I see all these adorable and delicious ways to use food in therapy. It looks like a blast and a great way to keep kids interested and engaged. I used to use little treats but with all the concerns about food allergies and dietary restrictions now a days, my school banned outside food. I don’t disagree with this policy. Many small children with allergies are still learning what they can and cannot have and may not be able to give me a ‘thumbs up’ on a snack. So, this meant finding other means to keep my kids interested and engaged without using food.
I found Pinterest to be invaluable this year! Here are some of my kids favorites from this year:
1. Speech Slime This was a hit year round! We made Monster Slime, Snowman Boggers, Leprechaun Goo, etc. We just used different colored glue.
2. Make Your Own Playdough This was another winner. I have found my kids are really into anything that they can make, play with, and take home to play with more. This two-ingredient play dough did the trick!
3. Pipe Cleaner Ornaments I was so busy this winter I didn’t have a chance to post these. I got the idea from the post from Playdough to Plato ( photo below ). My kids used the pipe cleaners to make shapes and we made ornaments just in time for the holiday.
4. Volcanos Who didn’t love making volcanos when they were little? This tutorial from Flutter Flutter is called Elephant Toothpaste but my kids kept calling it a volcano, so we rolled with it.
5. Milk Painting This is one that you will have to make sure your students don’t have any contact, dairy allergies. It was engaging and oh so pretty!
6. Goldiedblox I was fortunate enough this year to get a grant from my school. This has been one of the best purchases ever! We can do something different just about every time and we can get a whole activity done in 30 minutes. My kids would ask if we were using Goldieblox right when I could go and get them, even the boys.
All of these activities were used to target articulation, language ( following directions, describing, vocabulary, syntax, ), fluency, and pragmatics ( turn taking, compromising, etc. ) They really lend themselves to target what ever you want. Plus, I had a blast doing these with my kids. Remember if you’re not having fun with your sessions, your probably aren’t either. Yes, they require some prep on your part which does take time, but it is worth it! What food-less activities have you done with your students?
4 Responses
I’ve been wanting to get Goldieblox. It looked pretty cool. Would you say 30 minutes is typical when using Goldieblox.
You can easily fill 30 minutes with Goldieblox!
I love the ideas above, especially the volcano. I can’t wait to use it this summer with my little kiddo’s.
As an SLP and a food allergy Mom, I appreciate the post! I used to use food in therapy sessions ALL the time… until my own daughter was diagnosed with multiple allergies. I look back in horror at the number of times that I used food that I now know has cross contamination risks thanks to the poor labeling laws!