When my 3 boys were younger, money was tight so I often shopped at thrift stores in Colorado. As a new speech language pathologist (SLP), I was also building my collection of therapy materials to use with my clients so I always made a point to check the toys and games section of the store for new treasures. Therapy materials can be very expensive and I’m always amazed at what I find at thrift stores! After 25 years working as an SLP (About me), I have hoarded gathered quite a collection of therapy treasures. This post summarizes my favorite fun finds that I have found at thrift stores to use with my speech therapy students. Keep your eyes open for these toys and games that are no longer available in stores and grab them if you ever see them! You can still find some of these items on ebay and I have included links for your convenience.
Cookie Monster Play doh Playset
Children love playdough and there are so many language opportunities that begin at the moment you begin making the playdough (or opening the container). This cookie monster lunch play doh set is perfect for speech therapy sessions because he swallows playdough (or whatever you want to feed him)! I love making playdough foods with my students and then feeding the cookie monster.
During the month of December, we make playdough gingerbread men (Gingerbread Cookies Activity). In February, we make playdough chocolates and cookies for him to eat (Valentine’s Splat Mat). During our summer sessions, we have a playdough picnic and Cookie Monster joins us! Sometimes we pretend that it is his birthday and he eats playdough cake! My youngest clients have no clue that the playdough comes out the back side and they are mesmerized! On the other hand, my school aged students figure it out right away and the boys joke that he is “pooping” the playdough out. I have also found that you can feed Cookie Monster small objects and cards. It is very motivating for the students to watch the items “disappear!”.
If you are looking for virtual feeding activities (Feed the Dinosaur, Feed the Yeti, etc), check out my Feed the Animals games in my TPT store! Many of these virtual games feature fun sound effects and gif animation that students love.
Tupperware Busy Blocks
These little blocks are perfect for hiding small objects/cards and I consider them “therapy treasures”. These Tupperware busy blocks originally came with little green objects but those are long gone. I hide my own objects inside and the kids love discovering the hidden surprise in each one. You can target specific vocabulary or articulation words depending on which objects you place inside. My AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) students practice core words with these blocks (i.e., open, in, out, on, off, help, more). You can also practice requesting the color and commenting what you see inside (I see ______, I found ______). I have also found that they are perfect for practicing prepositions and spatial concepts (in, on, under, behind, next to, in front, between, etc).
A similar product that you can easily find is the Learning Resources Counting Surprise Party. This activity includes 10 present boxes with lids and miniature toys that fit inside.
Picture Pursuit
If you look at my TPT store, you will see that I love guessing games! One of my favorite games is called Picture Pursuit. This game is actually easy to find and pretty affordable on ebay. This game includes large cards (Who?, What?, Where?) that fit into a plastic holder with 12 little doors. Like many SLPs, I don’t follow the normal rules of the game. We use it more like 20 Questions and it is perfect for my mixed groups. I like to target asking questions, answering questions, making inferences, vocabulary, deductive reasoning, and speech carryover skills. One student will choose a card and hide it behind the doors. The other students will take turns asking yes/no questions (e.g., “Is it a food? Is it an animal, etc). If the answer to their question is “yes”, I let the student choose one door to open. You could either have that student peek at the picture on their own or keep the door open for the whole group to see. Whoever guesses the word correctly on their turn gets to hide the next picture for the group. This game also includes Star Wars Characters and these are very popular with my students so I always include these! You could even print your own photos from online to target specific articulation sounds or vocabulary words.
If you want to try a similar virtual version of this game, check out the Guess the Picture games in my TPT store!
Secret Square
Another guessing game that many SLPs love is Secret Square. In this game, you lay tiles on the table and hide a plastic chip under one of the tiles. Students take turns asking questions to try to find the hidden chip. You can vary the difficulty of the game by only putting 5 or 10 tiles on the table in the beginning and working up to 20 or 30 tiles. You could also organize the tiles by categories to help students see how this narrows down their choices. For example, you could put all of the animals in a row, foods in a row, etc. If you’re lucky, you might find Disney’s Secret Square. This game has Disney characters and items from Disney movies!
If you want to try to similar virtual version of this game, check out the “Find the Secret Word” games in my TPT store!
Cranium Cariboo
So many SLPs know about Cranium Cariboo but I had to mention it because it has always been a HUGE favorite with my students! I hit the jackpot when I found this game for $3.99 at Savers a few years ago. Basically, you search for hidden balls behind doors as you play the game. Students work together to find the balls in order to open a toy treasure chest. I love that this is a cooperative game and I always make a point to tell the students that they are “working together” to find the balls. Sometimes, I like to hide a little note or mini objects (mini erasers, mini sticky hands, etc) inside the treasure chest for a fun surprise! The fun part is that you can change the pictures on the doors depending on your students’ goals.
Cariboo Island is a similar game that you might find. In this game, students search for coins in order to open the treasure chest. Both of these games are considered “therapy treasures” to me!
Other Materials to Look For
Here are a few other materials to look for while you are thrifting!:
- Puppets with big mouths that you can adapt for therapy. (See my blog post on Adapting Puppets for Speech Therapy for inspiration)
- Small objects to add to articulation sets or sensory bins.
- Little characters to add to playsets or to use as game pieces.
- Books, Books and more Books!
- Manipulatives
- Wooden Puzzles
Word games (Outburst Jr, 20 Questions for Kids, Taboo Jr, A to Z Jr, Tribond Kids, Password Jr)
What are your favorite treasures?
I know that there are so many fun treasures to be found. What fun finds have you discovered while thrifting? I would love to hear from you too! Comment below:)
