Winter Greetings! I hope you are staying WARM!! Even in Virginia, we are getting hit with some icy temps and even some snow accumulation. Despite the cold weather, this season is one of my favorites for speech-language fun. I love to grab a huge mixing bowl and go outside to gather a big pile of snow to bring in my therapy room! In addition to sensory play, snow is perfect for fostering speech-language opportunities — everything from /s/ and /s/ clusters to descriptive vocabulary, formulating sentences, answering WH questions, modeling core vocabulary, and more. If you have snow in your area, take advantage of the opportunity and grab a bowl!
I also have a couple other favorite speech-language activities, perfect for open-ended fun no matter what the goals or objectives. My students absolutely LOVE this Feed the Penguin game!
I use this open-ended activity to target a variety of speech and language skills, and also as a reinforcement. It’s the perfect activity for differentiated groups! This set includes winter vocabulary words (or you can add your own pictures to match any theme, language target, or speech sound)! Fish can be offered as reinforcements/rewards, or students can take turns selecting fish (I like to add a small magnet or paperclip to each fish and use a magnetic fishing rod for extra fun). With each turn, students can answer wh questions about the word, formulate utterances using the word, provide descriptive utterances to help other students guess the word, and more. Extra fish are included so you can use your own pictures or speech sounds. I also love using this activity to model and promote use of core vocabulary words like want, more, go, eat, help, etc. Instant reinforcement built into this activity! This open-ended game allows you to differentiate in groups and target virtually any speech-language goal – my students love to earn the fish and then feed Mr. Penguin!
If you are looking for another open-ended winter game that is perfect for your classroom push-ins or differentiated groups, check out this Winter Bingo Game! This 14-page print-and-go set can be used to target object identification/labeling, visual discrimination, auditory processing at the word/phrase/sentence levels, comprehension of WH questions, seasonal vocabulary, language formulation, use of vocabulary and related descriptive concepts, and articulation/phonological skills. These open-ended boards are perfect for differentiated instruction of students in your small groups or larger classes. This activity set includes 6 unique color bingo game boards, each containing the same vocabulary words but in different positions on the boards; 6 unique black and white game boards for students to color; and a page of calling cards you can print (I like to print doubles of these for an instant matching/memory game!).
What are you working on this winter? Any special finds or therapy resources? I would love to hear! Thanks for reading and STAY WARM!
