Summer is full of fun activities you can do in speech therapy! One lesson my students and I have really enjoyed is “Packing a Beach Bag.” I’ve done this lesson with preschoolers and K-8 students in moderate-severe classes. I love how this lesson is so hands-on and functional, especially for the kids I work with because we live in San Diego 🙂 Even if you don’t live near a beach or if your kids don’t have experience going to the beach, that’s okay- you can pretend! Another reason why I love this activity is because I use materials I already have in my house or therapy room and didn’t have to spend any money prepping for it. If you don’t have these items, everything listed can be found at The Dollar Tree 🙂
Suggested Materials:
- beach bag
- towel
- empty sunscreen bottle
- sunglasses
- hat
- empty water bottle
- empty snack bags (chips, trail mix, etc. I glue the opening of the bag back together so it looks more realistic)
- beach ball
- sand toys (shovel, bucket, etc. You can even bring in some kinetic sand and have the kids “play in the sand”)
- boogie board or kick board (I can’t remember if I’ve seen these items at The Dollar Tree or not, but you don’t need to include these items if you don’t have them)
To start the lesson, I ask questions such as “Who has been to the beach? Who likes going to the beach? What do we need to bring to the beach?” etc. This conversation is a good introduction for the lesson, as it gets the students to use language and topic-specific vocabulary about the beach. Next, I show them my beach bag, but I don’t let them see what’s inside yet. Talk about the bag (“How big is it? Is it heavy or light? What color is it?” etc.). Have the kids take turns holding the beach bag and ask questions such as, “Do you like carrying it on your shoulder or with your hand?”
Then, I pull out the first item from the bag and see if the kids can identify it, describe it, talk about its function, etc. I try to make it a big deal when I pull the items out, to keep the kids engaged. I dramatically rummage around inside the bag and when I finally pull the item out, I hold it up high and excitedly say, “Wow!! What is this?! Does anyone know what this is for?!” As you go through each item, have the kids take turns pulling the items out of the bag (*therapy tip: anytime you can have the kids take turns doing something, DO IT! Even with tasks as simple as pulling items out of a bag, if you make it a big deal and make it sound really special by giving kids a TURN to do it, they are instantly more engaged and motivated!). As the kids are talking about each item, pretend to use it as well. For example, when you are discussing the sunscreen, pretend to put it on the kids! Ask them questions such as “Where do you want the sunscreen?” and see if they can tell you specific body parts. If that’s too complex for your students, give them a choice: “Do you want sunscreen on your nose or on your arms?” and pretend to squirt a little on them and rub it in.
Here is an example of some questions and language we use when talking about the beach towel:
- “What do we use a towel for/Why do we need it? To dry off, to lay on if we want to rest, to sit on if we want to have a picnic.”
- “How does it feel? It feels soft, warm.”
- “What does it look like? My towel is long and colorful. I like the red and blue stripes on it!”
- “I’m wet and cold, I need the towel to dry off!”
- “Let’s put it on the sand.”
- “Who wants to lay on the towel? Who wants to be wrapped up in the towel?” Have the kids take turns and use language to request how they want to use the towel.
If you bring in multiple of each item (save your water bottles, snack bags, and sunscreen bottles!), you can have the kids pack their own beach bag. Ask them “What do you want to put in your beach bag?” and have the kids request (using words, pointing, PECS, etc.) which items they want in their beach bag. When everyone’s bag is packed, you can pretend to go to the beach and act out using everything in the bag!
As always, thanks for reading 🙂
-Amanda, The SLP Girl