New Games to Play: Fast Flip and Dr. Eureka

I play games all of the time in my therapy sessions.   In the clinic, our goal is to make therapy fun, and a lot of the times, the kids think we are just playing.  They don't always realize it's therapeutic.  I recently received two new games from Blue Orange Games, and my clients have been LOVING them. I couldn't wait to share them with you!

The first is Fast Flip!  If you and your students/clients love Spot It, then this is a game for you!

Here's the description from Blue Orange Games:
"Get ready to scramble for the match in this crazy fruit salad! Match your fruits to a number, or numbers to a fruit; you don’t know what match you’ll have to find next! Whether you play with the tokens or with the cards alone, all players of any age will be fast flipping for this brain teasing match up. The game comes complete in a tin for your cards and tokens, making it an easy travel item. The magic distribution of fruits on the cards guaranties that there is always one correct answer. You just need to be the fastest to find it!"

Watch this video to learn how to play:



They state that it is a perfect game for visual perception, processing speed, and focus/attention.  I agree with all of those. I also think it's a good game for describing and using specific language.  One of my clients kept saying "4 of those" and I kept cueing for her to tell me 4 of what exactly?  Describe by color, number, function, origin, parts, etc. You name it, we talk about it!

I also use this game for pragmatic skills.  Students sometimes get frustrated when they don't find the match or have difficulty in multiple rounds.  I use that opportunity to discuss what we could say during games and how to be a good sport.

The next game is Dr. Eureka!  My clients love this one too.

Here's a description from Blue Orange Games:
"The brilliant Dr. Eureka has important experiments for you to complete! Pick a challenge card, 3 test tubes and 6 colorful balls to solve his scientific formula. Carefully move your materials from tube to tube without dropping them, and position them as illustrated on the challenge card. This brainteasing party game can be played solitary or competitively. The high quality components and the creative concept make it a challenging game for the whole family."

Watch this video to learn how to play:


The description states that it is a perfect game for fine motor skills, visual perception, processing speed, and attention/focus.  While it is a good game for all of that, what about SLPs?  Well I think this is the perfect game for describing/following directions.  I modified the game a little bit when playing with my clients.  Instead of it being a race to see who could complete the card the fastest, I described the card to my client to see if they could follow all of my directions. Then, I had them describe it to me using specific language! Of course, this is a fun one for pragmatics as well.

Overall, my clients and I love these two games.  In fact, I had one client in particular ask me every session if I had more new games like these because she loved them so much.  These games are engaging and are a fun way to target some of their goals.   They can be therapeutic while still playing.  They have quickly become favorites in my speech room.

What do you think? Do you think your students/clients would like these games?  


Note: Blue Orange Games provided me a copy of both games for my review.  No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are mind.

Create Your Own Testing Vocabulary Board Game

My students struggle a lot with testing vocabulary.  Every year in the spring semester, we start hitting that vocabulary hard with the hopes of bringing up the students' test scores.  If they can understand the vocabulary words in the word problems or questions about their reading passages. 

It's a well known fact that students learn better when students are motivated. I wanted to come up with a way for students to learn these words in a way that was more fun than simply flashcards.  My students love games, so why not have them make a board game to help them learn these words? 

My students have been loving this activity.  They are staying engaged while learning these words in a way that works for them.  While making the game, they are learning the words and the definitions.  When the play the game, they are reinforcing what they have already learned. 

We have been targeting the following words:
analyze, classify, compare, conclude, consider, contrast, defend, demonstrate, describe, determine, distinguish, eliminate, evaluate, evidence, example, explain, generalization, indicate, infer, judge, justify, label, narrate, persuade, predict, relate, represent, show, specify, summarize, support, tell, and verify. 

I put together a packet for you in case you want to do the same activity with your students! 

 

   

Included in this packet are:

-instructions for the students

-game board templates

-spinner templates

-cards for the game

-rules to play page for students to fill in

I hope this helps your students learn the vocabulary words and that they enjoy it!  You can find it in my TpT store now!

Speech Farkle

Happy February, friends!  I have been super busy with a new house, two jobs, and trying to balance a social life on top of it all.   In the meantime, I have had a chance to make some new products, so be on the lookout for those!  

Today, I want to share with you one that I created and my students absolutely love.  In fact, they've requested it 3-4 times already!  I call it Speech Farkle! 

Rules:

To take a turn, roll all 6 dice at once. Choose one or more scoring dice to keep (a 1, a 5, or another score as indicated on the scoring guide).  Re-roll all other dice.  If you do not score on a roll, you “FARKLED” and your turn is over. 

If all 6 dice score, you must roll all of the dice again.  You must score 500 points on a given turn in order to enter the game.  After that initial 500 points, there is no set amount you must score each round. The first one to 10,000 wins!

Included are directions to play, a score card, and scoring cards for the following sounds:
K, G, P, B, T, D, S, Z, S-blends, F, V, M, N, H, DG, L, L-blends, R, R-blends, CH, SH, J. 

Speech Farkle is available now in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store if you are interested in purchasing it!   

I have some great news for you--today (Sunday, February 7) only, this product will be on sale for HALF off!! Get it now here! 

Enjoy!

Articulation Card Games to Play in Therapy

We are all familiar with Webber Articulation Cards from Super Duper.  If you're like me, you use them daily in therapy.  You can only play so many rounds of the same game before you get bored and the kids get bored.  Today, I want to share with you some of the games we play in my speech room.

I love them because they get the students up and moving.  I also love that they require minimal planning and preparation on my part! Some of them have language components as well!

Go Fish:
Deal 5 cards to each person.  On your turn, ask another person if they have a given card.  If they do, they will give it to you.  If not, they will say, "Go fish" and you draw a card from the draw pile.  Put any matches you have down in front of you.

Speed:
Put 5 cards face up on the table in front of each person.  On your turn, draw a card and say, "Does anyone have _____?"  If you have the card, you place the card you just drew on top of it.  If someone else has it, give it to them.  If no one has it, you place it in front of you.  Whoever finds matches for all of their cards first wins.

Bowling:
If you have bowling pins, place them on top of the cards.  If not, you can use cups or something along those lines.  Roll a ball and knock over pins.  Say the words on the cards under the pins you knocked over.

Bean Bag Toss:
Spread cards out on the floor.  Have the students throw a bean bag toward the cards.  They say the words on the cards where the bean bag landed.

52 Card Pick-Up:
Flick the cards around the room.  Students race to see how many cards they can pick up.  They say the words on the cards they gathered.  Whoever has the most wins.

Feed the ____:
Find a bin or a tissue box.  Place a monster or animal head on it.  As the student says the words, they can feed the monster/animal.  Continue until all of the cards are gone.

Hide and Seek:
Hide the cards around your room.  Describe the card you are looking for.  The students see who can find it first. If you find it, you get a point.  Whoever has the most points at the end wins!

Matamoscas:
The name comes from a game we played in Spanish class with a fly swatter.  We spread the cards out on my table.  Two students face each other.  You describe the word, and they have to swat it.  Whoever swats at it first gets a point.  At the end, whoever has the most points wins.

Dice Roll:
Form six piles of cards and label one through six.  Students roll a dice. The number on the dice indicates which pile they will pull from.  Say the word the number on the dice times 3.

Giant Board Game:
I spread out the cards across the floor as spaces on a game board.  Students roll dice to determine how many spaces to move and then say the word on that space.

Spider Web:
Use tape to form a spider web on the ground.  Place the cards throughout the web.  Students walk around the web and gather the cards.  Say the words they have gathered.

Card Grabber:
Place the cards on the edge of the table, hanging over slightly.  Using tongs or a pincher of some sort, students try and grab as many as they can in a given amount of time.

Password/ Catch Phrase:
Students describe the word on the card to the group without saying the word on the card.  The rest of the students try and guess what it is.  Whoever guesses it first gets a point.

Jenga:
Play Jenga as normal, but place the articulation cards between layers.

Twister:
Place articulation cards on the spots.  If the students moves wants to put his/her hand or foot there, they must say the word on the card.

I Spy:
Place the cards on the table.  Take turns playing I Spy while spying things on the cards.  On your turn, you say, "I spy with my little eye something ____."  The students have to guess which word/card you are referring to.

Sorting:
 Have students sort the cards.  They could sort by number of syllables, people versus object, etc.

What games do you like to play in therapy? 

Thrifty Finds {linky party}

This weekend, Jenna at Speech Room News posted a new linky party.  As soon as I heard that she was doing a linky party with thrifty finds, I knew I wanted to participate.  As a new grad, I have a whole speech room to set up.  With that comes a lot of expenses, so I've been doing a lot of thrift store shopping.  Here's what I have found recently for my room.

1. Don't Break the Ice-  This game was a staple growing up, and I know it will be a great game for my speech room.  I also know that there are specific cards to go with this game from my friend Lauren over at Busy Bee Speech.   I look forward to playing it with my students!

2.  Whac-A-Mole-  Every since Jenna posted about her use of this game in therapy, I've wanted it.  It just sounds like so much fun! I've used similar games on my iPad, but I think having it in physical form will be even more fun.

3. BOOKS-  I thought I was going to have to spend hundreds of dollars on books for my speech room.   Instead, I have found that friends are willing to donate or that you can find books for a lower price at thrift stores.

Head on over to Jenna's blog to see all of the posts!

What are some of your favorite thrifty finds? 

Swish Junior {Product Review}

I'm always on the lookout for new games to play in therapy with my students.  They definitely have their favorites, but they need extra motivation sometimes.  Honestly, sometimes it's ME who needs the change.  Either way, new games are good, right?  I recently had the opportunity to play Swish Junior with my students.  It is a brand new game from Think Fun.  This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Where to Buy It:
Swish Junior is available from Think Fun or on Amazon.

The Basics:
The box comes with a set of see-through cards, instructions for play, and a bag for easy storage of the cards.

To play, place a set of cards on the table. Place them in rows (maybe rows of 3).  To create a "swish" or a match, an outline of a shape will match exactly with a filled in shape on another card.  BOTH shapes on the card must create a swish with the shapes on the other cards for it to be a complete swish.  Look at the cards to see if they match.  As soon as they match, call it out!  Whoever has the most swishes wins!

A swish can be with more than 2 cards, too.  As long as the outlined shapes match up with the filled-in shapes, it doesn't matter how many cards it takes to complete the swish!  WHOA!


What You Can Target:
-Spatial skills
-Visual skills
-Matching skills
-Social skills
-Basic concepts (prepositions, colors, etc)
-Attention to task

Why I Love It:
-This game is unlike anything I've every seen before!  See-through cards!
-As always, you can target so much with it.
-It really challenges students to think about it!
-It's a game that can be used with children AND adults.
-It's easy to store-doesn't take up much space.
-You can make it multi-player or just use it with one person.

In My Speech Room:
We used it last week in therapy, and my students loved it!  I thought that they would struggle with it at first, but they picked it up right away!  I guess I underestimated their abilities.  They easily got matching just 2 cards.  I challenged them to try and match 3 or 4 cards, but that's when the breakdown happened.  That's ok, though!  We will keep working on it.

Want to purchase this?  You can buy it from ThinkFun's website or from Amazon.

Swish Junior is sure to be a new favorite in my speech room.  I hope your students love it as much as I do!

Disclaimer: This product was provided for me to review.  No other compensation was received. All opinions expressed are mine.  

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Muffin Tin Activity (Preschool)

DONE with one of my midterms!!!!!!!!!!!  Wooohoo!!  Thanks for your patience and understanding.  One more to go.  

Last night, I posted this picture and asked if anyone had any guess as to what we were doing today.

One guess I got was making crayons. While that would be fun, that's not really feasible for my clinic setting. Good guess though!!

We played a simple game dealing with basic concepts.  You place cards with letters, shapes, or colors on them in.  We had our students throw a ball very GENTLY into the muffin tins.  They had to state whatever color/shape/letter it landed in.  This is perfect for our kiddos because SO many of them have goals targeting basic concepts! 

Note: These can be made bigger so they fill the whole tin! 

On another note, my supervisor taught me a cool trick today that I thought I would share with all of you!! 

We're working on s-blends.  So the child will trace the snake (letter /s/) and then put their fist down for the consonant (and rest of the word).  For example, one of the words was "spill."  So trace for "ssssssssss" and then pound fist for "pill."  Make sense??  My student was cracking up the whole time!

What did you do in therapy today? 

Fast Dash Articulation: Early Sounds

A few weeks ago, I posted about a game I found at Goodwill called Wild Planet Hyper Dash. You can click on that link to see the game and watch a video about it.  Check out the original post about Fast Dash Phonology here to see more pictures of the game itself! I said I would be making more activities to go along with it, so here is an early sounds articulation packet for you!!  Again, you DO NOT need the game to do this activity! (I do provide an option for you if you do own it, though).

 Spread out five or six circles (target words) of different colors. 

Students will listen as the SLP calls out different colors. The student will pick up those colors in order as fast as they can. Students collect their dots and repeat the words back the number of times the SLP indicates. 

SLP can time students if they want. It can also be done as a relay or in teams for more participation. 

If you have the Hyper Dash game: Put the cards on top of the disks (or under or next to). Students will listen as the Hyper Dash Unit calls out which color. When the student pushes that color, they collect the card. Once that round is over, the student says his/her words. 

In this packet, there are 288 circle cards (18 of each initial, 18 of each final sound)! That's A LOT of cards! The sounds targeted are all early developing sounds (p, b, m, k, g, t, d, f). 

You can find this in my TpT store here.

Animal Mastermind Towers Therapy Idea

I found another game at Goodwill recently!  I absolutely love the treasures I find there! I may have to make a weekly trip....

Anyway, today I wanted to show you Animal Mastermind Towers. You may be familiar with the game Mastermind. Traditionally, you put colored pegs in a certain order and your opponent has to guess what order they're in.

You can get this game here:

For this game, lay the plastic tiles on the table face up so both players can see them. Do the same for coordinating solution cards.  Player one takes one of the plastic tiles and places it near them; player 2 takes the matching solution card and places it near them. Then player 2 does the same. Go back and forth until each player has the desired number of tiles for the round (4, 5, or 6 tiles). THEN, each player picks up all of his/her animal cards and secretly decides which order they should be put in their tower in. They can put them in any order, from bottom to top, that they want. The only thing is the animals must be facing YOU, and your opponent should not see them!

To play, Player 1 asks Player 2 a yes no question. The question must have 2 animals in it and include the word "above" or "below." An example would be, "Is your giraffe above your fish?"

In order to guess the order,  the player reads aloud the order of the solution cards (or can arrange them on the table). If they get the order correct, they win!  If not, play resumes. Each player may guess the order 3 times!

Why my preschoolers and I love this game:
-It is a GAME that's engaging. They love animals and love guessing the order! 
-It focuses on both asking AND answering yes/no questions
-It focuses on the concepts of above and under (or on top/under could be used)

How you could do this without having the game:
You could laminate pictures of animals. Make two copies of these cards. Place velcro on the backs of the cards and attach the other piece of velcro to a piece of paper. Then, instead of stacking them in towers, they place them in order on their sheets. These could be hidden behind clipboards or played as a barrier game!

Hope you and your students will enjoy this activity as much as mine do!!