It's time for some retail (I mean, speech) therapy!
No matter what holiday you celebrate, this time of year is jam packed with spending, shopping, and deals n' steals. Coupons, ads, and catalogs come rollin' in and there is no escape from the potential spending spree which will leave us spent and reeling. So, let's splash the cash and enjoy ourselves!
Here is an activity that can be used during speech-language therapy to focus on a variety of speech and/or language intervention targets, such as vocabulary (
budget,
retail,
gift,
cheap,
expensive,
purchase), perspective taking, etc. We created a shopping list worksheet to use with a variety of catalogs and ads (e.g., Target; Bed, Bath, & Beyond; Ulta; Toys"R"Us; etc.). We gave our students a budget and asked them to list five people they would like to buy gifts for. The students perused catalogs and ads to find the perfect gifts. This required discussion about taking perspective and using the information we know about each of the individuals on our lists to determine what gifts they would enjoy. Some of the points we discussed are included in the slideshow below.
You can be as creative as you'd like with the shopping list worksheet. There are three boxes at the bottom of the sheet which can be used a variety of different ways. You can have the students:
- cut & paste pictures from catalogs/ads of their three favorite "finds"
- cut & paste pictures of their three best deals or lowest priced items
- draw pictures of three places they will shop
- draw pictures of three gifts they would like to receive
- write three sentences about gifts they will purchase
The slideshow below can be used as a warm-up activity to get the students thinking about gifts that can be purchased for others based on factors, such as age, gender, interests, etc. We chose a few celebrities to purchase gifts for and brainstormed as a group what types of gifts would be appropriate/inappropriate based upon what we know about each individual. We concluded our dialogue by discussing gift giving/receiving etiquette (e.g., What should you say if someone gives you a gift you do not like?).
So, peruse, shop, & enjoy!
Click
here to download the shopping list template.
Click
here to download our
Gift Buying Guide slideshow.
