple Meanings

  • January (Hockey words): slip, icing, sticks, fans, ice, mask, uniform, slash, goal, net, line, slide, glass, coach, pass, shoot
  • February (Body Parts): head, ear, limb, hand, feet, nail, face, arms, foot, lash, gum, calf, back, arm
  • March (Baseball Words): bat, batter, pitcher, run, home, strike, ball, coach, hit, fan, plate, fly, diamond
  • April (Animal words): bark, duck, hog, bear, clam, fly, bug, fish, bat, snake, crane, chicken, monkey, pig, rat, badger
  • May (Action words): join, drive, straighten, play, grill, settle, observe, grasp, spare, take, spin, stand, fire, fix, beat, lose, shake, sign, miss
  • September (Things You May Find in Your Home): iron, key, light, bed, screen, shed, sink, yard, fan, entrance, deck, plant, table, pool, steps
  • October (Basketball): ball, hoop, court, coach, dribble, pass, shoot, basket, net, quarter, foul, travel, trip, charge, block, run, steal, fan, tie
  • November (Football): ball, tackle, coach, quarter, half, run, pass, field, guard, fan, wave, catch, practice, cover, down, flag, cheer
  • December (Holiday/ Seasonal words): cold, present, ice, star, shop, stockings, bow, trip, open, light, wrap, tag
January 2012 calendar image for lesson plan about words that have multiple meanings

10 SLP Apps that Stand the Test of Time

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Essential SLP Apps

I was given each of these SLP apps so I could put them to the test and offer a first person, hands on review.  This list of 10 apps that stand the test of time is meant to guide other educators and caregivers towards the apps that I have found to be most beneficial, not only when my son was younger, but also at work with clients on my pediatric, speech-language caseload. The ranking is in no particular order of preference.

Conversation Builder for Social Communication

Conversation Builder icon: SLP apps

Conversation Builder Teen ($29.99) by Mobile Education Store:  I cannot say enough about this dynamic app that supports improving social skills for teenagers! I have used  it with middle school clients diagnosed with autism. To say this app is a must have for anyone needing support with pragmatic skills would be a HUGE understatement!!

Tense Builder for Understanding Verbs

Tense Builder ($9.99) by Mobile Education Store:  This is another, fantastic app by Kyle Tomson. It addresses every, possible verb tense in a bright, entertaining way that the first graders in my life really enjoy. Users watch a short cartoon video and then match the appropriate picture to the target sentence. For a closer look at this gem, head to my detailed post here.

Syntax City App

Syntax City icon: SLP apps

Syntax City ($19.99) by Smarty Ears:  Great app that targets a good variety of syntax in a fun, categorical way. Visit several different locations in the city and earn prizes by choosing the correct word to complete sentences. Motivating, educational, and fun for my young, elementary students. I have more information and images to see of this app in my detailed review post.  

Rainbow Sentences: Recommended SLP Apps

Rainbow Sentences icon: SLP apps

Rainbow Sentences ($9.99) by Mobile Education Store:
The object of this game is to unscramble words to form grammatically correct sentences. It offers multiple settings and various levels of difficulty. I personally like how the mixed up words maintain the correct punctuation and capitalization, which act as clues for word ordering while offering visual reminders to use these techniques while writing too! Children earn pieces of a puzzle by answering several questions accurately.  I provide even more details and images in my post: Constructing Grammatically Correct Sentences with Rainbow Sentences app.

Preposition Builder App

Preposition Builder icon: SLP apps

Preposition Builder ($7.99) by Mobile Education Store:
What can I say, I’m a Mobile Education Store Fan! They cover all the speech language therapy bases!! This app teaches prepositions in related groups. Once you successfully fill-in the correct prepositions in all sentences, you unlock an opportunity to watch a short, animated video clip.

Articulation Station: The Greatest of all SLP Apps

Articulation Station (.99-$5.99) by Little Bee Speech:  The app itself comes free with oneArticulation Station: SLP apps target sound, /p/, and then you purchase other sounds at various prices. Speech pathologists will want the entire collection, while parents need only purchase sound targets applicable for their children.  No need to dig for flashcards because this puts them all in the palm of your hand. You can work at word, phrase, sentence, or story levels and set sound targets for all positions in words.  In addition to the flashcards, there are memory games built into every sound target, making carryover practice easy and fun!

Expressive: Robust AAC APP

Expressive icon: SLP appsExpressive ($59.99) by Smarty Ears apps: This is an affordable augmentative and alternative communication speech generating app primarily used for individuals who are minimally verbal.  For complete details and images, please see my post Expressive by Smarty Ears Apps- An Affordable AAC app.

Expressive Builder App

Expressive Builder ($9.99) by Mobile Education Store:  I use this app to address building grammatically and syntactically correct sentences. The levels of play make this a nice tool for teaching and assessing speech and language skills!

Custom Boards: A Versatile Tool in SLP Apps for Creating Visual Resources 

Custom Boards (PRICELESS) by Smarty Ears apps: Incredible, comprehensive, amazing, dynamic – these are just some of the descriptive words that came to describe this app!  Basically, Custom Boards allows you to create whatever you need for children of all ages using any of the 35,000 “Smarty Ears” symbols, your own library photos, or Google search images.  You can edit the text font, image size, and change the background colors for images to help them stand out more and create just about anything from Bingo games to daily routine visual schedules.

Little Stories: Literacy App for SLPs

Little Stories icon: SLP appsLittle Stories ($59.99) by Little Bee Speech:  It is impossible for me to tell you everything about this app in one paragraph, so I want you to download the free version and sample three stories for yourself.  You can target speech, language, and literacy in this dynamic app that contains 82 stories at tiered reading levels. Take a look at what you get with each story:

Reading & Literacy

  • Phonemic awareness
  • Reading fluency
  • Reading comprehension
  • Story structure awareness
  • Story tradition and genre exploration

Receptive Language Skills

  • Attention and listening
  • Vocabulary acquisition
  • Story structure and comprehension
  • Question processing

Expressive Language Skills

  • Speech production
  • Story sequencing
  • Story retelling
  • Question answering

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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