Sink or Float Articulation Ideas for S and F

I have a client working on producing initial s in words as well as f.  To practice our target sounds we played Sink or Float?  We collected items from around his house and got a big bucket for water.  We practiced naming the items, using prompts as needed (choices: do you want the yellow ball or the green frog?).  After choosing an item I asked him if he thought the item would sink or float?  I over-emphasized the s and f and brought the items close to my mouth.  If further instruction was needed for correct production, I encourage the /s/ by prompting the child to make a "snakey sound" or asked, "what does a snake say?"  For the production of /f/ I have the child "cool down" his/her hot lip.  I model biting my lip then blowing on my "hot lip" while waving my hand next to my lip to cool it down as if I was blowing hot food.

After the client made a guess (and we encouraged or cheered for good production of the target) we let him throw the item into the bucket.  We asked "wh" question, "what happened, did it sink or float?" After a few trials with pompts, I waited him out to see if he would spontaneously tell me if the item sunk or floated.  A couple skills we incorporated into this game:

Modeling different verb tenses: -ing verbs - sinking or floating

Expanding: Adding more words to his phrases ex: "Frog is floating" "Yes, the green frog is floating"

New vocabulary: Choose items that the child does not know or are not currently in his/her vocabulary and practice naming those items. Pick a items from same category groups (all food items or all animals, etc)

This is a fun warm weather activity for little ones who are increasing their vocabulary and sentence length! 

Playdoh

I absolutely LOVE playdoh! I use it all of the time in therapy.  Not only can we target fun actions and words like squish, roll, cut, poke, and more, we can target articulation, making choices, naming objects, requesting, and so much more!

Making choices - I have my kiddos make choices for everything when we play with playdoh.  They have to request which color they want - ex: red or blue.  They have to tell me whether we should open or close the playdoh.  They can ask me to roll the playdoh into a ball or snake, or to roll it into a big ball or little ball.  I'll ask the kiddos if we should cut the playdoh or tear it, there are so many possibilities to increase the verbalizations through choices!

To extend the choices activities I will bring in other toys.  One of my favorites is cookie cutters.  I'll have the child make a choice between playing with the heart or circle cookie cutters or make choices between various animals shapes.  Other toys I've brought into the play include cars that crash down the playdoh, or trains that we transport the playdoh in.  Other ideas to extend the play: pretend cooking with bowls, spoons, rolling pins, plastic silverware, etc (increase the vocabulary - mix, in, spoon, bowl, stir, hot, cold, cook, and so many food items).  I've used toy microwaves to "cook" the playdoh food we've made.  I'll have the child learn some social skills such as to "wait" for the food to be ready or his/her turn and we work on "sharing" the food with his/her parent(s).

Requesting - Most of my kiddos cannot open a container of playdoh independently so I give the child the playdoh container and wait.  Most of the time I get some sort of request out of the kiddo to "open", "help" etc.  Of course I accept verbal or signed requests.  Many times after I roll playdoh into a ball I'll have requests for more balls. 

Articulation - I use snakes all of the time to focus on the /s/ sound.  Playdoh is perfect for making snakes!  After making big or little snakes:) we practice the snake sound.  The snakes hiss their /s/ around the table.  Snakes can slither along the table until they stop at a shaped letter or one made from a cookie cutter (a vowel).  When the snake hisses to the vowel, the snake produces the /s/ plus the vowel - creating a CV combination.

Naming - my absolute favorite playdoh activity currently is one with eggs.  I find miniature items from my kid's toy box.  I find different colored counting bears, tiny animals, miniature food items, clothing accessories, etc.  I've also purchased various sets of themed buttons from craft stores (packs of buttons that have musical instrument buttons or 4th of July button sets, etc).  I hide the small item inside the playdoh and shape the playdoh like an egg.  We then talk about the egg and how we can "crack" it.  I normally withhold a bit and wait for the child to request the egg or to request to crack the egg.  I can also make a few eggs at a time of different colors, to work on choices.  After the child requests the egg, I let him/her crack the egg and see what is inside.  The anticipation at this point is normally pretty high so the child is excited and motivated to open the egg and name the object inside! If spontaneous naming doesn't happen, I'll prompt with, "what is it?"  I will further prompt with a choice if needed, "is it a ___ or a ____?" 

Pronouns

I have a fun kiddo who is just not into the traditional cards/drill type activities.  She responds much better to play.  So to teach pronouns today, that's exactly what we did - we played!  We collected some characters that were male and female.  We had Beast and Mickey as our males and Anna and Elsa as our females.  We were working on producing possessive pronouns - his and hers.  I had placed items in a bag and had my kiddo take turns pulling items out and naming them.  The she got to pick who to give the item to.  Beast ended up with motorcycles and helicopters (we got to work on introducing new vocabulary and multi-syllable words as well), Anna with microphones, walkie talkies, etc.  After reviewing the vocabulary we talked about how each character had the item so the item was "hers" or "his".  I then cued her to use a 4 word sentence (minimum) to describe who had what item and that the item was his/hers.  "The microphone is hers"  or "The motorcycle is his".  To prompt I started with giving choices is it his or hers, but reduced the verbal prompts quickly. I did continue to prompt by putting the item on the character as if I was giving the character the items to show possession. 

My kiddo enjoyed the activity.  She was an active participant in the naming, decision making, and play of the activity (Mickey rode the motorcycle, Anna sang in the microphone, etc).  We will definitely be re-visiting this activity again!  

Articulation /r/

Here's a great book for a reader who is working on his/her /r/ at the sentence level. The /r/ occurs in all positions of words, but especially in the initial position - great alliteration!
Rude Ramsey and the Roaring Radishes by Margaret Atwood

Language
This book has many opportunities for introducing and teaching new vocabulary.
rhapsodic
rabid
radishes
ramshackle
revolving
etc

Articulation /p/

I read this book today:
Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut by Margaret Atwood

The book is full of wonderful /p/ alliteration! The story is about a pretty pill of a princess who has to do three positive deeds before the purple peanut on her otherwise perfect nose disappears. The /p/ is targeted mainly in the initial position of words, but is also very prevalent in the medial and final positions.

More Ideas

Language
There are many vocabulary words that can be targeted
parsley
porridge
paprika
peonies
etc

Social
The clinician can talk about the princess's behavior, the feelings of others toward the princess, and how the princess' change in attitudes and actions help her become more likable.

New Speech and Language Therapy Blog

I'm about to start my CFY/California RP Experience. I've decided use this blog as a place to write down therapy ideas I've collected and will collect through this experience. Hopefully someone else will find this information helpful as well!

I graduated over three years ago with my master's in Communication Disorders and Sciences from California State University, Northridge. I worked both full and part time during the last six years as a Speech and Language Therapist in schools. I delayed getting my license and certification because I wanted to stay home with my three children. But, I've decided that I need to go back to finish up this last step of the process, so that I don't have to retake the Praxis!

I'm excited to brush up on my old skills and use them to help my children and others.