Squiggle on the go drawingsHow can a little pad and pencil inject so much fun in a speech therapy session? Kids loved tearing off a square sheet with a little scribble (Squiggle) that they were to add to. We used our pad in a group as each child selected the squiggle that they wanted to complete. We had a lot of laughs as our group tried to guess what was drawn. A pointed line became the beak of a bald eagle, a hook became the handle for an umbrella and a curve became a sock puppet. My favorite was a wheel chair, which we originally guessed to be a baby carriage or a wheel barrow. I thought my finely drawn rocking chair would be obvious but apparently it looked more like a toilet! The kids had to give clues and guess what was drawn which added to the language lesson. Sometimes we excluded some favorite categories like animals so the players had to be more creative. Here is my full review:

 SQUIGGLE On-The-Go by RandomLine, Inc. is at the top of the food chain of simple doodle pads, for travel, or solo and family fun. The entertainment starts with 100 “starter” lines scrawled on as many white square sheets. A little bigger than your Squiggle pictures playonwordsstandard yellow stickies, they are anchored to a sturdy cardboard backing. The pad is attached in a way to allow these starter squiggles to be rotated North, S, E or West. Players spin this sketch surface and expand on random etchings. As they view a curly cue,  a “W” on its side or an oval pinched in the middle, they scan their bank of images that might include that form or detail,  all of which are associated with a word. Mentally checking through categories for subjects–people (familiar, famous, or fairytale), places (scary,scenic, or silly) and things (animal, aquatic, or airborne), or actions like running, swinging, and flying, kids complete their drawing. SQUIGGLE On-The Go can entertain individual kids but we found that including another person added a dimension.  Kids loved to finish the squiggle and share their creation so others could guess. When identification wasn’t obvious, the artist gave clues so we could figure out their squiggle. My favorite was “a girl in a wheel chair,” which required a few clues since we were guessing a stroller and even wheel barrow! It caused the kids to have to include details for identification as a wavy line became a loaf of bread sitting on the rack in the oven. Language is strengthened as kids identify part of the whole subject, complete it with details and share their Squiggle.