January is all things SNOW in our speech sessions! Here are some ideas for using the snow theme in speech:

BOOKS: Some of my favorite snow-themed books are…

• “There was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow” by Lucille Colandro, with our Old Lady board
• “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats.
• “Snowmen at Night” by Caralyn Buehner
• “Sneezy the Snowman” by Maureen Wright
• “The Mitten” by Jan Brett
• “Pete the Cat Snow Daze” by James Dean

MAKE FAKE SNOW: All ingredients for this hands-on activity can be found at the Dollar Tree. Recipes can be found on Pinterest. It’s quick and easy, but makes for a language-rich activity that all kids love! Target sequencing, turn-taking, requesting, following directions, answering wh- questions. This activity is great for our kids who are more sensory-seeking and tactile. Blog post on how I do this activity in speech therapy coming soon!

BUILD A SNOWMAN: There are tons of fun ideas for this on Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers. You can make snowman crafts, build a felt snowman, build little snowmen with the fake snow that your kids make, build snowmen out of play dough, or make snowman snacks. Building a snowman targets several goals: turn-taking, following directions, facial/body parts & clothing items, size concepts, colors, numbers, wh- questions, MLU expansions.

SNOWBALL TOSS: This is a great activity for kids who need movement. These snowballs can be found on Amazon or in the Target Dollar Spot. Have the kids take turns throwing the snowballs to each other or have a “snowball fight.” You can pair this with any snow-themed book that has a snowball fight as part of the story (e.g., The Snowy Day, Pete the Cat Snow Daze, etc.).

• Target who questions by asking “Who do you want to throw it to? Who’s turn is it to throw now?”
• Target where questions by asking the kids “Where do you want to throw it?” and give them choices (in the box, through the hula hoop, under the chair, etc..). Try hiding the snowballs all over the room and have the kids look for the snowballs- ask them “where did you find your snowball?”
• Target social communication by having the kids initiate and turn-take with language by saying to each other, “Jackson, it’s your turn! Catch!”
• Target reciprocal interaction by having the kids roll or throw the snowballs back and forth.

Another activity I tried last week with my students in one of the moderate/severe classes is throwing the snowballs through the therapy tunnel! My kids LOVE crawling through the therapy tunnel, and even the kids who are too big for it love it too- they get such a kick out of throwing balls through the tunnel. So I tried it with the snowballs after we read one of our snow books and it was a hit. My nonverbal kids used their devices to request if they wanted to catch the snowball coming out of the tunnel (with me throwing it in), or if they wanted to put the snowball in the tunnel (and I catch it coming out the other end). This was perfect for practicing core words! (“put, in, get, out”). 

WINTER CLOTHES: I brought in a couple scarves, a couple hats, and two pairs of gloves (all from the Dollar Tree, can you believe it!?), and let the kids try on the winter clothes. So many of the snow themed books we read involve the characters getting dressed up in winter clothes, so this is a great extension activity to do with the kids. For example, in “Pete the Cat Snow Daze,” when Pete gets dressed up in all of his snow gear, I take out my winter clothing and go over each item, one by one. I ask the kids wh- questions such as “What’s this? Where do we wear it? Why do we wear it? Who wants to try it on?” etc. The kids take turns requesting (which item, which color, how many, etc.) what they want to wear, and then they get to look at themselves in the mirror. Who would’ve thought that brining in a few scarves and a few hats would get the kids so excited and motivated!? But it’s true, kids LOVE dressing up and it can be such a useful tool in speech therapy. To read more about dressing up in speech therapy, CLICK HERE.

Although we don’t experience snow here in San Diego, it’s still so fun to imagine and pretend we’re in it during our speech sessions 🙂 What snow activities do you like to do in your speech room? I’d love to hear! Thanks again for reading!

-Amanda, The SLP Girl