HERES ONE I MADE EARLIER / READER OFFERS

Heres one I made earlier...

Alison Roberts with a low cost, flexible and fun therapy suggestion for groups. Older or younger?
This game is based on the old favourite card game of Sevens. This version promotes judgement of peoples ages. Ideally you will have 4 players, although you can play with 3, 5 or 6. MATERIALS 28 blank cards the Taskmaster ones are good (but quite small), or you can use blank business cards, or index cards or postcards Glue Stick-on stars Cut out magazine pictures, of people of varying ages and types. You need to have 4 sets of 7 cards that range in age. You need 4 babies, 4 toddlers, 4 children, 4 teenagers, 4 young adults, 4 middle aged people, and 4 elderly folk. They need to be able to fit on the cards. Good sources are Mothercare catalogues, teen magazines, newspaper colour supplements, and Saga magazines. Lined paper and pen. BRAWN Stick the pictures on the cards. Arrange the sets into 4 vertical columns, with a baby at the top of each, then a toddler, then a child, and so on until you have the 4 elderly folk at the bottom of the columns. Now number the cards, writing in the top right hand corner of each card as follows: - Babies are 1, Toddlers are 2 Children are 3, Teenagers are 4, young adults are 5, Middle aged people are 6, and Seniors are 7. Stick stars by the teenagers. IN PRACTICE (I) . Deal out 5 cards each (more players = fewer cards). Place the stack of spare cards face down on the table. If you are not familiar with Sevens it may look complicated, but actually is really easy. These are the rules: The player to the left of the dealer picks up a card from the stack, adding it to his hand. He then puts down, face up, a teenager (the starred card), if he has one. If he has not got a teenager he discards one card (to the bottom of the stack), and play passes to his left. This continues until a player has a teenager card, which is placed face up, with the play then passing to the left. This next player takes a card from the stack, and then either puts down another teenager face up next to the first teenager, or puts a slightly older or younger person above or below the teenager card, i.e. the numbers will be consecutive. He then discards a card. Play then passes to his left. This player can add another teenager card next to the existing teenager cards, or add a card above or below any of the cards currently displayed, providing of course the card placed down is in the right chronological sequence. You should end up with 4 lines of people cards ranging in age, with 3 people cards above the teenager leading back to babyhood, and 3 below leading to old age. The one who is first to use all his cards is the winner. IN PRACTICE (II) Use the same cards, and simply place the cards in age order.

Win Communication in the Classroom!

Are you looking for a practical resource to support your work in secondary schools and Key Stage 2? STASS Publications is giving away a FREE copy of its new package Communication in the Classroom Workshops for Secondary Schools to a lucky reader of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice. The photocopiable resource with CD ROM includes six workshops for secondary teachers and support staff, and three workshops for secondary students. Topics include vocabulary, comprehension, social skills and stammering. The sessions are based around practical activities where the participants experience for themselves what it is like to have communication difficulties. While the staff learn a range of classroom support strategies, students are encouraged to be more understanding of their classmates who struggle with communication. Communication in the Classroom would normally cost you 60 + VAT. For your chance to win a FREE copy, email your name and address to stass@stass.co.uk with STASS speechmag offer in the subject line by 25th July 2010. The winner will be notified by 1st August. Communication in the Classroom authors Susan Stewart and Amanda Hampshire also wrote Understanding Me, available from STASS Publications. For more details of these and other resources, visit www.stasspublications.co.uk.

Reader offers

Win a Talking Dice starter pack!

Whether you work with children or adults, Talking Dice offer an alternative way of approaching language tasks. The picture dice come in 25 topics including food, hobbies, daily routine, housework, accommodation, transport, weather and sports, so could be used for work on vocabulary, word finding and use of language. A starter pack contains 25 dice, one from each topic area. It usually costs 25.52 + VAT. For your chance to win a FREE Talking Dice Starter Pack, email your name and address with Talking Dice Competition Entry in the subject line to contact@linguascope.com by 25th July 2010. The winner will be notified by 1st August. For more information about Talking Dice, including free games ideas, visit www.talkingdice.co.uk/.

Reader offer winners

Congratulations to Kirsty McLaughlan, Dorothy Grant and Amy Ford, the winners of Mac Keiths Feeding and Nutrition in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disability and to Lisa McNally, Catherine Byrne and Heather Price who won Elklans EYBIC (Early Years Based Information Carrying) Word Pack, both competitions in our Spring 10 issue!
SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY IN PRACTICE SUMMER 2010