Taking Therapy Outside

It is finally starting to look like Spring in NH! It was a fairly mild winter in terms of snow, but the rain!  There was some serious cabin fever happening in my speech room this winter!

With the weather improving it is a perfect time for a change of therapy venue and the Frenzied SLPs are taking it to the streets!  Well, the playground anyway!  I have a couple of ideas for you, some I have done, some I will be doing! As always, thanks to Nanette (Speech 2 Me), Kelly (Speech 2 U) and Jen (My Speech Universe) for the behind the scenes linky work!

• Chalk rocks! I was thinking it would be fun to take our chalk and work on narrative development outside using the amazing Story Grammar Marker by Mindwing Concepts. On a beautiful sunny day, read a book outside and then have your students become screevers.  Oh, by the way, a screever is an artist who draws on sidewalks using colored chalks. Students can draw Braidy on the playground adding narrative elements as a means of story retell. 
• Who remembers this game? "A my name is Annie and my husbands name is Andy. We come from Alabama and we sell apples." This rhyme is said while bouncing a ball while progressing through the alphabet stating your name, your husband's name, where you're from and what you sell, using alliteration. Great vocabulary work and super simple!
• I always loved hopscotch as a little girl.  I still sometimes play a game with students when I'm on playground duty.  A variation could be played where following directions is targeted. Offer students a series of numbers or square positions to jump in a pattern.  

• Two years or so ago I bought cardboard cake rounds and painted them with chalkboard paint. We use these as bases when playing kickball. You can also draw EET beads on them and use them for describing.  We had a blast doing this!
• Finally, who says an outdoor theme can't be an inside activity?  At the end of each school year my students look forward to two activities, Camping and Wheel of Fortune.  During camping week we pull out Curious George Goes Camping, an inflatable fire, toy food, s'more dip, and camping gear. We tell stories and sing songs around the campfire.

I am always up for some new ideas, so link up and share.  How are you taking therapy outside?