I had a professor in graduate school who used to say, "Don't get overwhelmed by your activities when doing your therapy!" He warned us to keep it simple. After all, the best therapists, he said, could do therapy with a ball and a piece of string.
But I always loved developing activities. I'll admit, some of my early attempts were really complicated. I had scavenger hunts with maps and props. Once, I had kids dig for fossils. Inside each "fossil" were pictures of words I wanted them to say. I spent hours each week developing fun activities because it kept the kids engaged. Who wants to do an hour of drill work?
When I opened my office in 2008, I filled it with some really fun stuff. Most people, even other therapists, enter my office and go, "Whoa!" Everyone says that surely all this stuff must be so distracting to kids. But here's the thing...it's not! Sure, the first few sessions are spent exploring the room, but after two or three sessions, everything just fades into the background for most kids. Therapy is fun and never boring. There's always something new to do. I still spend a lot of time thinking of new activities, and Betsy brings them to life with her amazing illustrations. Honestly, my ideas would just be thoughts in my head without her.
One of my favorite things to do in therapy is a barrier game. A barrier game consists of two copies of a large picture scene and some small pictures to be placed in the large one once directions are given.
Barrier games are played with a barrier inserted between the two players so that each player's picture can't be seen by the other player. They are great to use for following directions that include prepositions (Put the purple fish next to the seashell), and also to give very specific directions. At the end of the activity, the two pictures should look exactly the same. I bought one from Super Duper Inc. a long time ago and I use it again and again. I wanted a new picture scene though, so I thought it would be fun to develop a barrier game inspired by the aquarium and characters from "Memoirs of a Goldfish" by "Devin Scillian and Tim Bowers, since it's a book I frequently use in therapy. The game we developed has 30 pictures to choose from, so the aquarium looks different every time.
Now, can I do therapy with just a ball and a piece of string? Yeah, I can if I have to. When I did therapy in Kenya there were no resources at all...and I mean nothing. But that's a story for another day.
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