I wanted to share some cheap therapy materials I bought at Target in the dollar sections. I just learned at a PECS training that there is a dollar section in the party supplies aisle as well, so I had fun venturing over to there. After some inspiring tips from the PECS training, I bought some materials that will help with the initiation of PECS for our nonverbal students in the upcoming school year. Here’s what I bought (everything was only $1 each, except for the last item):
- Brightly colored tray: I plan on using this as a tray for Phase III + for PECS to display the reinforcers/motivators, but it is also a great tray for holding papers, etc in your classroom.
- LED sensory balls- I’m so excited that they light up for cause/effect but I bought them as reinforcers for PECS. Students can request the balls with various attributes such as: “I want the blue ball” instead of just requesting a ball. Children can request these balls according to their various textures as well (bumpy, spiky, …etc)
- Foam shapes: I’m not sure what I’ll be using these for yet. They are meant for counting, but I figured we can work on identification of colors, shapes, quantity, size, and of course matching (since there are four of each). If you can think of any additional uses, please comment below!
- Silly Putty: Silly Putty is a great reinforcer, but I actually bought them to use for fluency students to portray stretching out their words or as a visual to demonstrate reducing their rate of speech.
- Echo Mic: I bought this with the intention of using it as a motivator for one of my students; however, it’s a great toy to demonstrate cause/effect and to reinforce vocal play, babbling, and (of course) talking.
- Mechanical pencils, push pencils, and erasers: I’ve learned mechanical pencils and push pencils (these ones have The Avengers on them) are always popular in my treasure box for students of all ages in elementary school. I’ve bought similar erasers to these previously and had to buy more because the students liked them. These particular erasers are shaped like ice cream and popsicles. I put them in the treasure box but they would also be fun to just display on the therapy table for the students to describe.
- Bulletin Borders: There were about three different types of borders to choose from. I always snatch up borders if I see them in the dollar section at Target or at the Dollar Tree because they can get expensive at teacher supply stores. I bought the smiley face border because it portrays a variety of brightly colored facial expressions.
- Teacher’s Tote ($3): I bought this because I’m planning to start working privately in addition to working in the schools. I thought this would be a great tote to carry around protocols and client files. It could be a great tote for carrying therapy materials and your iPad from classroom to classroom as well. If you have any additional ideas, feel free to comment below!
Thanks for reading! I plan to post a blog about my “must haves” that I have utilized for therapy in the schools. Coming soon in August!