January 2022
Fun Winter ideas for speech and Language! Try some of these fun winter themed activities with your kids. They will be so fun your children won’t even realize they’re building their speech and language skills.
Build a Snowman: You can help your child work on language concepts while building a snowman this winter. Talk about the size concepts big, medium, and small when making the 3 snowballs. If your child already knows these concepts see if he/she can use comparatives and superlatives (i.e., “big, bigger, biggest” or “tall, taller, tallest”) when talking about the snowballs. Talk about the location concepts top, middle, and bottom when putting them together. While dressing the snow man see if your child can follow 1, 2 or even 3 step directions using those concepts (i.e., put the hat on the top and then put the buttons in the middle). You can also talk about the concepts “tall” and “short” and see if the snowman is taller or shorter then you and your child. If you are really into this activity, you can build more than one snow man and work on using attributes to have your child compare how the two snowmen are the same or different. Tip: If it is too cold or there is not enough snow you can do this activity indoors with paper as an art project. Cut out different size circles and make the snowman with paper and glue and talk about all the same concepts. OR, add a tasty twist by making the snowman out of marshmallows. Use candy for the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons, a cracker or gum drop for the top hat and pretzels for the arms. A toothpick will help to hold the snowman’s body together. Have fun!
- Make an Ice Sun Catcher: Fill a flat container with water. Put items in pinecones, acorns, or other lightweight natural items, but sparkles, food coloring, googly eyes and other things are a lot of fun too and are great for working on vocabulary!) as well as a thin wire for hanging. While making the design you can work on vocabulary words, colors, size concepts, and the concepts sink/float, wet/dry, heavy/light, and empty/full. See if your child can use attributes to describe the items you are putting in the water. Have your child answer “wh” questions about the items. Once you are finished making your design, leave it outside in freezing temperatures. Talk about the cold and have your child predict what will happen if you leave it outside. Check back on your creation later and after it is frozen, remove the design from its container and hang it from a tree to enjoy while the cold lasts. As it melts talk about what is happening and why.
