EASY SUMMER IDEAS FOR SPEECH/LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT!!

EASY SUMMER IDEAS FOR SPEECH/LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT!!

I’m not sure about all of you, but my favorite time of year is definitely summer!!  I love the warm weather, beach trips, NO school, and being able to RELAX.  Many of you have probably already began your summer break.  I have 9 days left (but who’s counting?!).  I wanted to share some quick, easy, and FREE (or very affordable) summer activities to help with continued speech and language development.  These ideas are perfect for SLPs, teachers, and parents to use with their children and/or students.

Easy Summer Ideas for Speech and Language Development 

Read Books and Ask Questions

There are so many adorable books out there!  You can visit your local library or bookstore and browse for some “summer” themed books.  The picture below is of three new books I picked up that I absolutely LOVE.  The pictures are fantastic and they offer many opportunities for asking “wh” questions, developing vocabulary, finding rhyming words, and more!  While you are reading with your child or student, start asking questions!  It is a great way to improve reading comprehension, vocabulary, answering questions, basic concepts, inferencing, and more.

Reading books helps kids with speech and language development during the summer months.

Treasure Hunt

This is super fun for kids and can be used for multiple goals/objectives.  All you need are objects/cards to target the student’s goals and a flashlight!  Hide the objects/cards around your classroom, house, yard, etc. and have your student/child start looking around.  If it is a dark room, the student/child can use the flashlight to go on his/her treasure hunt.  Once they have collected all the items, lay them all out and start a discussion.  Ask questions like, “Where did you find this one?” or “How can you use this?”  This activity is great for articulation kiddos.  Just hide some articulation cards and once they are all found, students practice the words or put them in sentences.

Start a journal or create a scrapbook

This is a great project that can be worked on all throughout the summer.  Use pictures, magazine clippings, craft supplies, and more.  Set aside a day or time each week for your child or students to write down a few sentences about activities they have done or will be doing in the near future.  This ends up being a great keepsake!  Be sure to date the pages!

Cooking/Making Snacks

Preparing ingredients and following recipes are great ways to target language and articulation goals.  Get out some cook books or look up recipes on the internet that are perfect for summer time.  Fruit salad, tacos, and pasta salad are just some easy and yummy recipes to try.  One of my personal favorites is making “dirt”!  If you haven’t heard of or made this before, it is definitely something you need to try.  Below you will see a recipe with pictures I created for my students to follow.

Cooking with kids and asking them to read and follow step by step instructions for a recipe is an easy summer idea to help with speech and language development.

Sidewalk Chalk and Bubbles

What kid doesn’t love being outside in the summer especially when the weather is gorgeous?!  See how creative your child/student can get with sidewalk chalk.  Have him/her draw pictures and describe them to you or try playing Pictionary.  Take turns drawing pictures and guessing.  Be sure to have a bucket of water close by to “erase” pictures in between turns.  It should dry quickly when the sun is out!  I have an entire post on bubbles that you can check out HERE.

Sidewalk chalk and bubbles are a great recipe for fun and an easy summer idea your kids will love!

Visit Somewhere New

Take your students or children on an adventure!  Visit a local park, zoo, aquarium, lake, etc.  There are tons of opportunities to practice speech sounds and language skills when discovering new places.

Take your kids on a "field trip" to help develop speech and language over the summer months.

Some other quick and easy ideas include:  Downloading free apps, practice word lists (can be done anywhere!), play board games, and set up “play” dates!  I hope you enjoyed reading these ideas and can use some this summer!  Feel free to leave comments about your very own summer plans!

 

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