The Best $10 I Ever Spent!

As people that work with children, you and I both know that when you find an activity that's highly motivating for our students, we have to do all we can to contain ourselves from jumping up and doing a happy dance. You guys, I found that item. And it's nothing new. I have seen this little guy in stores and on Instagram posts for years. But finally, one evening at Target, I decided to pick one up for myself.

Amazon Affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience. This means if you purchase something from the links provided, I may make a small commission. 

Crocodile Dentist is now a permanent part of my therapy bag. I love him for many reasons but a big one is because he is small! I can easily fit him into my therapy bag with a slew of other things. But even more, I have found so many uses for him. The game instructions say to take turns pushing down one tooth at a time. One of the teeth will make his mouth chomp down. (It's another fun cause & effect game like Pop the Pig) But I don't always play that way. I literally think that I could tie him into just about any therapy goal on my caseload. Here are a few ways that I have used him....

Identifying vocabulary. I lay a few picture cards (or real items) out on the table and prompt the child, "Feed Chompy (yes, we named him Chompy!) the clock." It's so much more fun than just asking them to point to a picture. I literally did this for 15 minutes with a child in one session the other day. He was having so much fun and I was collecting a TON  of data!

Articulation. Feed the gator articulation cards after the word is practiced. Or, push down one of his teeth after a certain number or targets have been practiced until his chompers close!

Feeding therapy! I have used this with my picky eaters. Every time he takes a lick or a small bite (whatever the goal is) of a new food, he gets to push a tooth down. Plus, you can use this little guy to role play feeding activities. Have your student feed the gator foods the he/she is hesitant to try. Show them that feeding can be fun!

Writing goals. Ok so this one may seem like a stretch but we all have those seriously unmotivated kiddos. I have used this with one of my first graders that just doesn't like to work. After each sentence he wrote, he got to push a tooth down. What he liked even better, was making me push the tooth down because I told him I was so scared of the gator biting me!

Chompy has been a saving grace for therapy sessions that have gotten a bit boring or when one of my students has a major case of the Mondays. I am just so thankful for him! If anyone else has some magically motivating activity, please share!

Using the Dinner Table to Increase Language Skills!

Family dinners are completely different in each house. The "picture perfect" television scenario is everyone home by 6:00 with a freshly prepared, healthy meal ready to be served. The reality is that today's typical family is so busy. Rushing to make dinner (or pick something up) so we can quickly get the kids to soccer practice or a PTA meeting is now the new norm. The close togetherness of a family dinner has gotten lost in the shuffle. I am guilty of neglecting the special time at the dinner table. My husband doesn't get home til about 7:30 each night, so I typically feed the kids much earlier. I used to sit with them as they chatted, but instead of engaging with them I took those 20 minutes to answer emails or sneak a peek at the news. The end result was Kenzie asking to use the iPad at the table or requesting a show to watch as she ate dinner.  I didn't realize how much quality time we were missing out on as I was trying to multitask!

As hard as it is with busy lives, try to schedule in some time each day or even a few times a week to have some serious quality time with your kids. It doesn't have to be at the dinner table. It can be the few minutes before bed or in the car on the way to soccer practice. Turn off the radio and just talk. Ask them questions, play games, be silly! Trust me, these are the memories they will always remember.

This is also a fantastic way to spend some extra time working on language skills.  Start talking about books, asking & answering questions about your day, labeling things we see. These are all great opportunities to enhance everyday language skills!

To help with this, I created some cards with questions, little games, and conversation starters to get you started. Some of these are really silly so I trust your kids will enjoy this! I printed them off, cut them up, and added them to a binder ring. Keep one copy at the dinner table, maybe one in the car, or even in your child's night stand to use a few minutes before bed. Of course, don't read these while driving but they are perfect while waiting in car circle or if you have an older child that can read them aloud while you are heading off to dance class.

There are 4 pages of questions included in the deck. The first page includes 12 "Would You Rather?" questions. Take turns asking your children which scenario they would rather have happen and have them explain why they chose that answer.  You answer, too! Kids love hearing our responses to silly questions.

Next are 12 conversation starters. I love learning what my little guys are thinking. What do they want to be when they grow up? What would they wish for if they had 3 wishes? Their answers will probably surprise you! And the fun part is that these answers may very well change by next week so keep asking!

On the third page is 12 social skills scenarios. Read them aloud and have your kids answer if the person was using good or bad table manners. If it was bad table manners, have your child respond with what he/she would have done differently in that situation.

Last but not least 12 more cards for a little extra fun! These cards include some quick little games, challenges or silly things to do. After all, we all just want to have fun.

You can download this Family Dinner Fun! card deck in my TpT store for free by clicking here! Please leave feedback, I can't wait to hear what you think of this, too!

Gone Fishin' for Good Speech!

Maybe it's just me, but I have a habit of rotating therapy games. Since I am a traveling SLP, I can't carry my entire inventory of games on me at all times (trust me, I have tried!) So I tend to carry the same game or two around with me for a few weeks before I switch it out for another. 

(This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. That means if you purchase something from Amazon using my link, I my earn a few bucks!)

Lately, this Let's Go Fishing game has been a HUGE hit and requested daily. When the kids love a game this much, my first reaction is to create an activity that will allow them to use the beloved game while working on their goals at the same time. 

So I created Gone Fishing for Articulation Mats! To play, have your students take turns fishing. When they catch a fish, have them put the fish on the mat on top of one of the target words. They can practice the word or make up a sentence for the word, depending on their skill level. But there really are a ton of ways you can use these mats, I have even used them as smash mats!

My daughter got this game for Christmas last year and loved it so much, I knew my students would too. I found the game on Amazon for $7.99! You can check it out, here.  Happy fishing!!

My Favorite Therapy Game, KAPOW!

I am constantly on the hunt for any fun ways to get my students excited about therapy, especially articulation. I have a love/hate relationship with articulation therapy. There is so much room for creativity when planning your sessions, but the games and crafts can get old quick. 

(This post contains Amazon Affiliate links which means if you purchase something from my link, I may get a few bucks!)

For years I have been playing a game called Kaboom! If you haven't heard of it, it is simply a game that requires popsicle sticks and a container. Target words are written on the popsicle sticks. Students take turns choosing a stick out of the container (I use a recycled 32oz yogurt container.) If they say their word correctly, they keep the stick. If they don't they put it back. (Now here comes the fun part!) If they pick a stick that says KABOOM on it, they have to yell KABOOM and put all their sticks back. So simple, right? But I swear the kids LOVE this game and you can elicit SO many good speech sounds in a short amount of time... data win!! I did not come up with this game, another fabulously creative teacher did, but I have seen this game used for letters, sight words, addition facts... anything!

The best part about this game is that it can be used for SO many goals. The bad part about this game was that I was purchasing way too many sticks and running out of room to store them. You can check out my blog post about this game from 2013 here. This was when I first started using the game and my baggie method of organizing the popsicle sticks were working. Throw in some mixed articulation groups and 7 different Kaboom game versions and that method quickly failed me.

So flash forward to 3 years later and I finally came up with a way to organize my sticks. In fact, the new and improved game I now call, KAPOW! Only requires 25-30 sticks. I created target pictures/cards that I organize in a binder and attach to the sticks with velcro. (I bought a giant roll of velcro dots on Amazon for under $15)The game can be changed in a snap depending on what goal you are addressing.

I am so excited to have this new and improved version of the game and I am very excited to share it with you! You can download KAPOW from my TpT store by clicking, here! 

Articulation MOVE!

Not a day goes by that I don't hear something on the news or from a student about the Pokemon Go app! I have not personally played it, but I can feel the excitement about the game so I decided to make a speech version! I thought this would be the perfect back to school game to get your students excited about speech... I would like to introduce you to Articulation MOVE!

This activity includes a cell phone for each child and adorable little articulation monsters. Before you play, print, cut, and laminate the phones and monsters. I cut out the middle section of the phones so can see through them. 

Before the students come into your room, hide the monsters around the room. Then, give each child a phone and let them go hunting for target speech words! This activity includes sounds for /p, b, d, t, m, n, w, s, z, sh, ch, th, and r/ so you can use this with large groups or even for center work!

I also included some accountability worksheets so the kids can record the words they found. I included a worksheet for listing the words, recognizing their target sound in the words, and making a sentence for the words they find. 

I plan on making versions of this game for letters, sight words, basic concepts, and other common goals. Please comment below and let me know what goal you could use this with!

You can download your own copy of Articulation Move in my TpT store here! 

It's 50% off for the next 24 hours!

My Top Board Games of 2014!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. 

With our younger students, a game is what turns a boring day of articulation drill into the best day ever! My board game collection is forever growing. I am always on the hunt for a new game that will bring a breath of fresh air (and excited little ones) into my therapy sessions. I wanted to post my list of Top Board Games in 2014. This list doesn't necessarily include my favorite games, it's my students' favorites.

Since SLPs are always on the hunt for new, fun games to use in therapy, I thought I would make this a linky party. After all, I want to hear your favorites, too! To link up, write an original blog post that includes the linky graphic above.  Make sure the graphic links back to this blog post so others can find it and link up, too. In your post, list your board games of 2014 and make sure you link up at the bottom of this post to share!
In no particular order, here are the 6 games that were most requested in my speech room this year!

Avalanche Fruit Stand

This is a simple game that can be used to target colors, counting, turn taking, sorting, and more. Throw in a deck of articulation cards, and it turns into a speech game, too!

Cootie

My boys really like this game because they get to build bugs! To play, roll the dice and the number the dice lands on corresponds with a bug body piece. The first one to complete their bug wins!

The Ladybug Game

This game was created by a kid- so of course it's fun! 

Pop The Pig

Oh Pop the Pig, what would I do without you? I have gotten so many stubborn little ones to willingly participate in therapy with this super fun game. Roll the dice, feed the pig, and wait for him to pop! 

Don't Break the Ice

There are a lot of good activities that go along with this game on TpT. Busy Bee Speech has a few! Check them out here! Knock out some ice blocks while you target some goals… I like it!

What's in Ned's Head?

Here is another oldie but goodie that is also a hit with the boys. The game comes with some really gross stuff. I also like to add my own items into Ned's Head- articulation cards, vocabulary items, sensory items, objects that you can use for descriptive words, etc. 

I hope you will link up below because I would love to hear what your favorites are!! If you don't have a blog and can't link up, leave a comment below with your top board games of 2014!

Pizza Palace Listening Game!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links for your convenience. 

Have you joined in the #instaslp link up on Instagram? Yesterday we were supposed to post a picture from our therapy sessions. I posted a picture of me and one of my little ones playing a pizza game. I had quite a few people asking what the game was so I decided to share it here....

PS- If you're on Instagram, follow me @kevstin

If you know me, you know I love games. I love games even more when they help me address some IEP goals while we play. The newest game on my shelf (or back seat of my car) is Noodleboro Pizza Palace Listening Game

I learned about this game from the same kiddo that told me about Avalanche Fruit Stand

Kids are the best ones to listen to when looking for some new games! 

This is a listening game where the kids get to be pizza chefs and take orders. The better they make the pizza, the closer they get to earning a blue ribbon. However, I hardly ever play exactly how the rules say to play. I love games that can allow you to make up your own rules as you go. 

Included in the game is: 2 pizzas and 2 boxes, 50 topping discs (everything from tomatoes to stinky socks!),  25 topping cards, a pawn, scoring track, a story, and a companion CD. This game was quite the find for less than $13. 

Below are some of the goals I have been able to address with this game:

-Listening & memory skills

-Following directions

-Articulation 

-Vocabulary

-Social skills

To learn more about this game, click here:

Noodleboro Pizza Palace Listening Game

Avalanche Fruit Stand!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links for your connivence.

I just love when I get home from work and I see an Amazon.com box sitting on my porch! I was super excited because I knew what was inside. Last week while working with one of my kiddos at his home, he introduced me to this awesome game called... Avalanche Fruit Stand

To play, you set up all the fruit on the fruit stand. Each player takes a turn spinning the spinner. You choose a piece of fruit from the stand based on what color or number the spinner lands on. You also have to be strategic about where you pick your piece of fruit from (kinda like in Jenga!)

My kiddos had a blast playing this game this week and every single one made me promise to bring it back next time. I love games that are educational and motivating (winning!)

This game allowed me to address the following goals (I'm sure there are more...)

Following directions

Vocabulary

Colors

Number Concepts

Counting

Turn Taking

Prepositions

Articulation (practice a target before a turn)

Fine Motor Skills

I just loved this game and had to share. 

Special thanks to Mason for introducing me to Avalanche Fruit Stand!

Love It & List It Linky Party!

2 linky parties in 1 week? Yes please! I am excited to be joining  Speech Room News' Love It & List It Linky Party. The 3rd Friday of every month, fellow bloggers and I will be posting lists of our favorite things. This month's list consists of my favorite games for therapy. Now we're talking board games. No iPads included on this list (goodness gracious, what did we do before iPads?)

1. Ned's Head: My husband bought me this game when I was hired at my first elementary school job. I adore this game for so many reasons. Yes, from the looks of the box, this game is disgusting and screams "little boy game" all over it. But I have played this game the way it is supposed to be played less times than the number of fingers I have on one hand. I love to stuff Ned's Head with articulation cards, question cards, tactile/ sensory objects, you name it. Ned turns boring articulation drill sessions into tons of fun!

2. Candy Land: I wouldn't be surprised if this game made it on every list for this linky party. Candy Land is so appealing to kids. Sometimes I think it is sitting on my shelf screaming at the kids to come play with it.... and I honestly don't mind. I love that this game allows for so many therapy opportunities.  Since it is a pretty fast paced and an easy to understand game, it can be used with my itty bitty ones too.

3. Granny's Candies: This is another fun candy themed game (hmm.. I'm sensing a theme here!) This game by Super Duper is great for targeting language and vocabulary goals. 

Thanks for checking out this linky party! I am off to check out all the other bloggers' lists now!