Splat Balls and Light Up Balls
If you have any kids with phonological disorders who are doing the Cycles approach, you know that sometimes saying the same 5 words over and over can become less than exciting. I have some really young students that lose interest rather quickly, so I try to come up with different ways to entice them to say the words. Here’s a look at one of my (and their) favorites:
Have you heard about “splat” balls? They look like this:
*I try to have several on hand because they can get a little gross after hitting the floor so many times. This is also why I don’t do this every session, because I would quickly go broke!*
I stick pictures (I have laminated them) on the wall using some tacky stuff. I put them in different places (some high, some low) on the wall. Then I hand over the splat ball and let the kids throw them towards the cards. If they hit a card and the card falls, they have to say the word 5-7 times (depending on their ages). It’s a simple way to keep the kids entertained and they really seem to like it. If you have groups where students are working on different sounds, you could put a different colored X on different sounds and tell students to aim at their color.
Another activity that they seem to enjoy involves these light up balls:
Another activity that they seem to enjoy involves these light up balls:
They light up when they are bounced on the floor. I will have the students say a certain number of words prior to turning off the lights and letting them bounce the balls. It’s an easy way to get them to say a bunch of words in a short amount of time!
How do YOU keep your students motivated when using the Cycles approach?
Have you tried rinsing the “splat balls” off after they get gross? It works well with those sticky hand things! Looks like fun!!
Monica – I didn’t even think about it!!! I’ll have to try that next time. It’ll save me a few bucks! Thanks for visiting!
Where do you get those??? I think those would work really well!!!
I got them at Michaels craft store!