Why You Need A Bottle Drying Rack for Speech Therapy

I picked up one of these grass-like bottle drying racks at a consignment sale for $3. You can but them here (affiliate link). I had one specific activity in mind that I wanted to use it for. But since then, I have found LOTS of ways to use this unconventional therapy material. And I think you should have one, too! Here are the ways I use it: 

1.) Bug hunt - I put the cards from this sensory bin activity into the grass with some fake bugs. You can also just use the bugs. Have the kids pull them out and say their words. This activity pairs great with "In the Tall, Tall Grass." 

2.) Flower Hunt. This is the same concept as the bugs, but with flowers. I use this resource from The Dabbling Speechie.

3.) Faux Flowers + Vase Craft. I shared this vase craft on my Instagram last Spring. Recently, I added to the fun by having the kids "pick" the flowers out of the "garden" before putting them in the vase. You can also use it with this flower garden toy. 

4.) It makes a great card holder for those little hands when playing games. Depending on the size, you can have one student on each side. 

5.) It also makes a great pasture for farm animals or field for tractors, adding another way to expand play with those little ones! 

6.) Rescue the mini objects! You can pair with these Language Prompts for Mini Objects or these Mini Object Articulation Sentence Strips. Use tongs to make it even more challenging!

7.) Egg Hunt at Easter time. I use these cards from The Speech Attic. This was the original activity that I bought this for! The kids love it! 

8.) Asking for help - I will often hide small items in there that I know that child will need help getting out. Pipe cleaners work great for this, too. Just makes sure to really shove them down in there. 

9.) Speaking of pipe cleaners, add pipe cleaner snakes. This is especially fun when working on /s/ or /s/ blends. I also use this to work on colors and shapes. Have your students find a certain color of snake. Once they have found it, practice twisting the pipe cleaner into a specific shape. 

10.) Another way to expand play is to pair it with safari animals. If you have it, you can add the little tree that goes with it. 

11.) Size sorting with straws -  I use smoothie straws, regular straws, and coffee stirrers to represent small, medium, and large. Then I give the students small, medium, and larger washers. Have your students place washers on the corresponding straw. You can adjust the difficulty level by having one straw per size for easier sorting. Or add lots of straws to require your students to scan among many choices, making it more difficult. You also get the fine motor component of sliding the washer down the straw. 

Bonus: You can actually use it as a drying rack when you're done playing with water toys! 

I hope this post gave you some ideas to use this cheap resource in your therapy room!