Bug Theme in Speech Therapy

Happy Theme Thursday! Spring is finally here (even if Mother Nature didn't get the memo) and I'm so excited to talk about one of my favorite themes - bugs! Bugs is such a fun theme for spring and summer speech therapy!

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First up, let's talk about some fun and easy bug crafts! Crafts are great for keeping students focused and engaged between turns. If you have large articulation groups, it really is important to keep everyone actively involved while they wait for one-on-one time with you. I love using activities that require cutting, coloring, and glueing!

If you've been visiting my blog lately, then you know I'm currently obsessed with paper plate crafts! I love them, because they're sturdy and they're ready-made circles!

Materials Needed:
- Paper Plates (I like the cheap kind that are flat-ish)
- Word Pieces (you can find them in my articulation crafts or speech therapy crafts bundles)
- Bingo Daubers
- Glue
- Scissors
- Black Construction Paper
- Wiggle Eye Stickers

There are two options. 1) Students can cover the entire paper plate with word pieces. This would take the average student multiple sessions. If you don't have a place to store unfinished crafts in your speech room, then this option may not be realistic for you. If you do have space, then you plan once and you're covered for 2-3 sessions. 2) Students can cover the paper plate with a bingo dauber! Then they can glue 10 word pieces onto their plate. This option takes WAY less time!

This ladybug is so precious! Notice there are no wings, legs, or antenna - ain't nobody got time for that! haha. To create the faces of the bug, I just cut a black semi-circle out of construction paper and glued it near the top of the paper plate. Then I placed two wiggle eye stickers on it! Also, remember you can use a red bingo dauber to get the entire plate covered instead of all the word pieces! Lastly, you glue black circles on top - I used a 1 inch circle punch to make the circles.

This bee is very similar to the ladybug, but instead of dots it has black stripes and a black triangle is glued on the bottom!

There are also four no prep bug crafts in the March Speech Therapy Crafts packet (or bundle). I'll try to add in pictures of those in the next week or so!

Let's check out some bug themed resources! First, I found this adorable wooden bug box in the Target Dollar Spot! This would make such a fun reinforcer! After a student practices a word or skill, they can "feed" the bug box! I found a very similar one by Melissa and Doug on Amazon. I also found my wooden bugs at Target around Valentine's Day. Melissa and Doug make some super cute plastic ones that you can find HERE.

May: A Dab of Speech and Language features a bug themed! This can also be found in the bundle.

This packet addresses articulation, language, and stuttering/fluency! It's perfect for mixed groups. You can use it with bingo daubers! These sheets are also a fun companion for a toy bug box!

I also have a Bee Articulation packet (also found in Articulation Bundle #2)!

You can also slip these pages in a dry erase sleeve and add yellow play dough and tell your students that it's a Honey Smash game! They'll love it! Also.... you can use these sheets for word pieces if you make the bee craft! Students just cut out the honeycombs!

This year I've been hard at work on my Thematic Interactive Articulation Notebooks Growing Bundle! My latest packet is a bug theme! It's my favorite so far! Let's peek inside!

There's a bug box pocket! There are butterfly shaped puzzle pieces and then students store them inside their bug box! You can revisit this page over and over again. Students can just take out their puzzles and practice their words.

This buggy sort is my favorite! Students sort their words into initial and final positions! They lift the wing flaps and glue their words under them!

Bug Jar flap-ups! Students glue their words around the bug jar and then they lift up the bug jar and write sentences underneath it! If your students are not writing, they can also glue their bugs under the jar flap.

Buggy Phrases Flaps! Students lift up the bug bodies and write a phrase/sentence underneath!

Lastly, let's talk about some great books!

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
This book follows a grouchy little ladybug through its day. The ladybug tries to pick fights with a variety of animals and by the end of the day it's exhausted! Ultimately, the ladybug ends up happy and content. There are so many uses for this book:

1) Time Concepts
2) Social Skills
3) Compare/Contrast - The ladybug encounters lots of different animals throughout the day. Compare the ladybug to each animal or compare the animals to each other.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Eric Carle has tons of lovely books about bugs! This one is my favorite! This book shows the lifecycle of a butterfly. The little caterpillar hatches and eats his way through the week! Use this book to target:

1) Quantitative Concepts - He eats one apple, two pears, etc
2) Sequencing - Talk about the lifecycle of a butterfly!
3) Describing

A Pet for Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
I LOVE the Fly Guy series! He's always been a hit in my speech room over the years! In this book, Fly Guy wants a pet of his own. They go to the pet shop and check out a puppy, frog, and cat. Then they go to the park and check out worms, spiders, and crickets. Of course, none of them work out! Ultimately, Fly Guy decides he wants Buzz (his owner) to be his pet. It's so sweet! You can work on:

1) Adjectives - Each pet doesn't work out because it's too *something.* It's either too jumpy, too slimy, too tangly, etc.
2) Why Questions - Ask students why various animals didn't work out.
3) Animal Vocabulary

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! by Bob Barner
I love this book! It's colorful and so much fun! At the end there's a page that shows the actual sizes of bugs and there's also a colorful chart (Bug-O-Meter) at the end that breaks down where bugs live, how many legs, can it fly, etc. You can work on:

1) Rhyming - The story portion is written in rhyme!
2) Compare/Contrast - Use the bug-o-meter in the back of the book to compare/contrast different bugs!
3) Where Questions - Talk about where each type of bug lives.

Bugs A to Zzzzzz by Caroline Lawton
This is a wonderful non-fiction book to add to your bug collection. It features real pictures and shares two different bugs for each letter of the alphabet. For instance, the "B" page has a bee and a butterfly and the "Z" page has a zebra spider and a zebra swallowtail butterfly!

1) Compare/Contrast - This book is set up perfect for comparing and contrasting! Each page features two different bugs!
2) WH Questions - Each bug has a little blurb that provides information. Read the blurb aloud and then ask questions about it!
3) Describing

The Magic School Bus: Inside a Bee Hive by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen
I love Mrs. Frizzle! This book series combines non-fiction and fiction in such a fun way! The end breaks down all of the things that can't happen in real life! The pages are full of diagrams and tons of different text features! Generally, these books are very text-heavy though. Use this book to address:

1) Text Features - Non-fiction books require a different set of skills. Teach students who to recognize a variety of text features such as headings, diagrams, charts, labels, etc.
2) Dialogue
3) Compare/Contrast - drones vs. worker bees, queen bee vs. worker bee, etc

Do you ever do a bug theme in your speech room? What materials and books do you use?

Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

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