As speech-language pathologists, we’re always looking for engaging ways to maintain our clients’ interest while working toward their communication goals. The holiday season provides the perfect opportunity to incorporate festive activities that are both fun and therapeutically valuable.
Here are 5 activities that will bring holiday spirit to your speech therapy sessions while targeting multiple speech and language objectives.
1. Holiday Social Scenario Role Play
Target Areas: Pragmatic language, social skills, AAC use, self-advocacy, turn-taking
Transform your therapy room into a holiday gathering space and help your clients prepare for real-world social situations they’ll encounter during the season. This activity is particularly valuable for:
- Greeting Practice:
- Verbal greetings or greetings on an AAC device
- Name exchange scenarios, like asking someone’s name and sharing their own name
- Turn-taking in conversations
- Self-Advocacy Skills:
- Expressing personal boundaries
- Communicating preferences for physical greetings
- Using phrases like “Can I have a hug?” or “I prefer a high five”
- Gift Exchange Practice:
- Using carrier phrases: “Here you go,” “Thank you,” “You’re welcome”
- Taking turns
- Expressing gratitude
Pro Tip: Create visual supports or social stories to preview these scenarios, especially for clients who benefit from additional structure. Make sure greetings and social phrases are accessible on AAC devices.
2. Sensory Snow Play
Target Areas: Following directions, vocabulary, descriptive language
Create an engaging sensory experience with this simple recipe. Allow your learner to help make the snow and then provide opportunities for sensory play and exploration.
- Here’s what you’ll need:
- White conditioner, lotion or shaving cream
- Baking soda
- Mixing tools
- This Activity Naturally Elicits:
- Descriptive vocabulary (cold, soft, fluffy)
- Sequential directions
- Sensory integration
- Fine motor skills
- Therapeutic Applications:
- Vocabulary Development:
- Temperature words: cold, cool, frozen, icy
- Texture words: soft, smooth, fluffy, powdery
- Action words: mix, stir, pour, scoop, pat, squeeze
- Quantity concepts: more, less, enough, too much
- Following Directions:
- Create a visual recipe with pictures
- Practice temporal concepts: first, next, then, last
- Follow 2-3 step directions: “First pour the baking soda, then add the conditioner”
- Expressive Language:
- Ask prediction questions: “What will happen when we mix these?”
- Practice describing the process: “I’m mixing the white snow”
- Use comparing/contrasting: “Is it hard or soft?”
- Propositions:
- Give directions that include prepositions while making the snow, playing and cleaning up.
- Hide items in the snow and give clues to where they are (in, on, under the snow)
- Social Language:
- Turn-taking with mixing
- Requesting materials: “Can I have more baking soda?”
- Commenting: “Look what I made!”
3. Ice Exploration Activities
Target Areas: Basic concepts, vocabulary, prediction skills
Use ice as material for art or play activities. These winter-themed ice activities offer numerous therapeutic opportunities:
- Freezing and melting experiments
- Color mixing with frozen cubes
- Temperature vocabulary
- Scientific predictions
Activity Ideas:
- Ice Excavation:
- Freeze small items in ice
- Use warm water to melt and rescue items. A dropper or spoon are perfect ways to incorporate fine motor.
- Practice requesting tools: “Can I have the dropper?”
- Target vocabulary and basic concepts: melt, drip, freeze, cold vs. hot, big vs. small
- Work on prepositions: “The bell is in/under/on top of the ice”
- Color Mixing Ice Paint:
- Freeze different colored water in ice cube trays
- Add popsicle sticks before freezing
- Use on paper to create winter scenes
- Practice color words and mixing predictions
- Target sequential language: “First I used blue, then I added red”
- Ice Cube Race:
- Place ice cubes on inclined surfaces
- Practice concepts like fast/slow, first/last
- Make predictions about which cube will melt first
- Use descriptive language for the melting process
- Practice turn-taking and commenting
- Sensory Ice Investigation:
- Create ice with different textures (smooth, bumpy)
- Add salt to watch the melting process
- Practice describing how ice feels on hands
- Use temporal concepts to describe the melting process
- Work on comparing and contrasting different types of ice
4. Gift-Making Workshop
Target Areas: Following directions, fine motor skills, emotional expression, sequencing, vocabulary.
Create small gifts for your clients or students to bring home to their family and friends. Creating gifts provides natural opportunities for:
- Expressing thoughts and feelings
- Following complex directions
- Learning new vocabulary
- Practicing social language
- Sequencing steps
- Building narrative skills
Project Suggestions with Therapeutic Applications:
- Holiday Cards:
- Language Targets:
- Practicing writing holiday greetings
- Forming complete sentences
- Personal pronouns (I, you, we)
- Basic concepts (open/close, in/out)
- Social Goals:
- Considering others’ perspectives
- Expressing emotions
- Writing appropriate messages
- Sequencing Practice:
- Planning card design using language like first, then
- Following steps and instructions
- Describing process to others once completed
- Language Targets:
- Salt Dough Ornaments:
- Recipe Following:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup warm water
- Language Opportunities:
- Measuring vocabulary
- Sequential directions
- Descriptive language for how the ornaments look and feel
- Activities:
- Rolling and cutting dough
- Decorating with paint/glitter
- Creating gift tags
- Describing their creation to others
- Recipe Following:
- Picture Frames:
- Materials:
- Popsicle sticks
- Glue
- Decorative items
- Therapeutic Goals:
- Following multi-step directions
- Color/shape identification
- Spatial concepts
- Narrative skills when describing the frame
- Materials:
5. Interactive Holiday Songs
Target Areas: Articulation, phonological awareness, auditory feedback
Singing songs is a great way to get in the holiday spirit, Make song practice more purposeful by:
- Selecting Songs with Target Sounds Like:
- /r/ sounds: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
- /s/ blends: “Frosty the Snowman”
- Initial /m/: “Merry Christmas”
Implementation Strategies:
- Pre-Song Practice:
- Create word lists from song lyrics
- Practice target sounds in isolation
- Move to words, then phrases
- Use visual supports for lyrics
- Practice challenging words before singing
- Movement Integration:
- Add gestures for target sounds for kinesthetic learning
- Use hand motions for key words
- Incorporate rhythm for prosody
- Recording and Review:
- Use audio/video recording
- Watch/listen for self-evaluation
- Identify correct productions
- Track progress over time
- Share recordings with families
Enhance Speech Therapy Sessions During the Holiday Season
Remember to adapt these activities to meet your clients’ individual needs and goals. The holiday season provides unique opportunities for natural, contextualized practice of communication skills.
By incorporating these festive activities, you can maintain therapeutic focus while creating engaging, memorable sessions for your clients.
Documentation Note: Don’t forget to track progress and document how each activity aligns with your clients’ specific goals and objectives. Many of these activities can target multiple goals simultaneously, making them efficient additions to your therapy toolbox.
