3 No Prep Activities for Christmas Break

Happy Holidays from GASLC! We hope your holidays were (and still are) a chance to celebrate and take a rest. As much as our kids also need a rest, we know it can be difficult to keep them engaged at home for several weeks while the world takes a break. Ms. Jordan is one of our wonderful early intervention specialists who is here to share some easy activities you can implement over your child’s break with things you probably already have in your house! Read on for some tips on how to fill some time while building up speech and language skills over this break.

With school out and the holidays here, you might be wondering about activities to build your child’s speech and language skills while at home or on vacation. 

Here are THREE easy and fun activities to engage your child in with minimal to NO-PREP! 

BUBBLES! As a speech pathologist, bubbles are a must. So many language goals can be targeted with bubbles whether at home, at grandparents' house, or outside. Target utterance expansion by modeling “more bubbles”, “Let’s get more bubbles”, “small bubble”, and “big bubble”. Target verbs while popping, stomping, blowing, or catching bubbles. So many great ideas for bubbles!

iSpy! This is a great activity to do outside, in the car, at home, or while out shopping for your holiday gifts. Describe items to see if your child can guess the item you see. They can also take a turn describing items to you. You can work on categorization, too! (ex. ‘iSpy something with four wheels that drives. Do you think that it’s a vehicle, food, or clothing?”) It’s also great for children working on /s/ and /s/-blends like spy, sky, or “I see something _____.”

Scavenger hunts! This is a fun and engaging activity that allows the child to move while targeting their goals. Easily target following directions like “Look behind the couch and then in the bathroom” or give them clues on the next room by having your child answer wh- questions for the home (ex. “Where do you make food?” “What do you use to brush your teeth?”) If your child is working on specific speech sounds, ask your speech pathologist for articulation cards to hide around the house to find and practice!

Thank you Ms. Jordan for some great ideas! What are some of your favorite activities to do with your kids over break? We’d love to hear.