Holiday Games for Speech and Language

Hi speechies!

The holiday season is upon us and we are doing ALL things festive in my speech room!

I whipped up a game called Unwrapped that we are playing this month and I wanted to share it with y'all!

It's called "UNWRAPPED" and here is how you play:

1. Read a yes/no or wh question (holiday related, duh) to the student

2. After they answer the question have the student “unwrap” aka move a gift box to reveal a gift underneath

3. Have the student match the gift they unwrapped to the item on the gift list

4. Add the gift to Santa’s bag!

I don't know about yours, but my students LOVE putting things in brown paper bags...it's the little things, haha!

The game comes with 36 questions that are a blend of yes/no and wh questions. You can find the game here.

What are some of your favorite holiday games to play during speech?

Engaging Bingo For Speech and Language

Hi speechies!

I shared this over on Instagram and got a lot of good feedback - I didn't want to leave the blog hanging so I figured I'd share it here, too!

My kiddos are OBSESSED with playing bingo. I kid you not, I get at least one student a day ask, "Mrs. Jessica, can we play bingo today?!" ...seriously. I think it's because we don't play normal bingo in our speech room. Let me explain:

I take every object that’s on the bingo board and write a little clue/riddle that goes with it up on the white board. So for example: gold bells = rhymes with mold shells. The kids take turns throwing my suction cup ball that I got from the Dollar Tree at the board (with their eyes closed so they can’t pick and choose clues) and whichever clue it lands on they have to solve in order to get their jingle bell (or whatever token we’re using) to cover that space. We used googly eyes for Halloween bingo!

Let me show you what I mean.

Here is a little video of a student tossing the suction cup call at the board covered in clues:

And here is a closer look at the board full of clues:

This is one of the most engaging activities and almost every kid loves it! You can target so many goal by changing up the clues on the board!

You can grab my holiday bingo board here.

Do you play bingo in your speech room?

The Best Way to Organize Your Speech Materials

Hi speechies!

My therapy material collection is rapidly growing so I had to find a way to store it all in a way that was organized. I give you:

I personally like the idea of monthly boxes because a lot of my therapy is themed. I got these boxes on Amazon and these labels from TpT as a freebie. Click here for the boxes and here for the labels. I made the "summer" and "other" labels myself!

These boxes can hold hanging file folders so I have 4 in each box (one for each week of the the month) and I keep my therapy activities organized that way. Then behind the folders I keep any holiday books/large game pieces. 

These boxes currently live in my home office since I'm still in grad school and don't have an actual office and they do take up a lot of space. BUT it's totally worth it to me to have everything nice and organized so that I'll be able to find things quickly next time I need them.

If you're a visual person and you want to peek in my boxes, you can watch this YouTube video for a glimpse!

How to Study for Phonetics: IPA Flashcards

Hi Speechies!

I've received many emails from y'all asking for tips on studying IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). I remember spending many days crying over trying to memorize IPA and master transcription (still wouldn't consider myself a master, lol). It's not easy BUT if you practice and study a little every day you'll get the hang of it!

I SO wish I would've had these during undergrad when I was taking phonetics:

I whipped these up for those of you who may need some extra help memorizing IPA andddd for people like me who need to brush up on it!

Here's a closer look.

Consonants are set up like this:

Vowels are set up like this:

And diphthongs are set up like this:

I hope these help you! You can grab them here. Remember: practice, practice, practice!

Speech Sound Visual Cue Sticks

Hi speechies!

I CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT believe that the week after next is Thanksgiving...please explain! Although I have to be honest, grad school has me counting down the days until Christmas Break 😂 Anyway, I was in need of some aesthetic speech sound visual cue cards for some of my kiddos. I couldn't find any on TpT that were screaming out to me SO I decided to just make my own:

I've already used them with a few kiddos and they are extremely helpful! Here are the details:

These speech sound visual cue sticks can be used for articulation practice in the speech room, in the classroom, or even at home. They are big enough for kids to see the visual. 

Sounds included:
b, p, m, d, t, l, s, z, n, h, w, voiceless th, voiced th, k, g, sh, ch, f, v, j, y, r

Front: 
sound, mouth visual, voice off/on cue

Back: 
word with sound in initial position, word with sound in medial position (if applicable), word with sound in final position (if applicable) 

If you're interested in scooping these up, you can find them in my TpT store or by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Fall Bingo + Thankful Gift for Teachers

Hi speechies!

I have been a creating madwoman over here and I want to share some new fall products with y'all!

First up is All About Fall Bingo:

I posted a Halloween version of this and it was a hit (with y'all and with my students) so I decided to make an All About Fall version, too!

Here's how I play:

I write clues on the white board for each item (so for example for "pie" I would write something like "A Thanksgiving dessert" or "rhymes with high") and have the kids take turns throwing a sticky ball at the board. Whichever clue the ball lands on, they have to solve it. Once the clue is solved, everyone gets a token to cover that space on their bingo board. It's just a more fun/interactive way to play bingo!

And next up I have a cute little gift tag:

I've seen gift tags all over Instagram and I just adore them! I love the idea of leaving a surprise gift for a teacher at your school and what teacher doesn't love Flair pens?!

You can find both of these items in my TpT store. Click here for bingo and here for the gift tags. I appreciate all of your feedback and support ☺️