National Parks can be an interesting theme for speech therapy. This summer I chose 10 parks scattered throughout the country to take my clients to…virtually of course! One of our stops was right here in our home state of Texas-Big Bend National Park.
Our “day” in Big Bend this year happened to fall during July 4th week so we made our craft extra special for the holiday weekend. If you’ve never heard about Big Bend, it’s in far west Texas making it an excellent spot to stargaze. Today I’m sharing how we created our craft for the 4th of July. But I will also share how you can adapt it for a non-holiday craft. Read all the way to the end to see a bonus scavenger hunt if you choose to add an extra day to your stay.
Articulation in Big Bend
To set up our “day,” I shared from our National Parks book as well as this YouTube video (very short one). I like to use this video because it really drives home how clear the sky is at night. Then I tell the student(s) we are going to be to watching fireworks (or stargazing) today. Each student needs a black sheet of construction paper and 2 strips of ripped brown construction paper as well as pictures of animals found in Big Bend. (side note: my TpT resource will have resources to help create this craft. Keep an eye out for it!) Have the child color the animals and cut them out.
For fireworks, I use colorful cupcake liners with cuts made along the sides so they lay flat. I love to use assorted colors and sizes. For stars, you can have the child draw stars with glitter crayons, neon markers or use star stickers.
Now to start putting the pieces together! Layer the two pieces of brown paper at the bottom to resemble the terrain in Big Bend. For each word the child says correctly 5x, he/she glues an animal in the scene. Once all animals are glued down, now we start adding the fireworks (or stars). If we are using fireworks, I tend to use 5-6 to glue in the sky. Yes, we are getting TONS of reps with this craft! If we are putting stars in the sky, use as many as you like.
Language in Big Bend
For my language clients, I start the session the same way as above. Students need all the same materials. Layer the two pieces of brown paper at the bottom of the black constructin paper. As we start to put the craft together, I will describe an animal for the child to find. Then the child has to tell me where the animal will be glued down. “On the ground,” “beside the cactus,” “under the mountain lion” are just some examples. Once all the animals are glued down, we start placing fireworks in the sky. Now they have to use complete sentences with describing words to tell me which firework they want to put on their craft.
If you are putting stars in the scene, the child has to tell you if they will be drawing a big or little star. If you are using star stickers, they have to tell you what color or size they want.
Bonus {Nighttime} Scavenger Hunt
Maybe you’re not a craft person. Maybe you need some movement in your sessions. This one is perfect! Gather either plastic animals, stuffies or print pictures of animals native to Big Bend. Place them around the room. If you want to make this a nighttime hunt, turn off the lights but leave a small lamp on or open the blinds to give a little light. Grab a flashlight! Tell the students we are going to explore Big Biend at night. Give the student a flashlight and tell them to find an animal. For articulation, once they find an animal, they have to say a target word correctly 5x. For language, they have to tell where the animal is or describe it.
If you prefer a daytime hunt, leave the lights on and there’s no need for a flashlight.
Be sure to keep an eye out of the National Park resource in my TpT store! You can also subscribe to my newsletter to snag freebies, new resources and therapy tips!
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