Using Crazy Pictures in Speech

We've all seen the posts pop up on our facebook feeds. The ones that say something like, "25 Craziest Pictures" or "10 pictures that will make you wonder 'how did that happen?' I love looking at those crazy pictures, so I thought my kids might too. I also love free therapy activities. Since I can simply screenshot the pictures and either print them out or have the students look at them on the ipad, this can be a no or low cost activity. So, how can you incorporate these crazy pictures into therapy?

1.) Asking Questions - Obviously, these pictures make you question what the heck is going on. So it makes them great prompts for asking questions like, "How did the baby get duck taped to the wall?" or "Why is that cat painted like an American flag?" Students respond well to this type of activity because the pictures are hilarious.

2.) Past tense verbs - I have the students make up a story the leads up the picture. They make a story about why there is a horse in the McDonald's drive thru. They activity elicits several past tense verbs - irregular and regular.

3.) Articulation - Once again, you can have a student make up a story about the picture, but focus on their speech sounds as they are telling the story.

4.) Story telling/retelling - You can tell the child a story about the picture and have them tell it back. You can also have them make up their own story.

5.) Pragmatics - You can discuss why some of the people in these pictures are being socially inappropriate. What could they have done differently? What is the social norm?

6.) Problem Solving - Have the student explain a way the could help the person in the picture or a way the person could get themselves out of the sticky situation. What can you do to help the baby with spaghetti on her head?

7.) Sentence structure - The child can make up sentences or stories about the picture, allowing you to target grammar goals - noun/verb agreement, pronouns, verb tenses, prepositional phrases, etc.

I'm sure there are many other ways you could incorporate these pictures into therapy, but now you might be wondering where you can find them. Below are some links to these kinds of articles. Of course, you'll have to sift through the pictures to find ones that are appropriate for your students.

Engineering Fails

BuzzFeed

20 Images that Make No Sense

25 Stock Photos That Make No Sense

Do you ever use crazy photos in therapy?