He might be creepy-looking, but I sure do love this guy. It’s Ned of “What’s In Ned’s Head?”! Take turns pulling YUCKY stuff out of his ears and mouth. I’m talkin’ spiders, ants, stinky cheese, a brain, a worm, and even a rat! Scroll down to see how I use Ned’s Head in speech therapy!

Articulation with Mini Objects: I have a set of mini objects for each sound I target in articulation therapy (see the boxes here). So if the child is working on the /g/ sound, I’ll put the /g/ objects inside of Ned’s Head! We can practice each target word as they pull objects out or put the words in phrases or sentences.
Requesting: I’ll gather a random assortment of mini objects and line several of them up. I prompt the child to request which object they want to put into Ned’s Head. You could use this with requesting with the “more” sign all the way to “I want the frog.”
Following Directions & Vocabulary Comprehension: Lay out several objects and cue the child to follow your verbal directions (e.g., “Put the spider in.”).
Prepositional Phrases: Give the child an object and tell them where to put it, such as “in his head,” “on top of his head,” “under his tongue” or “next to his ear.” . Or prompt them to tell you where the object is after you place it somewhere.
Describing: Prompt the child to describe the object they pull out of Ned’s Head. Click here to download my super helpful describing anchor chart for only $1!
Inferencing: Secretly place one yucky object inside Ned’s Head. Give the child verbal clues about what the object is (e.g., “It’s a type of bug. It has 8 legs. It builds webs.”). Have them make inferences about what the object could be, then let them reach inside Ned’s Head to grab it.
Categories: Put mini objects from different semantic categories all over the table. Direct the child to group the objects into categories and discuss while you complete the activity. Then direct them as to which group of objects to put into Ned’s Head (e.g., “Put all the foods in the garbage!”).
Negation: Hold out two mini objects. Direct the child which object NOT to get (e.g., “Show me which one is NOT a bell.”). That object then gets to go into Ned’s Head. You could use common objects or basic animals for this task!
Expanding Language: As you play with the child, expand what they’re saying about Ned and the yucky objects. If they say “cheese,” you say, “It’s a slice of stinky Swiss cheese! Ew!” If they say “yucky,” you say, “Yes, that melted lollipop is so old and yucky! Gross”
Exclamations: As you pull objects out of his head, model exclamations like: ew, blech, gross, disgusting, yucky!
Reinforcer: This game is so funny and motivating, making it easy to pair with any other activity or goal!

Snag your own Ned below!

What’s in Ned’s Head? Game on Amazon

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