Do your kids enjoy Hasbro's Elefun game as much as mine do? I mean, who wouldn't love catching colorful butterflies as they fly out of an elephant's long, blue trunk??? This game's a hit with all the kids on my caseload, whether they are 2 or 12! That's why I came up with a way to turn this game into one that's jam-packed with speech and language learning opportunities.
I made an open-ended mat that can be used with just about any speech or language goal. It has five nets and a multitude of butterflies that can be cut out and "caught" in the nets. Kids are given a butterfly to place on a net after they complete a task, such as saying an articulation target five times. After they collect five butterflies, we play a round of Elefun, catching as many butterflies as we can in our real nets. Once the round is over, we go back to the table to do it again!
I also made 11 sets of target word and riddle cards. Many of my kiddos are preschoolers working on early speech sounds and CVC words, so I chose my targets based on their needs. I made cards for /p, b, m, t, d, k/ in the initial and final positions of words and a set of CVC cards. Each set of cards is color coded and clearly marked to make life (and organizing!) easier for us busy speech paths.
The first time we play, I tend to just use the picture cards without the riddles so the kids can become familiar with the target words. Then, depending on the child's age and receptive language skills, I will introduce the riddle cards. I will usually display 2-3 picture cards in front of the child and then read a riddle card. After the child answers the riddle correctly, he or she puts a butterfly on a net. This is a fabulous way to work on both speech and language at the same time! Best part...the kids love it and will play it again and again!!!
Sounds like fun, huh? If so, check it out at my TpT store.
