Don’t Break the Ice ~ Articulation

Remember the game Don’t Break the Ice from when you were little?  Well, it’s still around.  I’ll bet many of you even have one in your therapy closet.  I was at Walmart the other day and found one on sale for $4.88, so naturally I snagged it!  It just needed a little something extra to make it work for me.

Sooo I created this packet to accompany Don’t Break the Ice.  This way you can play it articulation style!  Here’s a little how-to for one of your very own.

The first thing to do is print out all of the squares onto card stock.  I’d laminate them too for durability (especially since they are going to be banged on!).  Then, cut them out.  I made them smaller than the actual ice cubes so they should fit fine.  Adjust by cutting them down if you need to.

Next, stick velcro to the tops of the ice cubes.  I used velcro stickers.  You can get these at Walmart or any craft store.

Stick the other side of the velcro to the backs of the squares.

Assemble the game as directed.  I put the cubes in before I attach the velcro together.  See below.

After you squeeze them all in there, attach whatever sound squares you need to target. Each sound is a different color, so you can mix and match what you need.

I used all /r/ sounds for this one.

There are several ways you can play this game.  Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Play the game as directed.  For each fallen ice cube, the student must say the word (you can have them say it 5 times, in a sentence, using their fluency strategy, etc.).

2.  The student has to say the word each time they tap the ice cube.

3.  Students can say “I went sledding and brought a…” and list the items on the ice cubes as they collect them.

4.  Let them make up silly stories or sentences with the words they collect.

This packet comes with ice cube toppers for the following sounds: /r, s, z, l, k, g, f, v, sh, ch, th, dz, r-blends, s-blends, l-blends/.

You can grab it at my TPT store here!  What do you think?  Do any of you have Don’t Break the Ice??