Today we have a guest post from Teach Speech 365. She's the one we have to thank for the Chain-Letter Link Up idea! Teach Speech chooses to remain anonymous. She graduated with her masters in 2010 and worked in the public schools for 2 school years prior to switching to a private practice. She has experience working with clients ages 2- 21 and adults. She may return to the schools in the future. She is ASHA certified and has really loved creating and sharing materials with the blogging world. Take it away!
I have done several posts featuring activities I've created, so I thought it was time to do a blog post about some of my favorite low cost therapy activities.
Ready?
1. Dollar Store Baseball Bases - I found some plastic foam baseball "bases" (Dollar Tree...I think) that I thought would be good to use somehow in therapy. It came with the pitcher's square, home plate, and 3 bases. When I had a group of boys, I pulled them out and laid them out on the floor. They took turns coming up to "bat" and had to answer a question before running/walking to a base. It was easy to adapt to all of their goals and they had a great time seeing who could get the most "home runs."
2. Popcorn containers and bottle caps - I found 4 plastic popcorn containers at the dollar store. I began saving water bottle caps (green and clear) thinking I could use them somehow. For some reason, putting the four containers on the floor and letting kids toss the caps in seems to be a big hit. They particularly like to race to see who can get one in a container before the other.
3. Tiles - You can pick up single tiles at any home improvement store for around 10-15 cents each. I usually have kids glue some felt onto the back and then let them paint the front. I've also made some sensory tiles by glueing on beans and cotton balls (you could do sandpaper, etc). The kids really like having something to take home with them!
4. Chocolates - I did an activity involving chocolates around Valentine's Day one year. If you are able to use food in your therapy sessions, this is sure to be a hit. I bought a few of those little boxes of chocolates (Russell Stover, Whitman's) that come with 4 pieces. I put them all on a plate and we discussed what filling we thought was in each one. It was great for prediction, vocabulary, and expressive language skills. We then cut them open to see who was right. I made up low tech communication boards with possible fillings, plus some simple sentence strips and a yes/no board using Custom Boards by Smarty Ears. You can grab a copy HERE!
What are your favorite low cost therapy activities?
Here are some links to follow Teach Speech 365 on her blog, Facebook page, and TPT store. Make sure you go "like" and "follow."
PS, Want to know some of my favorite low-cost therapy materials? Check back next week and I'll share them with you! Also, if you're interested in writing a guest post, email me at cmanchester57@gmail.com.