Favorite Therapy Item Thursdays- A Guest Post about Cariboo!

Hello and welcome to our second Favorite Therapy Item Thursday!!  Speech-Language Pathologists are sharing their favorite therapy items during this featured Thursday post.  Enjoy reading about the therapy items that are helping to make speech therapy treatment rooms more fun and productive all across the world! 

**Would you (or at least your idea) like to be featured in a future Favorite Therapy Item Thursday post? Please email us at: shandagaunt@gmail.com and tell us your favorite therapy item.  Or, please leave a comment or use the contact box on the right column to tell us. 

This weeks Favorite Therapy Item Thursday post comes from Debra Blatt, who told us that she is a SLP who works in a preschool setting.  She also said, "I love what I do. My interests are Autism, augmentative communication, fluency, and apraxia. I am also a mom of 2 sons who graciously let me take their old toys to work !! I live in New York and like to garden and hike on the weekends".  

We are so happy to have her guest post today about her favorite therapy item, Cariboo.

When I first read the topic of my favorite therapy item , it didn't take me long to think of Cariboo. Cariboo by Cranium, was originally designed to help children learn the ABC's, numbers, shapes and colors. Each turn gives kids a chance to match fun drawings, unlock secret doors and discover hidden treasure. Designed especially for young children, 2 to 4 players, and ages 3 to 6 yrs. I quickly replaced the cards on the original game with pictures by themes  such as Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. I have access to Boardmaker so it didn't take too long to generate different pictures that are 2 inches by 2 inches. I then cut the pictures out and laminated them.  I usually need to attach a little tape to secure the picture . If you don't have Boardmaker , finding pictures on line should work as long as they can be sized and look simple. The diversity of Cariboo is why I use it often. My students often choose it because its highly motivating activity and fun.  It can be helpful with those students with limited attention because its a fast game.  I like that I can use it to target vocabulary but also directions, articulation, phonology, and wh type questions .  I'm sure there are other type goals to target using it as well that I haven't thought of yet.  The only down side to Cariboo is the new version,  available  at Walmart is smaller (less cards). If you are fortunate enough to find the original Cariboo at a garage sale, you may buy it for very little money.

Here is a picture of Debra's summer version 

of the game Cariboo! 

And here is an autumn version of Debra's Cariboo 

game that she uses in speech therapy!

Thank you so much for guest posting today Debra.  Your tips on how to use Cariboo in speech therapy are terrific! So many kiddos love that game.  It's so fun to find the balls and then to open up the treasure chest.  The scavenger hunt never gets boring!  It is such a huge motivator for students and we have found that we too can often elicit a great deal of verbal responses targeting vocabulary, concepts, and articulation while using it with the speech therapy students that we have. We think that featuring Cariboo today was a perfect idea! Thank you again for helping us to feature it on a Favorite Therapy Item Thursday post! 
Best wishes,
Manda & Shanda, SLP's
Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy