Winter Fun--Throwing Snowballs!

Ok, so we don't get snow in places other than in the mountains here in Southern California, and I'm not sure any of my students have even seen real snow. But, we've had a lot of pretend snow!
In the first week of our Winter theme, we dressed up in hats, scarves and mittens and threw snowball balloons. That was great for teaching the concept of turn taking as they threw the snowballs back and forth to each other. Turn taking is a basic conversational skill.

Last week, we threw cotton ball snowballs!

Targets

Language concepts- wet/dry, up high/down low
Turn taking
Articulation- /s/ blends
Fine motor- using finger tips to rip cotton balls
Hand-eye coordination- aiming for the paper

Before we got started, we gathered what we needed--just some regular cotton balls and we filled a pan full of water. (it was also funny because it was raining one of the days and when the rain had emptied out, we re-filled the pan with rain water :)). We also taped up some paper onto the wall for them to aim at.

The students took turns requesting cotton balls ("I want snow"), using their good /s/ sound in the word SSSnow to practice their sound.
They then worked on their fine motor skills by ripping the cotton into smaller pieces. (We originally left that step out, but my trusty occupational therapist who monitors my classroom suggested it).
We talked about how the "snow" felt dry.
Next, they dipped the cotton into the water pan

and talked about how wet it was

and finally,  they threw the snow onto the wall!

They continued to take turns, use their words to request and aim up high or down low onto the paper!

 

 Of course, after the activity was over, I realized we should've drawn a snowman onto the paper to help reinforce another vocabulary word and the use of the /s/ in snowman! But, the kids had a blast. Not only did they get a chance to be active and throw snowballs, but they had plenty of opportunities to use their words, take turns and work on their speech sounds!

Happy playing!

Bathtime Fun with Discovery Toys!

Bath time in the Fox household used to consist of lots and lots of screaming. And splashing. And crying.
Well, it still contains all that, but, fortunately, it occurs at the END of the bath, not at the beginning and middle. She does not want to come out. Why, you ask? I think it has something to do with

Bathtime Bugs

Bathtime Bugs is a 4 piece set made of sturdy, washable plastic. Each piece is a different bug (a butterfly, bumblebee, worm/bug and flower {yeah, I know! A flower isn't a bug...work with me here...}) so you can work on springtime and bug vocabulary!

Here's what the Discovery Toys (fancy, schmancy new) website says about Bathtime Bugs {with my commentary, too!}...and, have you seen the awesome new Discovery Toys Parent Guides?
KEY BENEFITS:

• Brightly colored and textured pieces encourage child to investigate early science concepts {Rachel had fun manipulating each piece and exploring. She also was figuring out the concept of water displacement as the worm kept popping out of the flower. It was kinda fun to push it down and squirt the water out!}
• Thinking skills are reinforced through cause and effect principles {Rachel had a blast trying to figure out how to keep all 4 bugs under the water at the same time. She also was learning that she had to keep the yellow butterfly under the water for a longer time to get it to full up so she could dump it on herself}
  
• Assists with bath time while aiding motor skill development {Rachel had to use her (cute little) fingers to spin, push, scoop and sprinkle}.
• Provides the opportunity to expand vocabulary by introducing new words and concepts and demonstrating their meaning.{Beautiful!! Read below for my speech-language point of view!}
  
• Versatile pieces are also perfect for backyard water or garden play. {we will TOTALLY have to try that!}

And, here it is...the after bath...

So, what kind of cool speech and language things can you do with the Bathtime Bugs?
Early Sound Development- "B" is one of the earliest sounds that develop in children. So, if you are using Bathtime Bugs with your little baby or with your non-verbal child, you can encourage him/her to use their /b/ sound---you've got bath, bug, butterfly, bumblebee, and even bubbles. You can put the pieces by your mouth to help your child focus on your lips. Then, /b/ away to your heart's content! "B-B-B-bubbles! B-B-B-Bee!!" Eventually, your child will join you!

Vocabulary- Remember, teaching words within a theme is one of the best ways to make sure your child is learning the vocabulary. The theme here is "Bugs." Have your child point to each bug as you name them. Then, have your child label each piece as he/she puts them in the tub.
Action vocabulary words--as your child is playing, talk about what she is doing. "Splash," "pour," "swim" and "push" are great words to learn!
Descriptive vocabulary words (a.k.a. adjectives)-- "Wet"

Using Simple Sentences-Some of the things I heard Rachel say included "I taking a bath!," "I got water," "bug go down," "I wet" and, not to mention "no all done!!!" Most of her sentences include a subject, verb and a complement (the basic 3 word sentence), which is pretty typical for a 2 or 3 year old. When she said only "I wet," I could have helped her expand her sentence by saying "yes, you are wet" "you said 'I am wet!"

Bathtime Bugs has been a great addition to our bathtime!! They are available at my website as a set of 4 sturdy pieces for $20. (But, don't forget!! If you order any product through my e-mail by August 11, you can enjoy 10% off your purchase!!).

Keep clean ;)
~Marcy

What's Happening in My Classroom?

Well, it's Summer School time, which means a longer day for students in my class, but less kids. So, we have more time to give the students the attention they need and more time to do FUN stuff!!

The vocabulary theme (remember--one of the best ways to teach vocabulary is within vocabulary units to help them categorize new words they use as they put the words in their little "filing cabinets!") for the next few weeks is: Ocean Life!!

What's the best game to play with my preschoolers?

It's ABSeas!!

For starters, AB Seas is a fantastic way to help your little one learn the alphabet. As they go fishing, they catch sea creatures who have upper case letters written on them. They can say the name of the letter and then match it to their game board. Make it a bit more challenging and have your child match the upper case letter to the lower case letter.

And! There's a bonus!! The fishing poles are magnetic which lead to an awesome science experiment! My students had fun going around the room seeing what items the magnet stuck to (the chair leg! the white board! the filing cabinet!) as well as what it did not stick to (the cardboard box, the pocket chart, the water table). It was pretty fun watching them get so excited.

Now, how can AB Seas be used to teach speech and language skills?...
Vocabulary development: As they fish for letters, they will be encountering several sea creatures, including fish, sea horses, octopus and sharks. The box is also decorated with ocean items, like sea weed, coral, water, shells and bubbles. All of these are great for developing labels and descriptive language.

Basic concepts: While your child is playing, they are taking the sea creatures out and putting them on their game board.

Turn Taking: Often, students with speech ang language difficulties have problems with pragmatic language (that's the social use of language; how people interact with others). One key area of pragmatics is turn taking. A sneaky way to work on turn taking is through game playing--especially when you are super sneaky and only give the kids ONE fishing pole!! They need to know that each kid gets a turn and they can use phrases like "it's my turn," or "I want the fishing pole."

More pragmatic language!: Encourage your kids to ask each other "Do you have the letter B" to see if they can play together to find all of the letters.

My speech and language preschoolers are having a lot of fun with AB Seas! I hope you do, too! It's available here on my website!

Happy fishing!
~Marcy

More school carnivals with Discovery Toys!

Elia and I had a fantastic time at another carnival put on by one of the schools in my district!! We met some great kids and chatted with other community members.

What product were people most interested in? Zingo!!


I LOVE Zingo!! Yeah, it's kinda like another game that rhymes with Zingo but starts with a B, so you pretty much get the idea!

Zingo comes with 8 double sided cards so many people can play at once. It also comes with a nifty-neato tile dispenser that makes this game FUN! Instead of just flipping cards over, kids get to work this cool contraption to get thier pictures--they slide the dispenser and, presto! 2 picture tiles come out!! Inside the dispenser are 72 heavy duty tiles that have pictures. As the kids take turns, they see if the tiles match pictures they have on their card.

How can I use this to enhance my child's speech and language skills? Excellent question!!

Vocabulary Development- Make sure your child labels the items as they come out the dispenser. If they aren't sure what the word is, give them a clue. For example, if they don't know "clock," make the "C" sound to see if that helps them find the word.

Increase descriptive language- Have your child tell you 2 or things about each picture tile. If they pick "dog," have them say "a dog has four legs and barks." Encourage them to use full sentences and help them if they need it. "what else" or "tell me more" are great ways to get him to say more!

Using grammatically correct sentences- As the tiles come out, have your child tell you a sentence using both words. For example, if they get "bird" and "tree," encourage them to tell you about them. They could say "the bird lives in a tree" or "the bird is flying to the tree." If they miss a word or use the wrong word, simply model for them the correct sentence by emphasizing the missing word. For example, if he says "cat running," you can say "yes! the cat IS running! He IS! He IS running." You feel like you're repeating yourself? That's a GOOD thing! The more we hear something said correctly, the faster we will learn!

Articulation-Ok, I admit, this takes a bit of planning. And, you need to be very aware of the sound your child is working on and if they are able to produce it at all. Ok, so, let's pretend you know that he's working on the "k" and "g" sounds and he can say it in words. Great! Now, go through the tiles and find words with "k" and "g" in them... cat, clock, frog, dog, etc, etc. and put them on the bottom of the piles so you are sure they will get them. Sneaky artic practice! I love it!

Oh, and here's a bonus-- all of the pictures include printed words! Hooray for literacy practice!!

Have a great time playing Zingo with your whole family! If you would like more information about Zingo or other games and products, contact me or visit my website.

Happy playing!

~Marcy

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month!!

Recently during a Discovery Toys Training Call, Kelly Corbett did a great presentation on toys that therapists use, focusing on occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech therapists. I added a bit of information to her section on how speech therapists can use Discovery Toys products, so I thought I would share that information with you!

So here we go...Cut and... Paste!! ;)

Receptive language (understanding what is said; following directions, answering questions)

Roll and Play (1 step commands; or, have them roll twice and do 2 step commands)

Pirate Pete Book/Once Upon a Story—since the story changes every time, it’s good for story retelling and asking what questions and the kids really have to use their listening skills

Baby Bear’s Bedtime—Helps with teaching prepositions

Castle Marbleworks—teach concepts down, in and out

EZ-Blocks—teach concepts on/off, tall, short

Expressive language (how kids use language, including vocabulary, forming sentences, making their wants and needs known)

Toddler Talk—for non-verbal kids to encourage them to make any sound..then they can hear themselves! (NOT for articulation therapy, though…the sound is too poor)

My Busy Day—teaches sequencing, story retell

Build A Book—for vocabulary development—categorizing/sorting items is a basic way to teach vocabulary.

Zingo—vocabulary building; therapists can have the kids make a sentence with the word

Wiz Kids—helps with word finding, categorizing items to build vocabulary

Pick Up Words—The kids can formulate sentences with the words they pick

Articulation (how kids form speech sounds)

Sounds Like Fun CD (I’ve been using “The Apple Song” for years and didn’t know where it came from!!) for phonological awareness

Measure Up Cups—therapists can put articulation cards under the cups. As the child picks up a card, they have to say the word as many times as the number on the cup (for example, they pick the cup with a “5” and the word is “spoon,” they have to say “spoon” correctly 5 times.

Check out these products and more at my Discovery Toys website
Also, check out more information about Better Speech and Hearing Month at ASHA's website

~Marcy
www.discoverytoyslink.com/foxtoybox
foxtoybox@gmail.com