For the past few summers, I have changed up our speech therapy sessions from the usual book themed sessions to VACATIONS! That’s right VIRTUAL VACATIONS! After the first summer at Disney, I knew I had to change up some things for the older kids (elementary age) to make it more engaging for them. Many of them reported they were “too old” for that kind of stuff. Well, ok then!
Insert a roadtrip around the country visiting National Parks! Can I tell you how much fun this has been? I share pictures from my own travels to the parks I have been to as well as add books and YouTube videos to further share what it feels like to visit these places. Most of the kids LOVE the animals we can “see” at each park. If you can add animals to anything, you have gotten a child’s attention! At the time of this blog post, I am revising some of the activities from last year. I’m trying to create more gross motor activities that will still allow for our speech therapy goals to be addressed. But movement is KING when trying to keep kids attention, especially in the summer.
Setting Up the Roadtrip
I love to set up our roadtrip as if we are going for real. That means we need a map! I talk about the importance of how you don’t just get in the car and start driving. You have to outline where you will be going on this trip. We create a map ALWAYS in the first session. I chose around 10 parks to visit. Let me warn you…depending on how many times a child is seen in a week will determine how many parks he visits. This activity is set up to run a little over a month. My clients who are twice a week will typically get through all 10 parks in the time alloted. Kids who are 1x a week, miss time due to vacations or are seen every other week typically do not visit all of the parks on their map.
Making the Map
I have two different variations of maps that can be used. However, I prefer the one made from a brown paper sack since I conduct one on one sessions. If you are a school based SLP working with groups, you may prefer the simple cut and glue one.
If you’ve chosen the paper sack map, I’ve put together a quick video that you can watch/listen to here. Prefer reading? Here we go! First, you are going to cut the “flap” part (the bottom) of the bag off. Then cut along the side of the bag and lay it flat. To add character, I like to wad it up and then smooth it out. The child has colored all of the states (if they choose) while I do this. Then all of the states are cut out as well as the title piece. We glue the title piece in the top right corner. Now you just need glue and a marker!
I live in Texas, so the first state I glue down is Texas. You start your roadtrip WHEREVER you like. (hello flexibility!) When we “leave” Texas, I draw a squiggly path to Florida (our next stop). We continue this way, gluing states all around the paper sack. Place each state WHEREVER you would like…yep flexibility again. If you’re needing clarification, you can find a video here.
Articulation Tips
My caseload has quite a bit of articulation only clients ranging across all of the sounds. You’re probably wondering how I use this activity to address articulation. Before we glue a state down, they have a target word that must be produced 3-5x. I write the target word on the “path” between states.
Language Tips
This one is easy (at least for me!) I love that this map allows for so much…OPENESS (maybe not a word but you know what I mean). You can literally use it for any language!
- Grammar: Ask questions to prompt a full sentence answer.
- Categories: “Oh we’re in the swamp! What animals will we see?”
- Opposites: “Now we’re headed somewhere that is not hot like Texas. What do you think it will feel like when we get to Alaska?”
- ENDLESS WH QUESTIONS! “How will we get from Alaska to Hawaii?” “What kind of clothes should we pack for Florida?” “Where can we find volcanoes?” “Why do we need sunscreen in Utah?” “Have you been to Tennesse? Who did you go with?”
I have found the National Parks Virtual Roadtrip has kept my clients engaged during the busy (cough cough distracting) summer months. I love when a child opens the door with a huge smile excited about our destination for the day! What parks would you visit on your virtual vacation?
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