Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Did Charlotte Say?

 
Charlotte had her last speech therapy session (at least in San Diego) this past Thursday.  Our sessions began at the beginning of August.  Two times a week.  Thirty minutes each session.  But even for that short period of time, we could see such an amazing impact on Charlotte's ability to communicate both through sign language and actual words.

One of Charlotte's favorite learning tools at therapy was an altered Eric Carle book.  It's such an easy and simple idea that can be applied to almost any board book.  I wanted to share how we made Charlotte's book (in case anyone was interested).

I started with a copy of a Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle.

Next, I color copied the last page of the book which conveniently includes perfectly sized smaller images of ALL the animals mentioned in the story. 

I laminated this page using a super cheap laminating machine from Costco for about $20.  While the lamintor isn't strong enough to laminate cardstock, it laminates computer paper pretty easily.

I then cut out the individual animal shapes from the laminated sheet.

Using sticky back velcro dots, I adhered the laminated images to the applicable board book page. 

Viola!  You now have a custom made activity book that has endless uses.  When we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, we ask Charlotte to "take off" and "put on" the little laminated animals.  We have Charlotte match the laminated animals to the book pictures.  We use the little animals as flash cards for words and animal sounds.  It has quickly become one of Charlotte's favorite toys.

And since I think these photos are pretty cute, here are some shots from Charlotte's last speech therapy session with Ms. Ashely.

I am beyond grateful for the therapists that worked with Charlotte every week and who taught us so many techniques to help Charlotte in her language development.  I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before she won't stop talking (just like her mommy).