Cheap Ideas for Speech by Miss Speechie!!

Cheap Ideas & Tricks for Speech!

Are you wondering how to use items around your house or items you can get for free in speech??  I have gathered a couple of items to show you how you can easily create multiple speech and language activities without spending a dime!

Brown paper lunch bags:

Do you have some of these in your house?  If not, you can easily get a TON for a cheap price that can last a while!  Here are some ideas that I use paper bags for:

•  Puppets!  You can make puppets as a following directions activity or have students tell you how to make them for a language or fluency lesson.  You can also pre-make them to use for articulation, following directions, or pretend play.  You can also create character puppets based on stories read to help work on comprehension and describing.
• Paper bag books:  Click HERE to see my previous post on how to create a book with these bags!
• Sorting: You can easily create a sorting activity where students can place items into each bag. 
• Mystery Bags:  You can place items into the bag and have students guess them by feeling or asking question.
• Main Idea Bags:  You can put a main idea on the bags and provide students with magazines.  They can look for pictures that will go best with that main idea.

Cups:

Do you have these around the house?  If not, you can also get these for a cheap price!  Here is some ideas on how I use them:

• Sorting:  an easy way to get students to sort by categories.
• Following directions:  if you align and number the cups in the correct order of steps necessary to accomplish a task and provide the materials needed for each step in the cup, it will help student complete tasks independently.
• Token holder for reinforcers!
• Avoid grabbing and fighting:  when I am doing following directions tasks that contain crayons/markers/manipulatives, I like to have ready to go cups with the materials sorted for each student.  This helps avoid students fighting for materials!

Paint Stirring Sticks:

These were free!!  I went into a paint store and told them that I am a teacher and they handed me several!  Yes, FREE!  How do I use these?

• Story sequencing:  I attach Velcro to the sticks and students can arrange pictures to tell or retell a story. 
• Articulation/Phonological Awareness activities:  I take a permanent marker and write B, M, E.   As I say words, I ask students to touch the placement of the target articulation sound or where the sound is in the CVC word.  You can also use these B, M, E for teaching story sequences as well!
• Word/Picture matching:  I attach Velcro to the stick.  Then, attach pictures on the Velcro.  I write words/synonyms/adjectives/etc. on clothes pins and students must match and place the clothes pin onto the correct picture based on the task.

McDonald’s French Fries Containers:

These were free as well!  Again, I pulled the teacher card!  It worked!!  Here are ways I use them:

• Sorting: anything to motivate sorting activities works for me!
• Sequencing:  students can place pictures or sentences into an order of the containers.
• Answering questions:  I will make questions on yellow construction paper and place them into a container.  Students must take one, read and answer the questions.  Just an easy way to make a drilling activity more exciting!  Click HERE to see my blog post and more pictures using this idea!

Here are just four items I use in my therapy room!  There are tons more!  Feel free to visit my blog for ideas and suggestions on how to create DIY activities for your speech room.

Miss Speechie is a licensed speech-language pathologist and author of the blog, Speech Time Fun.  Learn more about Miss Speechie and her therapy ideas by visiting her blog, her Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest, and Teachers Pay Teachers store!