Language Therapy in a Bottle

by The Artsy SLP

I have used time and time again. Rice in a bottle is for pre-school and elementary students and can be used with most age groups. You can determine which students this activity is appropriate for depending on their ability and cognitive level.

This is an easy and fun activity. The price…well it’s about the cost of a water bottle. 🙂

Purpose
To enforce receptive, expressive, and pragmatic language skills.

Materials
Empty plastic bottle (water, soda, sport drink, etc.)

1 Bag of uncooked Rice

Funnel

Small items that are able to fit into the plastic bottle (try to use items relevant to your age group)
Examples: marbles, broken crayons, coins, string, buttons, broken pencils, yarn, pins, beads, charms, game pieces, foam objects, and much more! You can add anything that is small enough to fit into the empty water bottle.

Instructions
1. Remove the label from your plastic bottle

2. Use the funnel to add rice to the bottom of the bottle; filling it about an inch

3. Add about half (or less) of your small items

3. Use the funnel to add more rice to the bottom; filling it half-way

4. Add the rest of your small items

5. Use the funnel to fill the rice to the top of the bottle

6. Keep a list of all the items you’ve added to the bottle

Make sure the top is screwed on tight. You can put tape around the top for added security. I don’t like the glue the bottle top on the bottle, because sometimes I will add more to it at a later time. If you start with a few items, you can add more to challenge the students.

You can also make more than one bottle with different items in each bottle.

Possible Ideas
Receptive: You can ask the students what they see, and they can ask others in the group

Expressive: Object function.When students spot an object, they have to describe the function. Students can also take turns describing the color, shapes, etc.

Pragmatic: Students have to focus on joint attention and take turns