To Craft or Not To Craft? - That Is The Question!

If you have read my blog, it is obvious I am a fan of games-  especially ones that can be adapted for any goal, age, and topic.  However, I like to mix things up and use books, worksheets, and crafts when possible.

Here are the pumpkins I made with one group-  all artic only first graders a few weeks ago that is super cute for Halloween or Thanksgiving:

I had seen versions of it on Pinterest and thought what a cute craftivity.  Just cut 2 inch strips of orange construction paper (8 for each student) and hole punch at the bottom of the strips and the top so after they glue on pictures with their sounds (which I printed from the Articulation Notebooks Value Bundle from Speech Therapy Games) a brad can be put in the top hole and one in the bottom.  Fan out the strips once the brads are in, and you get a bouncy pumpkin.

So, here is where my confession comes in.  It was cute, and now they have a great homework practice tool.  But I was SLAP WORN OUT after doing this with just one group.  This craftivity takes prep time and planning that I don't usually have a lot of time for...and it was a lot to manage because by the time it is explained, assembled, and the actual speech practice thrown in, the 30 minute session was over and we were still assembling as we walked down the hall back to class.

My goal with activities like this is that I can get some table time to work with students individually while the others are busy on the craft.  Instead, I was having to try to help one find his pictures that kept sliding under the table and answer the other one for what he needed to do next while also trying to do individual drill with another.    Maybe it would be better with older students, but they really don't like doing crafts.  My hook for this with my younger boys in the group I completed this with was the idea they could toss these bouncy pumpkins to one another and say the word their thumb landed on five times in a row.  Anytime they can throw something they are happy.

My hat is tipped to those wonderful therapists and bloggers who can do creative crafts with their caseloads.  I will still try them out every so often, but they just are not my specialty.  How often do you use crafts in your speech room?