Are you looking for some fun Thanksgiving speech therapy activities? You’ve come to the right place!
1) Talk about food! – What are your favorite foods? Describing different foods is a great Thanksgiving speech therapy activity. Sort foods by color, flavor, food group, etc. How many foods can you name that start with the letter “b”? Name foods that contain your speech sound! Explain how to cook/bake certain foods – how do you make a pie? cook a turkey? make cranberry sauce? What kinds of foods can you picture on a Thanksgiving dinner table?
Here is a fun food-themed figurative language activity you might like. Discuss the literal and figurative meanings of common food-themed expressions like: “that was easy as pie!”, “she eats like a bird”, and “they are such couch potatoes!”
2) Talk about what it means to be thankful. Discuss things you are thankful for. Ask kids what they are thankful for.
3) Read a Thanksgiving-themed book. Some of my favorites include:
- There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey
- How to Catch a Turkey
- Cranberry Thanksgiving
- Bear Says Thanks
4) Try some Thanksgiving Themed Language Resources. This set includes synonyms, antonyms, writing activities, Thanksgiving Vocabulary, and more.
4) Do some Thanksgiving crafts with the family. Crafts are great speech therapy Thanksgiving activities that target multiple skills including following directions, and vocabulary. From Turkey hats to paper plate wreaths, to crafting with leaves from the yard. This is a great set of simple, inexpensive ideas: Penny Pincher Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids.
5) Try a simple Thanksgiving Following Directions activity. Super simple printable activity that’s great for individuals, small groups, and whole class lessons. Check out this other blog post for more following directions activities.
6) Work on Thanksgiving-related social skills! For many families, Thanksgiving includes table etiquette, getting together with family and friends, and having conversations with others. These things don’t come easily to all kids. How to appropriately greet Nana and Grandpa – how to politely ask for the salad dressing from across the table – how to act when you taste something new that you don’t like. These are all tricky social skills that are fun to role-play and discuss in speech therapy and other social skills groups. Here are more ideas related to social skills and social problem-solving.
7) Practice your speech sounds with November-themed vocabulary. Here are a few to get you started – kids like to continue to add on to the list: gravy, mashed potatoes, leaf, corn, scarecrow, sweater, suitcase, feast, turkey, acorn. Don’t forget to practice family names too – these will be important around the holidays if you get together with extended family.
8) Try a fun fall game: This fun Build a Scarecrow Game is easy and great for mixed speech and language groups. It’s easy to use to target any speech and language skills and keep kids motivated.
