Okay it is almost Valentine’s Day and I am still finding great free downloads for valentines to use with kids to make speech therapy more fun. They’re great for parents to use too for the “homemade” look for those dozens of valentines that are required for distribution to the class.
I discovered the website, www.bunnycakes.typepad.com, a site for “crafting, sharing and the joys of life.” They offer several designs of valentines that are simple to cut out for kids and fun with an animal theme. My favorite is the zebra (which was real popular with a 5 year-old girl today). Other options are the “Love Big” valentines featuring an elephant, sweetheart candy messages and “Love is all you need” valentines.
Add some scissors, glue and cut outs and you have your valentines, decorations for the take home bag, or mailbox.
Using Valentine’s Day books that have a simple story of making valentines, friendship and distributing them to handmade mailboxes or bags can serve as social stories for children on the autism spectrum or those with language delay or disorder. Books like Little Critter: Happy Valentine’s Day, Little Critter! by Mercer Mayer takes your child through the story of getting ready for Valentine’s Day.
And don’t forget, Happy Valentine’s Day!
