I’m all about recycling. It’s one of the best ways that we can show our beautiful planet that we truly care about it. So that’s why I’m always on the prowl for new speech therapy materials that are both fun and are actually just repurposed items from around the home. Yup, instead of throwing out all of that junk in your closet, you very well might be able to use some of it (or all of it) within your speech therapy setting. You’d really be surprised at just how many different kinds of potential speech therapy items we all have just sitting around in our closets that don’t see the light of day. This is a post that will help you to look at those things with new eyes. Ones that can clearly see the speech therapy potential that almost any random object in your closet can have.
So what kinds of random objects are we talkin’ about?!
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve somehow collected a gigantic amount of hangers over the years. I don’t even know how the number got to be so high. It’s almost as if they’ve been multiplying each time I close the closet door. Maybe they’re quietly growing an army of hangers in an effort to capture me and take over my house! Uh no! So that’s why I needed to grab a handful of hangers (about 20 or so) and bring them into my speech therapy room. (I figured if I separated them, I would slow down their evil plans to get me! HAHA!).
Hangers in speech therapy?! Huh?!
Not too long ago, I had a group of students who were working on perfecting their /R/ sound in the final position of words. I came up with a game called Hanger Ear. The game is simple, the students have to hang as many hangers as they can from their ear WHILE they practice saying words that have the /R/ sound in the final position of words (just like the words hanger and ear). With each correct pronunciation, the student is rewarded with a hanger and that hanger needs to somehow be added to the hanger chain. Who ever has the most hangers is the winner! (See my video for a look at me demonstrating the game.)
Trying to break records is always a hoot!
Hanger Ear is easily able to be turned into a competitive game where students try their hardest to break the record. How many hangers could you have hanging from your ear? 5? 6? 7? More? It’s just another way to get students to think about their sounds WHILE they are participating in a wacky activity. It’s all in good fun.
In closing . . .
Chances are, you’ve got a bunch of hangers in your closet that aren’t doing too much. So why not recycle those hangers and convert them over to a new batch of silly and crazy speech therapy materials? And while you’re at it, be on the lookout for other things in your closet that could be converted to speech therapy materials such as old shoe boxes, old magazines, and so much more!
So, give Hanger Ear a shot and, as always, let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear from you.
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