Snazzy Scratchcards 

Speech and language therapists where we are from (UK), have a reputation for being very kind people who spend a lot of time laminating fancy resources and I totally fell into this trap when I was getting back to work. 

Reinforcement is a tricky business, as a general rule feedback needs to be:

  • Timely
  • Specific
  • Reinforcing for the client (e.g. if you have a client who hates attention brought to them, making others in the class clap for them is guaranteed to ensure that they don’t try hard again next time.)

Every client is different in terms of what they find reinforcing, from verbal praise being enough to needing things that are more tangible. Many kids have a system in which they earn ‘tokens’  or ‘points’ and then exchange these for what is known as a ‘backup reinforcer’. An example of this is a merit system in UK schools or even your local coffee shop reward card scheme (Nando’s Loyalty Card anyone?). 

So when you are thinking about using a reinforcement system across your clients this year, remember that this may need to be tweaked or changed for different clients according to their needs. See Sam & AFIRM (2015) & Roth & Worthington (2018) for more detail on reinforcement and how to use it.

That said, I was in a crafty mood and had a spare couple of hours before returning to work so I thought I would indulge myself in some old fashion fancy-resource-making. I had seen DIY-Scratch cards on youtube and this gave me an idea of how I could do some fancy crafting and make something useful for work. Henceforth APOS scratch cards were born. 

This is what they look like. 



They are really simple to make.

You will need:

  • Printed or drawn scratch cards (preferably on card so they aren't see through)
  • Grey or silver acrylic paint
  • Washing up (dish) soap
  • Paint brush
  • Laminator and laminating sheets

 

Step 1. Design your scratchcards. We have a template to the one we used here.

Step 2. Cut, laminate and then cut your scratchcards out again (for longevity). 

Step 3. Mix 1 part washing up liquid with 2 parts acrylic paint (we used a teaspoon for measurements). 

Step 4. Using a paintbrush, lightly coat the part of the scratchcard that needs to be covered. Allow to dry, paint another coat. (I only needed 2 coats but you may need more depending on the opacticity of the paint). 


Taaa daaaa



I am planning on using these for those grand occasions that a (COVID friendly) high five won’t do. You could also have students work towards earning them in a session or exchange points in order to earn them! The sky's the limit! This laminated resource is also eco-friendly and reusable as it is easily disinfected after use. 

While creating my first batch I realised that if you are a fan of making resources like this, or if you work with students that will really enjoy the novelty of this you could incorporate this further into your work. 

Examples:

  • Any game or activity where the student needs to check they have the right answer or ‘reveal’ something. For me, the first thing I thought of was idioms and so I made myself some draft idiom scratch cards you can download here. 
  • Encouraging words or messages to your students or colleagues. I also made a quick draft of these you can find here. 
  • Now if your students REALLY enjoy these, they can make their own for gifts and they can sequence and write our instructions or follow written instructions to make them- an excellent opportunity for language skills here!

What do you think? Will you be giving this a go? 





References

Sam, A., & AFIRM Team. (2015). Reinforcement. Chapel Hill, NC: National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, FPG Child Development Center, University of North Carolina. Retrieved from http://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/reinforcement

Roth, F. P. & Worthington, C. K. (2018).Treatment Resource Manual for Speech-Language Pathology 5th ed. United States of America: Cengage Learning