When most people ask me if I am excited about moving back to Australia this summer, I feel guilty thinking that what I am really looking forward to is busting open my cupboards, taking out my whole collection of games and just playing! I only brought four resources with me to America and while I am a little bit tired of them, they are great for an SLP on the road. So here are the resources that I bought because they filled 3 essential criteria: Cheap, small and multifunctional.
1. Jumping frogs
I have played variations of this game so many times I can now jump frogs into the bucket with my eyes closed! Kids love this and it is a great reinforcer. They might have to earn frogs first or then we play a quick game or we lay language/articulation cards out on the table and use whatever the frog lands on we use that target. From $4-$10 depending on size of bucket and number of frogs.
2. Would You Rather?
Great for language and stuttering samples, a good ice-breaker and rapport building game as the cards can be quite gross/funny. I love using this for articulation carryover practice and working on conjunctions as the students have to justify why they would rather have a booger stuck up their nose versus spinach in the middle of their teeth! Approximately $5.
3. Crocodile Dentist
This is a fun reinforcer, especially for boys! If they come in and won’t warm up to me, the croc is coming out to snap some fingers! All you do is push down teeth and the crocodile will randomly shut, so I can easily adapt this game for most SLP activities. The noise is more alarming than the snap, but don’t do it with shy/sensory kids. TRUST me. Sometimes I like to turn the tables if the child is scared and if they get the target correct I have to push a tooth and get my finger snapped, which is hilarious for the kids! There are different crocodile sizes (and animals like sharks) but I have the medium which run for about $10.
4. Super Duper Magnetic Chips
The chips work great for phonological awareness tasks such a segmenting and blending where each chip can represent a sound. They are also perfect for any work where you use cards – use them as bingo chips and the winner sweeps them up, put a chip on a card for language/articulation if they use it correctly or use them for behavior or reward charts. A favorite thing that we like to do with them is ‘magic’. My kids love putting the chips on the table, and the magnetic wand under the table and ‘magically’ moving the chips. A pack of 100 chips are $9.95 and a pack of two magnetic wands are $7.95.
3 Comments
Great list!
Just want to add that Would You Rather? Is also a great game for adults with aphasia, cognitive deficits, etc. for language or problem solving goals.
Cheers!
Jena
http://www.IndependentClinician.com
Hi Rebecca,
I’m a friend of Kristin Powell and she recommended I reach out to you with a question about my sons. They are 2.5 and 3.5 and both struggle with initial consonant blends that begin with s (I’m just realizing that I haven’t paid attention to the same blends at the end of words). Is this typical of their ages or is it something I should be concerned about? Is there anything I can do to help?
I don’t know if it matters, but the boys were very different in language development. Lincoln (3.5) had about 10 words at 18 months, but exploded by 21 months and has an extensive vocabulary now. Grayson (2.5) was saying 3-syllable words at 13 months and continues to baffle us. 🙂
Thank you for any advice you might have for me, Shelley
Shelley Manweller Educational Consultant [email protected] (509) 899-0746
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 22:06:54 +0000 To: [email protected]
Great ideas! I also love Pop-up Pirate. First introduced to it by my internship supervisor (way back in 2007)… Similar to the Crocodile Dentist, the pirate pops out without warning. The students/pediatric clients love it. It’s great for artic drills, answering questions, or even basic turn-taking skills.