Hello,
everyone! I am so sorry I have fallen behind on my therapy themes series, but
you know how busy a school-based SLP can get. I have had a ton of evaluations,
and no time to blog ☹, but I thought I
would quickly pop in to tell you about one of my favorite things to do for
middle and high school speech therapy: Christmas ornaments!
The good thing
about this age group is that their attention, fine motor skills and hand-eye
coordination are generally better than my elementary kids. Therefore, they can
complete some more complex ornaments independently. Yay! The bad thing is that
it might be a little harder to find ornaments they are willing to make because,
you know, preteens and teenagers. I found three on Pinterest that have been
successful in my therapy room. They are relatively inexpensive and are easily
incorporated into sessions.
The first one is from
a previous blog post. I used it with my life skills group, but I think it’s
appropriate for all ages and abilities. Materials needed are cardstock, yarn, and
glue. Some students may complete it fairly quickly, which makes it ideal for 15-minute
sessions as well. Find it (and a freebie) here.
I adapted the
second one from This Grandma is Fun. It
is a little more difficult to make, so it might be a better choice for students
who have typical fine motor abilities. For some of my groups, I showed them the finished product and let them make the ornament independently while waiting for turn. I also allowed them to continue working on the ornament while completing their targets. Materials needed are cinnamon sticks,
ribbon, some kind of star for the top, a paperclip, and hot glue. Find it here.
The third ornament
was inspired by this post on Organized 31. To save
a little bit of money, I used the smaller (1 inch) ball ornaments that come with more in one package. In addition to those,
materials needed are only permanent markers, alphabet stickers, and paper clips
or hooks. These ornaments look fantastic after the kids finish them!
I hope you find
these useful for your older students. If you have other fun ideas for this
population, please share below.
Have a lovely
Christmas, and a wonderful New Year!
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