FALL 2021
FREEBIES & NEW IDEAS!
Click on above images for links!
Hi All - I have a new FREEBIE-Make Your Own Feed Me Box and new products hot off the press. Please check out all my Fall and Halloween products in the Seasonal Section!! If you want to know more about PROMPT Method, please check out my PROMPT section on my website. You can find it in the Header Section. Here are my favorite games for this FALL. There is also a note on what we can learn from wind-ups and friction toys. HERE’S 1 MORE FREEBIE FOR YOU - IF YOU WOULD LIKE A FREE link for GRANNY EATS A BAT BOOM CARD SET (book companion for Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat)…..email me at ricki@preschoolspeechieplus.com !
Fall Games
3 of my favorite games this time of year are Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, Raccoon Rumpus (I created an AAC board in Lessonpix) and Go Away Monster. Nuby monster snacker is just a fun monster who likes to eat pictures and mini objects! Click on above images for links!
Windup & Friction Toys
Click here for the Amazon links Halloween Windups Construction Pull Backs
THERE IS A PURPOSE TO WINDUPS AND FRICTION VEHICLES. My students have always been fascinated with windup and friction toys! I have some for every season! I just purchased the Halloween windups this week because a dozen were on sale for 8.99 on Amazon…with a bonus of temporary tattoo stickers! They brought back memories of my first year as a speech therapist in 1976. I was offered a job 4 days a week in a Pilot Preschool Special Education Program for 36 students in a public school in NJ with my BA . At the same time, I traveled 45 minutes to graduate school 2 days a week to Rutgers. It took me 3 years to obtain my MS degree and 1 more year to get my CCC. It was a long haul but well worth it, especially since my job paid for graduate school! Anyway back to the topic! One of the first toys I purchased as a new therapist were windups. I had done research on windups in college. I used windups and friction toys quite a bit and still use them frequently to this day!
Here are the stages I have observed with windups:
1.Windup toy is in front of child. Child may pick it up, look at it, may push it, but nothing happens. What fun is a toy that does nothing? Child may lose interest.
2.I show child I am winding up the toy and its moving all around. Child is interested. Child looks at toy and then at me. I wind it up again with child watching, but then child may lose interest. Development of joint attention.
3.I wind up the toy. Child picks up the toy and then it stops moving. Child looks at me then pushes it but nothing happens. Child doesn’t yet know it needs to be wound but knows I did something to make it move. Child hands toy to me to “make it go.” This is a teachable moment in which you can teach a phrase, e.g. help me, go, do it. Child is developing communicative intent.
4.Child watches and is beginning to understand cause and effect. The cause - when you wind it up and the effect - then it goes! Child attempts to wind up the toy but is unsuccessful. Child hands me the windup because they need help and want to continue playing. Child is still working on fine motor and motor sequencing (needs to be able to successfully turn knob in right direction.) Here is another moment to work on using language, e.g. labeling, actions, recurrence, state, to make requests and comments.
5.Success! Child learns to wind up the toy! This is another teachable moment to focus on turn-taking and action words, e.g. I did it, my turn your turn, it hopping, walking, go, stop,.
Friction toys (AKA Push & Go vehicle) also elicit joint attention and teach cause and effect. Friction vehicles aid in the understanding of cause and effect and require less fine motor movement. Here are the 3 types of push and go toys in order of difficulty:
1.Push down on the toy and it takes off
2.Push the vehicle a few times in a forward motion and it moves forward
3.Push back the toy and it goes forward
There are so many windups and friction toys today. I LOVE THEM! The only problem with windups is that they break easily. The TOMY windups have been the most durable but they are more expensive too. Considering how cheap they are these days you can always buy more when they break. Friction vehicles have lasted years!
Amazon is inundated! Dollar stores have them on occasion. My favorite windup is teeth chattering and friction toy is the construction vehicle set- fun for road races on the table!