Me-In-A-Bag

At the beginning of the school year, I take the first week to focus on building relationships.  The students need to get to know me and the other students, and I need to get to know them.  Even if I have worked with a student before, I take the time to rebuild the relationship.  I strongly believe this is key to a successful year!
I wanted a way for my students to shared items of interest, but I needed to make it visual.  So I came up with the idea of "Me-In-A-Bag".  Come to find out many others have also had this idea (hey...great minds think alike).  I found a sweet little poem from HomeSpeechHome to attach to baggies that I sent home with each student that explained the activity.  I gave verbal instructions that they could put real items in the bag, take pictures of items, or write the words of the items.  I also assured the students that they would get these items back...I wasn't going to keep their special items (this was a common question!)
The students all arrived with their items and shared with their groups.  It was such a great opportunity to get to know each other, but also a wonderful time for me to get to observe their speech and language skills in more of a conversational manner.
Let me know if you try this with your students or your children!

Want to know what I put in my bag?  Check out below...

A picture of my family: Pretty self explanatory.  I think they are everything!
A K-Cup of Peet's Coffee: I love coffee...oh yes I do!
A school bus picture:  This is one of the first items I helped to make when I started working as a SLP.  The bus goes with a book that I used daily when I started working with the preschool population.  It represents my love for being a SLP.
Goldfish crackers:  I love to snack, and Goldfish crackers are the ultimate snack item.
A picture of a jumprope:  I was on a jumprope team!  Turns out, jumping rope is similar to riding a bike.  I might not be as fast or able to do all the tricks, BUT I can still jump!
What would you put in your bag?

Preschool Firefighter Theme

This post will be updated periodically as I explore new activities, books, toys, etc. 
Blame it all on my roots...personal roots, being the child of my mother and professionally roots, starting as a preschool SLP... I sure do love a good theme!  When we were invited to visit a local fire station, I knew I needed to put my theme-loving self to work.  With my own children and with work, when I consider putting a theme together, I want what we are working on to be functional and meaningful...not just doing it because it is cute and themey :).  I consider: books, "work"/craft activities, toys, and snack.
I just had a few days to work on this theme prior to our fun fire station visit AND my favorite firetruck/firefighter books are happily spending the summer at my work office, so I improvised a bit.  I did a little online browsing and found some new favorites to add to the party.

Books

This is one of my favorites!  I love it for sequencing and story retelling. https://www.amazon.com/Five-Little-Firefighters-Tom-Graham/dp/0805086978

This is a very simple board book, but it is a favorite in my house.  Again, great for story retelling.  It is also great for starting the conversation about emergencies and what might happen in emergencies.https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Vehicles-Felix-Fire-Engine/dp/1742489435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532471783&sr=1-1&keywords=felix+the+fire+engine

Not completely firefighter-themed, but I also like to take the opportunity to discuss occupations...what people do all day.  Some of the material is a little outdated, in my opinion, BUT it is still great for introducing the topic and there are a lot of occupations covered in this book. https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Scarrys-What-People-World/dp/0553520598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532472826&sr=1-1&keywords=what+do+people+do+all+day+by+richard+scarry

"Work"/Craft Activities

I did this craft at my very first SLP job, and I have had it with me ever since.  When I made it, I am sure I didn't think I'd still have it 7 (almost 8) years later and I know I wasn't thinking my future children would be playing with it.  Also, speaking of future children, my oldest constantly says, "Mommy, this is just too funny.  It is hilarious!"  I'll take that as a compliment.  Here is a link to the clipart I used http://gclipart.com/fireman-clipart_22668/

Print it out, print out a picture of your child/client's head and paste it on.  Color.  Then, cut out and laminate (if you can)...for, apparently, years of entertainment!
Tara at Homeschool Preschool has amazing resources.  This website has great information, book lists, and some free printables. https://homeschoolpreschool.net

I'm starting to work on some alphabet art with my little guy as he is interested in his letters.  I looked around on pinterest and got the idea for this alphabet art, but there was no one linked to give credit to.  Soooo if this is your idea, let me know so I can share!  Great idea :)

We also happen to have a park nearby that we call the Firetruck park.  We made a stop there before our fire station visit.  We played and pretended to be firefighters driving to a call.

Toys

Firetrucks!  That's enough...especially for the preschool age.  Their brains and imaginations are so active.  Give them the opportunity to explore without any direction.  A great observation for me has been to watch my older one enter his imagination and play out scenarios with firetrucks and ambulances, and then watch my little one try to understand and join in.  Fascinating!
Put on a firefighter helmet and pretend to be a firefighter.  You could simply pretend or you could actually go outside and water some plants.  We "put out a fire" in our trashcans...they really needed a wash :)
Since visiting the fire station, my oldest's most priced possession from the visit...not the cool plastic helmet...NOPE.  Any guesses?  The blue/purple, surgical gloves that they carry in the fire truck.  He has carries the gloves with him everywhere and has pretended to be a firefighter, doctor, veterinarian, and dentist.  So, in the future, I will bring out the gloves as part of our firefighter theme :)  (All about following their lead)

Snack

Now, I did not incorporate any fire-themed snacks this time around, BUT I will be doing this (just ran out of time :) ).  I saw some great ideas on pinterest that I'll share here.  With all snack crafts, use it as an opportunity to help your little one follow step by step directions.  Yes, it may take longer and not look as pretty, BUT there will be so much more meaningful learning!

How awesome are these?!?  Here is a link to the directions for these yummy and adorable snacks. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/fire-truck-cookies/