Speech Materials Round Up {Part One}

I have been in super planning mode this summer to try and be prepared to start working this fall.  I had so many things from my classroom that I'll be able to use in my speech room but trying to decide what I needed/wanted has been challenging.  I don't really have an allotment to buy materials so pretty much anything I need or want I have had to gather myself.  This has sent me to a lot of thrift stores this summer.  I have visited many Goodwill stores and consignment shops!  Here are my current top 5 resources I am most excited to get started with!  (If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen some of these!)

#1: Mr. Potato Head
I found all three of these at a consignment shop nearby (Once Upon a Child) for $20 and they are housing a ton of parts too!  Mr. Potato Head will be great for sequencing, following directions, naming, categorizing and more!  I also have a Mr. Potato Head activity pack in the works if I ever get around to finishing it!

 #2: Board Games
These board games have been collected over the course of 7 years in the classroom and 4 years of graduate school.  Even though I'm not working yet I have been buying and gathering materials while completing my graduate school practicums too.  Some of these were found at garage sales or given to my by friends and previous parents of my students. Some I bought during sales (Black Friday is always a good time to catch them for cheap!).

#3: Articulation Cards
I knew pretty early on I was going to need articulation cards.  If you look below you'll see I use my iPad for digital cards too but sometimes you just can't beat good ol' fashion paper cards!  I also plan on using them for vocabulary too and will definitely incorporate them into playing any type of board game.  I made these and they are available on TPT.  They take a little (or a lot) of assembly cutting and laminating but if you don't want to spend big bucks on pre-made cards these are the way to go! I copied, cut and laminated two sets per envelope so I have two of each word/picture when I want to play Go Fish or Memory.

#4 Cranium Cariboo
Speaking of board games, I have read a TON of speech blogs this summer and Cranium Cariboo always came up as THE best game for speech and language therapy. So, I searched and searched and had no luck finding it this summer.  Then, I found it on Ebay.  It wasn't exactly a steal at $20 (but was better than some of the $100+ listings, wow!) and it is gently loved but it has all the pieces and there are a ton of skill specific cards on TPT that I can add to the game during speech! If anyone has this game sitting around their house, send me an e-mail!  Hubby needs one too and I will gladly buy it from you!

#5: iPad and Otterbox
I have used my iPad in the classroom for several years and knew it would be an asset in speech as well.   My favorite app by far is Articulation Station by Little Bee Speech but I also have slowly gathered a collection of Super Duper Fun Decks and some great ones from Smarty Ears as well. My first session with a toddler taught me that an Otterbox was necessary if I was planning on using the iPad with younger kiddos.  I found this one on amazon for $35 and it has been well worth it!  Although it does make it a little heavy.
Well, that's a few of the things I have rounded up so far.  This is just a small collection (although I do remember being told in grad school that a great SLP could do therapy with whatever she has in her purse!) and I plan to add to it with many things from TPT, and others such as bubbles, a farm, toy cars, blocks, pretend food and dolls. You can count on a part 2 as I keep on collecting and thrifting!

On an unrelated teachery note, I uploaded a Fiction Text Feature Poster Pack a few days ago to accompany the Non-Fiction posters!  Best part is that it is FREE!

1 comment

  1. My whole grade level has your non-fiction posters hanging in their room! I love them! I can't wait to use the fiction posters to accompany them!! THanks so much!!! :)

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