Hand Turkey Speech Therapy

This is an update on a post I did last year with some newer pictures.

I’m a little obsessed with hand turkeys in November.  I make one with everyone.  Some of my older kids need a little coaxing but I talk about how it’s so retro and then they are usually okay with it.

I used to do a cute craft with my preschoolers where we would practice a poem with their articulation sounds and then we would make a hand turkey and add feathers and googly eyes to it.   The first year we were married, I gave one with my handprint to my husband.  He’s kept it on the bulletin board in his office ever since.  He works at home so it’s okay.  Have you ever seen those wax hands you can make at festivals?  One of these days, I’m going to get my brother and I to make one for my mom.  I think it will be a hoot!  Some things are only cute when you are little.  Have you seen the pictures of people recreating the snapshots from their childhood?  Hilarious.  

Anyhow, turkey handprints are a great way to work on any skill where you want to target 5 different things.  Here are a few of the ways that I’ve used them in therapy:

1.  Main Ideas and Details
2.  Describing/Defining words:  Write the word in the thumb area and then descriptors in the finger areas.
3.  Category member naming
4.  Listening Comprehension or sentence construction using the 5 W’s (who, what, where, when, why).
5.  Retelling stories/summarizing by listing: character, setting, initial event, climax and conclusion.

For articulation clients, you could make a glittery turkey.

1.  Think of 5 words that match their target sound.
2.  Roll a dice and have them say the words that number of times  before they write it on the turkey.
3.  Have them practice the words at the phrase level as they are putting glue on the fingers by saying “glue on ______.”
4.  Finally, have them practice saying each word at the sentence level while adding autumn colored glitter to each finger.

What are some other ways you could use hand turkeys in therapy?  I hope you found this post was something you could use in therapy.  If you did, please consider sharing it on Facebook or Twitter by pressing the buttons below.