Are you looking for a farm-themed activity for preschool speech therapy students? Young children love farm toys and this activity will soon be a favorite.
Follow the steps below to create this farm-themed activity.
Step 1
Find a small container or toy that can open and close.
I used a set of blocks that I had at home. Plastic Easter eggs or old food containers would also work.
Step 2
Find small farm animals to put in each container.
Step 3
Put the animals into the blocks, and you are ready for therapy. I put 2 of each animal in each block.
Now, let’s put this activity into action. Below are the most common ways I use this toy with my younger students.
Goal 1: Increasing Attention Span
Attention is important for learning. Without focus, learning won’t happen. When you want to increase a student’s focus, it’s helpful to have toys that attract the child’s attention. Having a toy that shakes serves this purpose.
First, I shake the block. This is usually enough to get most kids to come over and participate in the activity.
I would recommend having 6-7 blocks. This activity usually lasts between 5-15 minutes, which is an appropriate amount of time for a young student to attend to a teacher-led task.
Goal 2: Imitating Motor Movements
All kids learn by imitation. Copying actions is the precursor to imitating sounds and words.
When I shake the block, I want the child to imitate that action. If the child wants to try, he or she usually uses nonverbal gestures to ask for the block, such as reaching for it or making eye contact. If I think the child is going to stay in my play area, I let him or her have control of the block. Otherwise, we shake the toy together.
Another way to encourage motor imitation with this activity is to knock on the block as if it were a door.
In addition to these actions, I verbalize what I’m doing. I say, “shake, shake, shake” or “knock, knock, knock.” This is a great way to have the child learn to associate words with actions.
Goal 3: Increasing Joint Attention
Joint attention is important for learning vocabulary and language that is associated with a referent object or action.
I make sure that the student and I open the block together. This ensures that we are both paying attention to the object inside when the block opens. Once the block opens, I label the object inside and/or make the corresponding animal sound.
Goal 4: Understanding Basic Concepts
Concepts are often a critical part of understanding directions.
When we take the animals out of the block, the student and I participate in a little play routine with them. This is a great opportunity to incorporate spatial concepts into play. For example, I have the goat jump on top of the block or hide inside or behind the block. I always make sure to verbalize what I am doing.
These are just a handful of examples of goals that I target with this Farm-Themed Activity for Preschool Speech Therapy. How would you use this toy? Comment below.
If you would like suggestions on creating speech therapy lesson plans check out this post.
One Response
I love all these ideas. Thanks!
Your ideas helped me think of other things, such as using the blocks to encourage turn-taking. To begin, I’d take a block and say, “My turn,” and then open the block quickly and look inside without the child seeing. Then I’d close the block and hold it out and say, “Your turn.” I’d gradually shape this into taking longer for me to open the block and waiting for a request from the child before giving it to them. The request could be a simple gesture or sign, pointing to “me” or “turn” on a core board, or requesting verbally.