Jumping Jack: How I Use My Favorite Spring Game

My new favorite game for spring (or anytime!) is called Jumping Jack by Goliath Games. It is a bright, appealing game similar in play style to an SLP favorite, Pop Up Pirate, that can be used with both preschoolers and elementary school students. Students take turns pulling carrots out of the base, trying (or maybe, NOT trying) to make the rabbit jump out of his hole.

I love using games like this for the following reasons:

• High-interest: the students generally enjoy games that have some level of anticipation associated with them. They want to play them again and again.
• Easy to play: there are very few rules to follow.
• They promote joint attention and turn taking: players happily watch other players take turns, watching to see if the rabbit will jump.
• Simplicity: There are very few pieces to manipulate.
• Flexibility: I can adapt the way we play the game by adding companion materials designed to target speech and language goals.

In the photo above, students practiced their speech sounds while playing the game. Each student was given a page of stimulus pictures that contained their target sound. Students took turns choosing a target word to say, practiced it a specific number of times, and then removed a carrot from the base. If the rabbit didn't jump, the students placed the carrot on top of the picture. Play continued until the rabbit jumped, and then we played again. The picture pages featured in this photo are from my product Itty Bitty Black and White Articulation Cards and can be found in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

The more I played Jumping Jack with my students, I realized I needed more companion materials to target both speech and language skills. So I created Jack's Garden of Carrots:

This packet contains 89 black and white activity sheets that are perfect to pair with Jumping Jack, but can also be used as a stand-alone activity. It contains two separate sets of articulation pages, one with pictures (all the most frequently targeted sounds and blends) and one with words only (later developing sounds). Language targets include synonyms, antonyms, multiple meaning words, describing, categories, comparing, contrasting, answering WH- questions, and inferences. I use these sheets at the same time as the game, completing a task before each turn, and sometimes I have the students complete the worksheet before we play the game.

Sometimes I use these print and go sheets with dot paints, and other times I'll use play dough or mini erasers to cover the carrots.

Here's a photo of using an articulation sheet while we play the game...
  

 ...and here is one of when we completed the worksheets first. I had one student paint the tops of all the carrots and the other paint the bottoms the first time through the target word set, and then we traded paints and said all the words again. I got double the amount of reps! Score!

To push my luck even further, and get even MORE milage out of this handy dandy worksheet, I had the students say their words again before they removed carrots while playing the game. We covered the carrots with bunny erasers to keep track of the words we said.

Here's a shot of us using mini erasers to cover the carrots while we practice describing the size, shape or color of objects.

Honestly, this game is so much fun and so flexible! I love it when I can use one item to target so many different skills.

What do you think? Do you use this game or one that is similar? I'd love to know!

Early Speech Sounds Game Companion for a Popular Elephant Game

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.

Froggy's Feeding Frenzy

Happy Spring!  In honor of all the happily chirping birds and croaking frogs outside my window, I created a new game:  Froggy's Feeding Frenzy!  Here's what it looks like:

Do you remember Rudolph's Crazy Cookie Exchange Game?  This one is very similar, except with a frog/bug/bird theme that can be used year round.  Check out that post to see what I'm talking about.

Players take turns feeding bugs from their own "collection" to the animals by following the directions on the playing cards.  Here's a sample of the direction cards:

Play continues until a player serves all of the bugs in his or her collection to the hungry animals.  It's not as easy as it seems...sometimes the animals want to trade their bugs with a friend, and sometimes they get a little fussy and send some bugs back.

This game is great for working on a variety of goals in addition to following directions.  It's chock-full of opportunities to work on those pesky /r/-blends, third-person singular verbs and negatives, not to mention rule following and turn-takings skills.

Swing by my TpT site for a full description of this game and to download a preview here.  Graphics credit goes to JW Illustrations, Kelly Medina Studios, Goodness & Fun, and Small Talk Graphics.

Have fun and let me know what you think!


Pam

Farmyard Slam!

I've just completed a new addition to my Slam!  game collection.  Introducing Farmyard Slam!  I'm really excited about this one because my games keep evolving, and this one has a couple of great extra features.  And, since this one isn't holiday themed, I can play it all year long!   I can't wait to share!

Farmyard Slam is most similar to Snowman Slam! game in that it has game boards in addition to playing cards.  There are four boards, each with a different farm scene.  Here's an example of two of them:

Aren't they cute???  I used the On the Farm collection from KPM Doodles, which couldn't be more perfect!  

I made the direction cards a little different this time, too, to throw in a little categorization work along with following directions.  They look like this:

Each card contains a symbol for the category, and color or feature symbols so pre-readers can give the directions, too.

So what are the bonus features?  You can use this activity to work on following auditory directions that contain categories and features, but you can also use it for other goals, too. 

This scene is at the top of the blue board.  You could use this to work on prepositions such as in, on, next to, behind and between.  You could have each child tell you three things about his or her farmyard scene using auxiliary and -ing verbs.  Or how about pronouns?  Each scene contains plenty of opportunities to work on these concepts and others.

Another fun bonus feature is a little hide and seek game.  Rascal Rooster is hiding somewhere in each farm scene.  Can you find him?  He's pretty easy to find in this scene, but he's pretty tricky to find in others.  Go back and look for him on the orange game board...you know you want to!  That is, if you haven't already!

I've also included three category cards that can be used for sorting the square picture cards by category. They look like this:

 So many ways to play!  And so many goals that can be targeted in one simple game.  Love that!

You can find Farmyard Slam and all my other Slam! games on my TpT site.  To go directly to Farmyard Slam!  click here.

Let me know what you think!

Pam

Balloon Bop-o-rama

I saw this pin on Pinterest today from The Weekend Homemaker blog and got inspired!

I taped tongue depressors to the back of a couple paper plates, blew up a balloon and quickly thought up several ways to play.  I used this activity ALL DAY LONG with kids as young as 2 and as old as 13!  Talk about multi-purpose fun!

I'm dying to share my ideas with you!

Let's start with my littlest ones.  I've got several little guys working on producing bilabials and CVC words.  I simply gave them a paddle and tossed the balloon gently to them after they said a word like "bop" or "pop" or "boom". We chased the balloon down, and did it again (and again and again!).  After awhile, we ditched the paddle and went on to "kick" and "bump".  Lots of laughter and giggles for sure.

Here's what I did with my preschoolers.  Do you remember the Christmas gift activity that I made using sets of cards from LessonPix?  I made a balloon version that looks like this:

I made a set of 12 balloons (click the link...it's a freebie!)  with cute graphics from a cute freebie by Kelly Leatherman and cut them apart.  I slid several Picture Card sheets that I made on LessonPix into a sheet protector and taped the balloons over the top.  By the way, did you know that you can make custom picture sets in minutes on LessonPix?  It's so easy!  And then, you just put the ones you need for the day inside the page protector and they're all lined up, ready for a quick change between kids!  Such a time saver!

Next, I hid a little picture of a balloon popping under one of the balloons.  The child then tried to find the hidden balloon by looking under one balloon at a time, saying each word 3 times before looking under another one.  When the hidden balloon was found, we both grabbed a paddle and moved to an open space.  I set the timer for one minute, and then we bopped the balloon back and forth.  We either said the target word under the hidden balloon for the entire time, or we counted how many times we hit the balloon back and forth before it hit the ground, and then had to say that number of targets the next round before bopping the balloon again.  The kids wanted to play this ALL DAY!  I cannot believe how many reps I got in this activity alone.

Now here's what I did with my older kids.  I made these cards to use with decks of picture cards that I already have.

Here's how to play:

1. Print 2 copies of each page. Cut and laminate cards. 

2. Mix the Action Cards with the Number Cards and place them face down in a pile.

3. Choose a set of target cards; Place them face down in a pile next to the Action and Number Cards pile.

4. Players take turns turning over a card from each pile.  If the card is a Number Card, the player says the target word/phrase/sentence that number of times.

5. If the card is an Action Card, the player must bop the balloon with a partner using the body part indicated by the arrow while saying the target for one minute.  To make it even MORE challenging, the players must bop the balloon using a paddle and the selected body part!

6. Play continues as long as you’d like :-)  

Isn't that fun?  I'm using it for articulation targets, language targets/concepts and resting posture activities.  Who knew you could get so much mileage out of a balloon???

You can download this super fun game here.  Be sure to leave feedback!

Have fun,

Pam

Stomp, Skip, Spin!

I just loved KPM Doodles Basic Monster set so much, that I had to find something else to make with them.  The result:  Stomp, Skip, Spin! It's an action game for working on articulation skills.  Just print out the game, cut out the cards and you're ready to go.

These are the Action Cards; Cut them apart and lay them face down on the Game Board.

These are the SP set of the Word Cards.  There is also an ST and a SK set included in the download, as well as a page of blank ones for you to customize.  Print, cut them apart and lay them face down on the Game Board.

This is the Game Board; Put the Action Cards in a pile, face down of the Action Card Draw Pile space, and the Word Cards in a pile on the other draw pile space.

To play, the child draws one card from the Action Card pile and lays it on the Action Card Discard pile, and one card from the Word Card pile and lays it on the Word Card Discard pile.  The child performs the action on the Action Card while saying the word on the Word Card.  Here's the great part:  You get to choose how you want him/her to say it (ex. word, phrase or sentence) and how many times he/she has to repeat it.  So it might look like this:  "Say the word "space" 5 times while you skip around the room."  Easy!  And fun!  I've only played it once so far, but we had a blast and the child asked if we could do it again next week.  That qualifies as a success in my book!  I'm already thinking of other  ways to use this game.  Wouldn't it be fun to make an obstacle course and have the kids draw a new set of cards before each obstacle, skipping or spinning or tip-toeing to the next one?  Hmmm.  I'll let you know if it works.  But in the mean time, if you want to play this game, too, you can find it in my TpT Store. It includes target cards for F, S, SH and CH in the initial and final positions.


Have fun!


Pam

Spooky Spider Web for /S/-Blend Practice

Here's a really quick and easy idea for some articulation practice with a little Halloween fun.  Download a spider web image from the web, print it off and add stickers.  I found mine on Google Images;  there are lots of others to choose from.

I used it today to work on words that begin with /sp/. I gathered up a collection of Halloween stickers and wrote the target sentence at the bottom of the page.  In this case, the sentence was "A spooky ______ on a spider web." I let the child choose 5-10 stickers.  After she chose a sticker, we labeled it as a Spooky Ghost, or a Spooky Cat, or whatever fit the sticker. Then after the child stuck the sticker to the web, we said the target phrase together.  We repeated the sequence for the remaining stickers.  Finally, I had the child show me each sticker she placed on the web and say the target sentence independently.

I'm planning to use this activity to work on following directions, too.  It'd be a great way to work on left/right, above/below and other prepositions.

Don't you just love activities that require very little prep and can be easily adapted for a variety of goals?  I do!

Have fun!


Pam

Camp Journal: Olympic Champion Badge

Here's an example of the Olympic Champions Badge page of a Camp Journal.

We completed three activities:  Making a torch, painting the Olympic Rings (see previous post) and earning Olympic Medals.

This child is working on naming members of a group and their functions as part of the EET program.  As he collected foil to decorate his Olympic torch, he named 8 things he would see at a birthday party.  As he decorated his torch, he needed to describe two things each item does.  For example, he named "Balloons" as something he would see at a birthday party.  Then he said, "you hold them, you punch them and make them go back and forth".

Our next task was to name 8 items in each of 5 categories; you can find a photo of that activity in my previous post.

Our Olympic Competition was the highlight of the day.  The kids attempted to earn bronze, silver and gold medals by completing a task that contained one of their goals.

I used cards from Jenna Reyburn's Speech Room News Olympic Activity Pack to make my own Olympic events.  I wrote the names of different activities on the back side of the medal cards.  Kids selected a card from the Gold Medal, Silver Medal and Bronze Medal piles to determine what "event" they needed to "compete" in.

For example, this child selected the Amazing Ball Skills card, and had to say one of her target words or phrases before hopping over the block with the ball between her knees.  Once she said all 10 words/phrases correctly, she earned a medal.

The Sandwich Stack event required the child to say her target words to earn pieces of a large fabric sandwich.  After earning 8 pieces, she had to walk across the room and back with the sandwich balanced on her head.  I'd say that's Bronze Medal worthy, wouldn't you?

After completing the tasks listed in their journals, the kids were awarded the Olympic Champion Badge, which they glued on the page.  My little Olympians really enjoyed their speech time today!


Be creative and have fun,

Pam

A Great Game for Practicing Final R Words

I just had to share another one of my favorite games.  It is called One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Memory Game, and I use it for working on the Final R sound.  The game box has five hidden windows on it with removable panels that are labeled "near", "far", "here", "there" and "somewhere".  Objects are hidden below the panels in a sea of tiny blue beads.  To play the game, the player spins the spinner which tells him or which panel he can remove.  The player turns over a card which tells him which object to look for.  If one of the objects hiding behind the panel matches the card, the player keeps the card and draws another.  Play continues until a player collects six cards.

The spinner tells you where you can look; If you land on "Wave", you need to shake the game to mix up the hidden objects.

Example of hidden objects once a panel is removed.

This game is great for working on the following words:

     here     there     near     far   somewhere     there   anywhere   for    or     more

If we are at the sentence level, I have the student say a sentence including two location names and the object before he removes a panel.  It might go like this:  "Look near or far for a red fish."  If he finds what he's looking for, he gets to look for more items in the same location, so I have him say, "Look for more."  Sometimes I write out the target phrases/sentences on a card with the "r's" highlighted as a prompt to remember to say all those "r's" correctly.

This game can take up to 15 minutes to complete, but it provides numerous opportunities to practice those "r's".  The kids request it repeatedly, so I know they like it, too!

Have fun!

Pam