As a traveling SLP, I spend ALOT of time in the car. There’s really nothing worse than getting to a client’s house only to find out your therapy bag has spilled all over the back seat! Hurriedly, you gather your stuff and pray that you picked it all up. Then you get into the client’s house, ready to conduct a FANTASTIC therapy session only to realize the activity you had planned is not in your bag! Of course it’s under the back seat!!! I am totally speaking hypothetically…you know me; I am way more organized than that! (Yea right!)
So who’s tired of fishing for stuff underneath seats? ( I see you raising your hand out there!) All you need for this project is a metal school supplies box and cheap magnetic letters! (I found my set at Michael’s for 2 bucks.) Come up with a list of simple words, by sound, that you can make with the letters. I wrote my words on index cards. The target sound is written in a different color. For easy access, I keep them on a binder ring. Give the child a word and watch as he spells the word with the letters. I like for them to produce the word as they are spelling it. For my younger kids, I like for them to name the letter as they find them (to help reinforce the alphabet with letter identification and matching). Once they have it spelled out correctly, the child can then produce it correctly 5x or put it in a sentence.
The cool thing about this activity is it’s not just for SLPs! Parents can make this same kit (with just the sounds that are being addressed in therapy). With soccer practices, dance recitals and busy family schedules, this is a super easy and fun way for the kids to practice their speech while in the car! Since it comes in its own storage container, parents can leave this in the car. Parents will also love the added bonus of their child working on literacy. The child has to spell out each word with the magnetic letters before practicing the word correctly. If your family is eating out one night, just take in your handy artic box to help keep them entertained.
TIP: My set of letters only has 1 copy of each letter. So make sure your word lists contain words you can actually spell with your set. Don’t pick the word “bee” if you only have 1 “E”.
I would love to see everyone’s creations so feel free to tag #speechchicktherapy on Instagram and Twitter! Or you can post in the comment section below!! How did it work for you?
