My Holiday Freebies~ gifts to you.

If you're like me, this time of year is super busy and money is tight. I wanted to keep my students engaged with fun seasonal activities and needed many repetitions so I created the following low cost and free-to-you ideas.  

1. Holiday Dots- I know, easy-right! I posted this on Instagram and received a lot of positive feedback and hearts. Simply cut out or punch out (if you have one of those cool large hole punches) and start creating. I give my students one circle per repetition. There are 25 reps on this page alone. 

2. O Christmas Tree of Speech- I have a craft drawer filled with materials that rarely get touched. I haven't used these pom poms since I created my Warm Fuzzy EET Companion. I got the idea to use these fuzz balls as color ornaments for a Christmas Tree. Click here to download the FREE template. 

3. Believe Printables- I also had a bag full of bells in my junk, I mean craft, drawer. This sparked the idea of a Polar Express theme complete with hot chocolate, video clips, and a special gift for my younger students. Just tie some ribbon around the handle of the bell and loop it around this FREE Believe Printable for a magical gift to remember. Click Here. 

I wish all of you a wonderful holiday filled with much love and good cheer. Thank you for being loyal fans and followers. I truly appreciate you. ~ Jen

Click for holiday craft ideas

Gobble Up Holiday Goodies!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Happy holidays friends.  I'm so glad you joined The Frenzied SLPs for this link up full of holiday goodies.  

Ready for this week?  Here's a quick and easy craft that everyone loves.  Pop some popcorn in a paper bag and tie as a turkey leg.  Write Thanksgiving words on the legs and have kids describe the words.    

Click for directions

How cute is this cupcake ornament!   Simple and age respectful for all grades, this ornament idea will surly bring a festive feel into your speech and language room.  

Click for video tutorial

Give yourself the gift of relaxation over Thanksgiving Break by knowing that you are set for the upcoming month.  

Click here for holiday products

Click for freebie!

Thanks for gobbling up these holiday goodies and enjoy a wonderful holiday season!

An InLinkz Link-up

Free stuff for your classroom!

If you work with elementary ages you probably have a treasure chest, prize box, craft drawer, and game cabinet!  Parents, grandparents, and daycares are inundated with toys, crafts, pencils, markers, and party favors to stock your classroom!  The truth is that they are dying to declutter and free up some space.    

Don't believe me, let me show you all of the stuff that my kids have hoarded since my last summer clean up.   

Crafts: 

Pipe cleaners, beads, and three more drawers full this stuff.  

Cute themed stuff!  

                         Under the Sea                                        Rocks

                         Party Favors:

My all-time hoarder, middle child, has 4 pair of sunglasses, 5 watches, and can you spy the chatter teeth (perfect for SLPs).  

  

Stickers:

What educator doesn't like stickers? 

Scholastic Stuff:
We buy tons of stuff at the book fairs and just like most kid toys, these get played with for 10 minutes and put in a drawer for eternity.  

Basement Stuff:

I cleaned out the basement today and have a pile for the thrift shop and a box going to my elementary teaching buddy. 

   Coloring Stuff:

I found hundreds of extra crayons and bet some teacher would love to melt down the broken ones to make a colorful creation. 

So there you have it.  A multitude of stuff just from my home that could fill a classroom.  

Post this letter to your Facebook page and I bet you get loads of great stuff for your classroom.  People love to clear their clutter and especially feel good if they can donate to a good cause and a friend.  

 If I were to see this post on Facebook, I would run for my kids' rooms and come out with a garbage bag full of stuff for you.  Grab the letter by clicking HERE.  

And it goes on and on. After I organized my kids rooms, I bought them more stuff.  You see, my oldest two were at a summer sleep-away camp and it was suggested that kids get a care package.   

Maybe I need to be on Horders.  

A Kiss for all season!

I just came back from Rite Aid where they had some great holiday sale buys.  I snagged up some wrapping paper, games for my students, and a couple of bags of holiday candy.  The "best before" date on the candy was October 2015 (it's Dec. 2014 now) so I knew it would be good for a while.  Here is one idea on how to extended the life your your holiday treats.  

You can use this simple trick with M&Ms, Skittles, Reeses, and just about any Christmas colored candy!  If you have extra Hershey Kisses, check out the official site HERE to find many yummy treats.    Also remember that most baked goods and chocolate may be frozen and pulled out when you need them for your special class parties.  

Enjoy! 

Lava lamps, tie dye, and summer language!

Hi friends,  You may have seen my Tie Dye Language unit for higher level language learners.  I have added some fun ideas to go in with this groovy product. 

Lava Lamps!  Who doesn't love lava lamps and their bubbling fun.  I tried out this inexpensive and easy craft with my own children and am sure my older students will LOVE it too.  Here are the directions:  

Why end the fun there.  The "I Have Who Has" inferencing game found in Tie Dye Language, goes through all of the materials and associations with actually tie dying (For example, I have rubber bands, who has something that contains blobs of wax in a glass container?"

  I have never tie dyed before so I had to try this with my own three girls.  Here are the results:  

Following directions, sequencing, vocabulary, and memory recall are just a few of the many language areas that can be targeted through these fun hands-on crafts and activities.

                                              On Sale Now!

They all lead up to my many higher-level language activities in Tie Dye Language: students work on multiple meaning words, similes, metaphors, inferencing, idioms, and my favorite moods/emotions (with my Mood Ring match pages).  You can even find mood rings at many dollar stores and in bulk online.  These activities will surly be the highlight of your students' summer service time.  

Click here for my blog post with full details about Tie Dye Language and how it can make your summer planning a breeze.  

Have a rad day! 

Fan Freebie

I have a new fan freebie on my Facebook page.  

Click on my Facebook page, go to the Fan Freebie tab, "like" my page, and it's all yours! 

Your students are sure to get a kick out of it! 

Thank you and enjoy!  

Heart garland!

My classroom is overflowing with these cheerful, easy-to-make heart chains.  

I've provided instructions for teacher use or you could use as a fun activity for working on the goals of sequencing, following directions, and expressive language.  

Student use:

                   1. Cut out the pictures and have students assemble in correct sequence.

                2.  Students make a chain of hearts according to directions.

                3.  Students use their own words to explain how to make a heart wreath.  

1.  Cut 1 inch strips of colored paper

2.  fold the paper in half with fold facing down

                                           3.  staple the fold and loop downward into a heart

                                          4.  hold the heart in place as you fold a second strip
                                               of paper onto the bottom of the heart
                                         

                                            5.  staple the fold and repeat and repeat until

                                                 you have the desired length.  Put a final staple

                                                 on the bottom of the last heart.  

I hope you enjoy these festive decorations!

You may also enjoy these Valentine's Day 
Activities of Language.

Acorn Sequencing

My students and I have been having way too much fun with the Acorn Jewels this week.   They were a simple, quick craft which incorporated multiple goals of expressive and receptive language.  

We are lucky enough to have some beautiful oak trees on our school grounds so I brought my Life Skills group outside to collect them.  We then sequenced the steps to make these shiny treasures. 

I used the i-pad to video each group retelling the sequence and modeling of how to make the craft.  The next group was thrilled to watch their friends explaining the directions.  

Here are some fun ideas for the leftover acorn bottoms:

Click on the photos for the original links for the craft pictures.  The sequencing idea photo is my own.  Feel free to use for your therapy sessions. If you share please reference my blog post.  

Happy Fall!!!!

If you like sequencing activities, you may be interested in these products: