Fun Speech & OT Activities to Promote Skill Development at Home
Julia McKay, OTR/L, Rachel Frady, CCC-SLP, and Keeley Farmer, OTS
With the springtime approaching, there are endless opportunities to target speech and occupational therapy skills while also stepping outside to enjoy the sunshine and warm air. Spending time outside helps your child explore sensory experiences, move their bodies, and participate socially!
At The Wolf School, Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists work collaboratively to create engaging, playful, and functional learning experiences to support your child’s skills within the classroom. By incorporating your child’s interests, we are able to promote optimal engagement and participation while targeting skills that may be difficult. But don’t worry, fun while learning can extend beyond your child’s day at school! We have developed a list of activities that you can use to continue skill acquisition at home, while your child soaks in the spring sun!
These activities promote speech-related skills through play, including sentence production, listening comprehension, conversation starters, vocabulary building, and more! Occupational therapy-related activities provide both fine motor and gross motor opportunities, life skill development, and sensory exploration! Here is a list of activities you can do at home to support your child in building skills and reaching their goals:
Speech & Language Activities
1. Spring Scavenger Hunt
Create a list of spring-themed items (e.g., a flower, something that flies, something green, something round). As your child searches:
- Practice receptive language by describing categories, functions, colors, sizes, or textures. For example, “find something smooth”.
- Work on following two-step directions, such as “find something that flies, then something rough.”
- For older students, add in inferencing, such as “Where might we find worms?” or “Where might an owl live?”
2. Sidewalk Chalk Storytelling
Use chalk to draw three pictures and create a story together.
- Target sequencing (beginning, middle, end)
- Practice narrative skills and storytelling (characters, setting, problem, solution)
- Prompt with questions like, “What happens next?” or “How does the character feel?”
3. Planting Flowers or Seeds
Planting grows language
- Sequencing steps (“First, then, next, last”) & verbs (dig, pour, plant, water)
- Expanding vocabulary (soil, roots, petals, stem)
- Predicting (“What will happen next?”)
- Have your child describe the steps for you to follow!
5. Spring-Themed Would You Rather
Create fun “would you rather” questions to get your child to think critically and think about different opinions and perspectives. For example… Would you rather be stuck in a week of rain or extreme pollen? or would you rather step in mud or get soaked by a puddle splash?
- Justifying answers and expanding utterances (e.g., I would rather ____ because…)
- Turn-taking
- Agreeing and disagreeing
6. Figurative Language
Model and discuss Spring-themed figurative language, like “April showers bring May flowers”, “raining cats and dogs”, and “fresh start”
Occupational Therapy Activities
1. Outdoor Obstacle Course
You can use any toys/equipment you have lying around in your house/garage (e.g., cones, sticks, chalk, hula hoops) to promote gross motor skill development, including crossing midline, bilateral coordination, balance, and motor planning.
- Jumping, crawling, and balancing → builds coordination and strength and provides regulatory sensory input
- Following directions/multi-step processes → supports motor planning and sequencing
- Add challenges like “hop on one foot” or “carry a ball.”
2. Sidewalk Chalk for Fine Motor Skills
Drawing, tracing, or writing outside:
- Strengthens upper extremity muscles
- Promotes weight bearing through their arms to strengthen the shoulders and provide sensory (proprioceptive) input
- Encourages proper grasp
- Practice letters, shapes, or spelling words
Make it fun: Write “secret messages” and then spray them with water to wash them away, or play tic-tac-toe!
3. Water Play & Sensory Fun
Use cups, spray bottles, sponges, and eye droppers:
- Builds hand strength and coordination
- The spray bottles and eye droppers promote precise and whole hand grasp patterns while “squeezing”.
- Supports sensory regulation
- The temperature/texture of the water, the texture of sponges, and implementing soap/bubbles create a dynamic sensory experience.
- Encourages imaginative play
- Incorporate bubbles for oral motor development and sensory regulation
- You can also try adding water beads, shaving cream, or ice cubes for additional sensory experiences/fun!
Add a twist: Spray letters or numbers and have your child identify them.
4. Spring Cleaning Helpers
Get your child involved in simple chores:
- Wiping tables, sorting laundry, organizing toys
- Builds independence in self-care skills and executive functioning
- Supports bilateral coordination (using both hands together)
- Household chores that require physical exertion (e.g., vacuuming, carrying in groceries) provide naturalistic opportunities for kids to get proprioceptive input, which is calming/regulatory
5. Cooking with Spring Foods
Cooking is a great way to develop a variety of skills in a fun, interactive way. Try making something simple like a fruit salad:
- Following directions (sequencing the steps of the recipe)
- Utensil use (fine motor and bilateral coordination skills)
- Sensory experiences (touch, smell, and taste)
- Try doing this outside at a picnic table to get some fresh air!
With more opportunities to head outside, spring is the perfect time to work with your child on skill acquisition in a fun and engaging way!
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