Hakuna Matata

Whenever life gets hectic, I try to go back to the one thing that makes me remember to slow down. More often than not, I come back to my old climbing tree. It has been my good friend ever since I can remember. The branches held me aloft in my safe princess & mermaid fantasies as a child. I practiced my gymnastics and ballet beside this tree. It also protected me from the harsh light of the sun. I still love to sit on the lowest branch every now and then to remind myself of our time together as silly as it sounds. 

 This is one of the craft projects I made during the great camera FAIL of 2013. I bought several packages of these little colored cups from the Dollar Tree's Hawaiian themed section. The colors just pop and that's definitely a motivator. However, I suggest putting a large piece of felt under these cups as they are less forgiving of accidents than the waxed kind.

The concept is very similar to the "artic towers" found on pinterest. I just added my own little twist by making every cup have two related words. My students have to describe how the objects are similar and different in order to earn the cup. This is a great way for them to practice sounds at both word and sentence level. You can find two of my word lists in these older posts: http://thethriftyslp.blogspot.com/2013/05/another-1st-experience-carson-dellosa.html and http://thethriftyslp.blogspot.com/2013/04/under-weather-blues.html 

My other idea from Dollar Tree is geared towards categorization. I know that the large serving trays have been a huge hit on pinterest. They are really handy for most groups. However, I have some students that are overwhelmed by that many sections. My solution is to buy the three sectioned trays. It reduces the amount of options, but they also give extra space to toss in a few more items. You could also use these trays as a way of self-tracking. The students can have a "good" and "bad" (sounds, speech, behavior, etc) compartment. The markers go in the additional slot so there's no chance of them falling on the floor. 

Summer is almost here with two more IEPs to go! Hakuna Matata!