Summer is a great time for kids to relax and have fun, but it’s also important to keep up with their speech therapy goals. Fortunately, there are plenty of fun and creative ways to incorporate speech therapy into your child’s summer routine. Here are 10 ideas to keep them motivated and engaged.
Beach Ball Conversation Starters.
Take a beach ball and write conversation starters on each section. Toss the ball back and forth with your child and have them answer the question that their hand lands on. This activity not only encourages conversation and communication skills, but also gets your child moving and active. Plus, it’s a great way to enjoy the summer weather!
Scavenger Hunt Articulation.
Create a scavenger hunt for your child that incorporates their speech therapy goals. For example, if they are working on the “s” sound, create a list of items that start with “s” and have them search for them around the house or outside. This activity not only helps with speech therapy but also encourages problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Plus, it’s a fun way to get them up and moving during the summer months.
Sidewalk Chalk Language Games -Summer Speech Therapy Activities
Sidewalk chalk is a great tool for speech therapy games during the summer. Draw a hopscotch board and write words or phrases in each square that your child needs to practice saying. You can also draw pictures and have your child describe them using specific vocabulary or speech sounds. This activity is not only fun and engaging, but it also helps with language development and articulation skills.
Pool Noodle Pronunciation Practice.
Grab a few pool noodles and cut them into small pieces. Write different words or sounds on each piece and have your child practice saying them correctly. You can also use the pool noodles to create a mini obstacle course and have your child say a word or sound at each station. This activity is a fun and creative way to work on speech and language skills while enjoying the summer weather.
Printable Summer Speech Therapy Activities
Free Summer Speech Homework Calendars for Articulation
Summer Regular and Irregular Verbs Freebie
Free July 4th Following Directions Worksheet
Fun Summer Social Skills Activity
I Spy My Speech Sounds
Who can find the most items that start with S? This is a simple activity that can be done on the fly. Pick a target speech sound, and see who can find the most items beginning with that sound.
Speech Sound Charades
Make or use an existing list of words containing your speech sound. Take turns acting out that word. See if other players can guess what you are!
Read a Book
Reading aloud to a parent or sibling or even a pet is a great way to practice speech sounds, and target vocabulary and language. If kids are not yet reading, it is also fun for parents to read aloud and ask comprehension questions as they read, or describe and comment on illustrations. Here are a few of my summer favorites.
- Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
- How to Catch a Mermaid by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton
- The Sandcastle that Lola Build by Meghan Maynor
- And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner and Jaime Kim
Cook Up Some Fun
Cooking is actually a great language activity. Naming items, measuring, following directions, cooperative working, and discussion are just a few of the skills addressed in cooking activities. www.speechsnacks.com has some fabulous easy-to-follow recipes.
Wordless Picture Books Summer Speech Therapy Activities
Wordless picture books are fabulous for addressing many speech and language activities including speech sounds, story retelling, describing, answering simple questions, and more. Check out this blog post for some great book suggestions and activities,
Play a Game
In addition to being a great social activity, playing board games can be great for building language skills. Check out this blog post for some of my favorite games to use in speech therapy: 10 Great Speech Therapy Games