When the air is chilly outside and the kids are cooped up inside, I try to pull out all the creative winter activities for speech therapy to make it a little more fun. I do my best to make our sessions as interactive and engaging as possible this time of year.
Doing fun, interactive games with your students doesn’t have to break the bank either. Here are eight low-cost snowy winter activities for speech therapy that your students will love!
1. Snow Sensory Bin
My students always love anything hands-on. It’s easy (and cheap) to buy or make some artificial snow. I just put a laminated smash mat or worksheet at the bottom of a shallow bin. Then, cover it with fake snow. The students can use their fingers or a paintbrush to find the pictures or items on the sheet!
2. Marshmallow Snowflakes
Marshmallows are super engaging for kids to play with. I like using them as counters or reinforcers that students collect as they say their sounds or complete a task.
For a snowy theme, give toothpicks with marshmallows and have them make little snowflakes out of them.
3. Youtube Read-alouds
Most of my favorite snow-themed books can be watched as a read-aloud on YouTube for free if you don’t have the book. Here are links to a few of my faves!
- The Snowy Day (here’s a book companion for it if you need it!)
- Sneezy the Snowman
- Snowmen at Night
- There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow
4. Ice cube animals
Put tiny plastic arctic animals in ice cube trays, fill them with water, and freeze them. Put the little ice-trapped animals in a plastic bin and watch them melt. The kids can touch and hold the ice cubes to make them melt more quickly.
This is great for describing with school-age students or building language with preschoolers.
5. Playdoh Snowmen
Got some playdough on hand? My students love making playdough snowmen. Add foam pieces, felt, googly eyes, toothpicks, and more to decorate their snowmen.
I have the students earn the different pieces after they complete a task as a reinforcer, then create their snowman at the end. You can also use this activity to work on following directions, spatial concepts, body parts, and more.
This activity also pairs perfectly with your favorite snowman-themed book, like Sneezy the Snowman!
6. Snowball Toss
A bag of cotton balls only costs a dollar or two. You can pretend cotton balls are snowballs and pair them with ANY card deck. Spread the cards out on the table or floor. Have students toss a cotton ball onto a card and complete the activity or say the word on that card.
7. Snow Bag Search and Find
For this sensory activity, you only need a shaving cream bottle and a ziplock bag. Place a task card or small laminated picture cards inside the ziplock. Fill with shaving cream.
Have students try to find the pictures by rubbing along the bag. They can say the word on the card or complete the task on the task card.
8. Free Snow Printables from BBS
If you’re short on time and funds you can grab these two free cutesy winter activities for speech therapy from my TPT store!
If you’re looking for even more ways to keep your students engaged this winter, check out a few more of my winter resources that cover SO many goals on my caseload.
- Winter Inferences and Text Evidence
- Arctic Animals Hands-On Mini Unit
- Winter Accordion Craft Activities for Vocabulary
- Interactive Stuttering Binder for Winter
- Penguin Preschool Language
I hope you try some of these activities with your students. Be sure to follow along on Instagram to see more creative ideas for busy SLPs!
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