Have you seen the Thumball’s? They are a great idea for working on language while getting the kids up and moving. I really wanted one, but already spent my therapy dollars for the year, so I made one! There are many types of Thumballs, but I made a categories ball and an articulation ball. Students pass the ball to each other, catch the ball, and then name members of the category for the circle where their thumb landed. Thumballs are available here. Luckily they are easy to re-create. I started with a trip into Goodwill. I got 2 small soccer balls for a dollar. On my first ball I wrote categories (weather, vehicles, states, sports, etc.) I also wanted to make a more generic ball that I could use for articulation. On this ball I wrote letters of the alphabet. When students catch the ball they read the letter where their thumb lands. Then they look at the Activity Sheet (available on the Thumball website HERE). I have several sheets made for every sound target, so the students get their own sheet. The students find the letter their thumb landed on and say the words listed, and then use the words in a sentence. For the older kids, when the novelty has worn off, I give them bingo chips and they cover the letter on the sheet as they land on it. The student who gets them all covered first wins.
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heatherinin says
Thank you, this is a great idea! I can’t wait to get some mini soccer balls to make these.
Lindsey @ The Savvy Speechie says
What a GREAT activity! I’m a speechie too and just stumbled onto your blog via Pinterest. Thanks for sharing so many fun materials!
shelby parks says
This is a great idea! Thanks for posting this. I am an SLPA and this will be perfect!
debf says
Welcome to the blog scene! I saw you blog on Mandy’s blog and I just love it!
I spent 11 of my 21 years as a special ed. teacher and one thing I REALLY miss is having the SPL specialist in my room several days a week. I always learned so much watching her work!
I can see many word study possibilities here in Thumball!
Ashley says
Great idea! You can use a silver sharpie pen to add more categories or letters to the black spaces on the soccer balls.