My theme these past few weeks has been all about vehicles.  I’ve been using vehicle themed adapted books, sorts, games, and other fun activities to work on various language skills with my students.  To add to my vehicle fun I created a set of Vehicle Themed File Folder Activities.  I usually grab 1-2 file folders to use during my sessions.  Sometimes I have a few minutes left at the end of a therapy session so pulling out file folder activity is just what I need to fill that extra time.  You can also have your students use them during independent work time.  This set contains 12 file folder activities which vary in skill level.  I’ll give you a brief overview of the different activities. 

Matching the Vehicles Level 1 – The first 2 file folders focus on matching like vehicles.  These sets help students work on attending to a task and their visual discrimination skills.  You can model the different vehicle vocabulary terms for your student or maybe they can help name some of the vehicles as they match them.  If you want to target receptive language skills place some vehicles in front of your student and tell your student which vehicle to select.  For example, “find the school bus”.  After the student selects the bus they can match it to the school bus on the page.     

Match the Vehicles Level 2- For the next 2 file folders, the student is still working on matching the vehicles but the task is more challenging.  Now the vehicles are smaller and there are more vehicles to match.  You can also do this set as a receptive language task and tell the student what vehicle to select.  For example, “find the tractor”.  After the student selects the tractor they need to find where to place the visual on the board.  If you are working on those expressive language skills have your student verbally or with their AAC device request the vehicle before you hand them the visual.        

Match by Color Level 1 – For this file folder activity, the student has to match the correct color circle to either the car or the truck.  The cars and trucks are all the same so the only difference is the color which may make it easier to match the colors.  You can tell your student what color to select or they can request the color they want to match.

Match by Color Level 2 – For the other color match activity, the student has to match the correct color to a variety of different vehicles.  You can cover up one side of the board and just have the student do one side at a time if looking at both sides is too distracting and/or difficult for the student.  I like to model all the different vehicle vocabulary terms as we are matching the colors.  This is great practice to work on expanding utterances.  For example, “yellow digger” or “the digger truck is yellow”.    

Sort the Vehicles Level 1 – The next 2 file folder activities are sorting vehicles.  The student has to sort the vehicles by air or land vehicles and water or construction vehicles.  These are fun sorts to help students start to understand the difference between vehicles.  I usually have to model the first couple vehicles we add to the board.  “The helicopter flies in the sky” and I point outside to the sky.  Once I have a vehicle on each side of the board, the student can usually start to figure out where to place the rest of the vehicles to complete the sort.  I continue to model all those vehicle names and where you find them.  “The airplane is in the sky”.             

Sort the Vehicles Level 2 – For this sort the student has to determine if the vehicle is a land, air, or water vehicle and then place the correct symbol next to the vehicle.  This is more challenging because there are so many more vehicles and they are sorting by all 3 (air, water, or land) locations and not just 2.  With some of my student I like to work on answering “where” question while completing this activity.  For example “where does the police car drive?” or “where do you see a boat?”   

What Do I Drive? – I’m loving this file folder activity.  The student has to find the vehicle to pair with what each person drives.  Some of the pairs are more familiar such as the fire fighter drives the fire truck.  Others are not as common such as the mechanic pairs with the tow truck or the solider pairs with the army jeep.  If looking at all the vehicles at one time is too much you can reduce the visual field and give the student a choice of 2-3 vehicles for each person.  For example, “does the farmer drive the van, tractor or bike?”  Lots of great practice to work on community helpers and vehicle vocabulary terms!

Count the Vehicles – The last 2 file folder activities are counting.  The students can work on naming the vehicles and counting how many of that vehicle is in the box.  If they are still learning about number concepts; have the student count how many vehicles there are and then give them a choice of 2 numbers to select between to place on the board.  Maybe do one side first and then work on the other side.

If you are interested in these activities you can find them on TPT with the link – Vehicle File Folder Activities