Planning for Teletherapy can be so challenging and time consuming! Here is a list of all of my favorite tele-therapy websites to help make planning easier!
20 fun and engaging first day of school icebreakers for kids to help your students transition back to school and get to know one another!
Whether you’ve got a sensory seeking, sensory avoidant, and/or sensory processing disorder kid, vestibular activities can be a powerful tool for calming and sensory regulation. Learn 45+ DIY vestibular exercises to try with your child indoors, and how to address the vestibular system through a sensory diet. Great for gross motor skills and occupational therapy ideas for at home, school, or the clinic.
These crossing midline activities support development of crossing the midline plays in functional tasks like learning and self care.
Digestion experiment for kids! An easy science experiment from at-home materials about how the stomach breaks down food. Anatomy science for kids.
Free back-to-school science activities for grades 3-5, including free posters, simple experiments, and science activities to start the year.
Games are a tried and true way to engage students. Whether teaching in-person or remotely via a live session like Zoom or Google Meets, teachers know that games, brain breaks, and icebreakers are an awesome way to get students actively involved in learning. With the ever-changing landscape of education, I thought it might be nice to compile some versatile activities that challenge students in really fun ways. Best part? These activities are very low prep and work in a variety of settings. These activities encourage students to listen, solve problems, be creative, and practice critical skills. They're designed to be easy to do with little to no prep. You can easily add one of these games to any lesson as a warm-up, closure, community building activity, or lesson extender. GAMES & ACTIVITIES ⭐How Many? Give students a category and then challenge students to see how many different things they can fit within that classification. At first students will respond with obvious ideas. However, as they brainstorm, their ideas will stretch and their creativity will grow. Students can jot their ideas down on scrap paper and earn points for each unique response when they share out. Here are some categories to get started: occupations, things that are slimy, things that roll, animal noises, articles of clothing ⭐Listen Carefully: Read a short passage out loud to students. Then, have them answer questions based on what they can remember. Make it especially fun by awarding points for every answer that students get right. You can change up this activity by reading two versions of the same story. Mix up some of the details in the second version for students to listen for. Give this activity a try with the passages in this set of FREE Brain Bursts. Add your information below and then check your inbox! ⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟ ⭐Silly Silent Spelling: Practice spelling words in a super silly way. Explain to students that you are going to be giving them a practice spelling test (definitely NOT the real thing). Just like a typical practice test, they'll listen for the word and write it down. However, here's the catch: you're only going to silently mouth the words. Students will need to read your lips to figure out what word they will need to write down. Of course, figuring out a word from a silent cue is not easy. That's what makes this fun. Students will write down some wild guesses as they spell their way through this game. ⭐One Word: Pose a fun question to the class and have them all think of a one-word answer. Then, give every student a chance to share their responses as you call on each of them. Here are some questions to get started: --- If you were a type of dessert, what would you be? --- Where do you feel happiest? --- How would a soccer ball describe its day? --- Where is somewhere that you would like to visit? --- What would be the perfect gift for you? ⭐Mystery Item: This activity is quick and easy to play. To prepare, write 5 or 6 clues about an object. Make the clues gradually increase in their specificity. Then, read the clues to students as they jot down their guesses for the mystery item until you reveal the answer. ⭐Punchline: Start telling a joke to students, and then have them guess the punchline. Find a ton of jokes for kids here. ⭐Strike a Pose: Explain to students that they are going to pretend that they are in a photograph. They will need to imagine that the photo was taken at the height of the event. All they have to do is strike a pose after you give them a situation. For instance, you might say, "haunted house," and then students would freeze in a pose that shows them frightened or terrified. Here are a few situations to try: Dentist Office, Roller Coaster, Last Day of School, Scary Movie, Food Fight, Race ⭐Timed Writing Activities: Engage students with a creative writing prompt. Then, "amp up" the fun factor by adding a timed element. Challenge students to race the clock as they write as much as they can in a fixed time period. Find my favorite prompts here. ⭐And Then...: This is a listening game for the entire class. Students will need to listen to and add to a growing story. You'll start the story with an opener like, "At the zoo, I decided to open the lion's cage, and then..." Next, you'll call on a student to explain what happened next. That student will add one line and the phrase "and then" before selecting another student to add to the story. ⭐Listen and Draw: Students love this activity! To prepare, create a simple illustration filled with shapes and designs. Then, write out the directions for students. Have students complete the activity on a piece of paper. Read each direction to students and challenge them to replicate the illustration you instructed them to draw. (These are included in the exclusive freebie below.) ⭐Class Pet: Pretend that you have a new class pet. Explain to students that they will need to guess the type of animal. Students will need to ask questions and write their guesses on a piece of paper when they think they have figured out the new class pet. ⭐Add the Ending: Engage students as they practice writing and storytelling skills with this activity. First, students will listen to the beginning of a story that you read to them. Then, they'll take over the writing and complete the story. The story starters are a fun way to motivate students to write. ⭐Alien, Tiger, and Cat: Here's an improvisational theatre game that works in the classroom. Explain to students that they can be one of three things: an alien, a cat, or a tiger. If they choose to be an alien, they need to hold their pointer fingers next to their head (like antennae) and say "bleeb, bleeb." To be a cat, they need to rub their wrist along their face (like a cat cleaning itself) and say "meow." Finally, to be a tiger they need to push their hand forward with a claw stance and roar. On your cue, every student will choose and act like an animal. The goal is to get everyone to choose the same animal (which is nearly impossible, but fun to try). ⭐Rapid Recall: Create a list of random words. Then, read the list of words to students. As you read the words, you might have students put their hands on their heads so that you know for sure that they aren't taking notes. Once you've read the words to students once or twice, wait about a minute before letting students write down every word that they remember. (Find ready-made lists in this complete resource.) ⭐Finish the Fact: Share the beginning of a fact with students. Then, challenge them to complete the fact. Have them share their guesses before revealing the complete fact. Find a collection of random facts here. Want a free set of virtual classroom activities designed to be NO PREP and NO COPIES? Just add your name and email below. ⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟ BONUS: Here's one more idea: ⭐Paper Airplanes: Help students practice following directions by challenging them to fold a paper airplane by following your directions. To get started, choose a paper airplane design to have students fold. Then, have students take out a piece of paper. They'll need to listen carefully to each of your directions to make their paper airplane. Wishing you tons of fun in your (virtual) classroom, Mary Beth P.S. Find a TON of ready-made activities HERE.
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Fun science activities for kids to learn the Five Senses: taste, see, listen, hear, touch; for kids of all ages from preschool, kindergarten, to school age.
Teach your kids basic coding concepts with legos! Easy Lego coding activities t0 teach colors, sorting, patterns, and how to code. Plus free worksheets!
Learn about the human digestive system for kids twith this memorable digestion experiment. ZANY human body project making poop!
Over 80 amazing, simple proprioceptive activities for kids. Learn benefits of proprioceptive input to calm, focus, and alert.
Brain breaks are an effective way to increase focus, support self-regulation, and boost a child's learning in the classroom (or home).
Check out these 9 first week of school activities for your students. They help to forge those lasting bonds for a successful year!
Whether your kid is a preschooler or goes to middle school, he or she will enjoy these human body activities while learning about how the human body works. The anatomy of the human body is
Virtual dissections can be a huge help in teaching science, biology, physiology and anatomy. Here are some of the best resources for your lessons and labs.
We are currently doing a short study of the human body. We recently finished up our unit on the Brain and Nerves, and here are some of the activities we did and resources we used.
These fun drama games and activity ideas are sure to bring hours of fun and laughter to the drama team or department. These games can be used as warm-ups,
Learn about fingerprinting for kids & play detective! Fun ideas for a CSI or spy party or science activity for preschool & elementary ages!
Hi Friends… I hope this post finds you well and enjoying your summer break. I just returned home from a relaxing vacation in Punta Cana! It was a ton of fun and I really needed the R & R 🙂 I actually wrote this blog post on the plane there…BUT… the flight didn’t have any … Science FUN with Interactive Notebooks! Read More »
Paper Bag Dramatics: A fun activity for Team Building and Developing Community. Here's an idea that can be used just about anywhere at any time. It encourages groups to solve problems, think creatively, and work as a team.
These three icebreakers for teens will make the first class, youth group, or club fun for everyone, even the introverts.
The end of the school year is the perfect time to incorporate real world math and engaging activities. I love using projects to keep students focused the last few weeks of school. Below are some o…
Why I don't review the syllabus on the first day of class in high school and what I do instead. Fun first day of school activities and icebreakers!
Impulse Control Activities for Kids: Fun activities, games, and resources that will help your kids practice self-control
Invisible clues is a fun activity created for kids of all ages. One part detective fun and another part puzzle solving. Your kids are sure to have fun!
Have you ever thought about using wordless videos in your speech therapy lessons? It increases engagement! Start with these videos...
Fun, hands-on human body for kids project to learn about body systems, organs, bones, muscles, and more! Print playdough mats for activity.
Discover some fascinating, no prep, STEM activities and challenges you can do with your students using paper! Engineering, math and science.
Learn how to integrate the Blow Cup Challenge in the classroom with this engaging STEM project and lesson plan that incorporates math and science standards.
I recently developed a slight obsession with Shrinky Dinks. It was one of my favorite crafting activities as a child, and now as a mom, my daughter is having fun with it too. If you’ve never used it, it’s basically thin sheets of plastic that you can cut and color and then bake in the oven, […]
STEM activities with pencils are easy to prep and implement for back to school and end of the year stem challenges. Check out three popular STEM and science activities using pencils. Free printables included!
FREE science emergent reader book about the human body systems. Great science activity for preschool and kindergarten.
Teaching listening is important. Listening takes tons of practice, and we need to teach it with attention to developing key abilities. Below you will find Spanish listening activities to do before you watch a video or read a story. If you are teaching kids Spanish at home or at
Learn what is under your skin with a fun life-size human body project for kids. Download FREE skeletal system bones and organ printables!
Practical impulse control strategies to assist both you and your child to cope better with this executive skill weakness or improve it.
Crossing the midline activities for kids. What on earth are those? Sometimes in the educational world we start speaking a slightly different language than 'normal' people. Not that teachers aren't normal ... though ... you do need to be a little insane to work with small children all day long, don't you? Anyways. I had
My kids weren't really interested in learning about cells until I said slime. Okay, it was a fairly cheap trick since I knew they loved slime. But I also knew that slime would be the perfect way to learn about cells. I can't say I've ever touched cytoplasm but it sounds very slime-like to me.
DNA Gene Bracelet for Kids, an easy STEAM Activity using beads to create pattern bracelets. DNA is also a pattern.
Looking for a fun way to teach crescendos and decrescendos? The Monkey Game is the most requested game in my elementary music room-- and will be yours too!
Lung science experiment great for middle school students & teachers. Hands on activity + Lesson Plans on Tobacco Prevention for teachers.
These human body for kids activities allow children to learn about the heart, muscles, lungs, 5 senses, bones organs, cells, and so much more!
