Are you looking for winter themed activities to work on communication skills without braving frigid temps? Our SLPs have your back with these indoor snow activities that you can make from the comfort of your home! We’ve included book recommendations to go along with each activity to further reinforce winter language concepts.
Snow Dough
What You Need:
1 cup cornstarch or flour
½ cup white lotion, conditioner, or shampoo
Glitter or sprinkles (optional)
Snowman decorations (buttons, beads, string, sticks, googly eyes, etc.)
What You Do:
Mix the cornstarch, lotion, and glitter in a bowl to make the dough.
Book Recommendation:
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner*
Melted Snowman
What You Need:
¼ cup glue
¼ cup shaving cream
Paper
Snowman decorations (buttons, beads, string, sticks, googly eyes, etc.)
What You Do:
Stir glue and shaving cream in a bowl.
Use a paintbrush or your hands to paint the melted snowman on the paper.
Decorate with a nose, mouth, eyes, etc.
Book Recommendation:
Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright*
Snow Explosion
What You Need:
¼ cup baking soda
1 Tbs water
Vinegar
Snowman decorations (buttons, beads, string, sticks, googly eyes, etc.)
What You Do:
Stir the baking soda and water in a bowl until a dough forms.
Scoop the mixture onto a plate. You can decorate it to look like a snowman, shape it with a cookie cutter, or roll it into a snowball.
Using a dropper or a spoon, pour vinegar on the mixture and watch it fizz!
Book Recommendation:
There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro*
Speech and Language Skills
You can practice the following speech and language skills throughout these activities:
Following Directions: Give your child directions for each step, and increase complexity based on your child’s communication goals (e.g., First pour the baking soda, then pour the water; Stir the ingredients with the smallest spoon; Add the blue and the red sprinkles).
Sequencing: After you do the activity once, try doing the activity again and let your child be the “teacher.” You can support them in re-telling the sequence of events in the activity.
Answering Questions: Throughout the activity, ask questions about the activity like “Where does the snowman’s head go?” You can also ask general winter knowledge questions like, “What do you wear when it snows outside?”
Articulation: Work with your child to practice their target speech sounds while mixing and building.
Expanding language: Model longer phrases and sentences with new vocabulary and concepts while playing (e.g., Emphasize which ingredients are wet and dry; describe the appearance and texture of the activity components).
Categories: Throughout each activity, you can take turns coming up items that fit different categories (e.g., Things you can make with snow, things that are cold, clothes you wear in the winter).
Predicting: Before each new step, ask your child what they think might happen (e.g., What will happen when we add lotion to the cornstarch? What will happen when we pour vinegar on the snowman?)
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