Hands-On Learning with Ornaments

I’ve found that bringing everyday, seasonal items into the speech room can provide meaningful language practice in a no prep way!

You may have read my earlier blog post about bringing Fall Finds into Speech Therapy and today I’m writing about grabbing some of your favorite ornaments, if you have them, and bringing them into the speech room!

Students love when I share stories and objects from my personal life because it builds our relationship. I’m always sensitive to students who do not celebrate Christmas and determine whether or not I will share ornaments with a group on a case-by-case basis.

Here are some of the skills I practice with ornaments.

1. WH Questions: Many ornaments have a story. In the image above, you’ll see an ornament I made when my daughter was an infant (I was pretty sleep-deprived and everything went wrong when I tried to make it but now I’m glad to have it!) Some questions I might ask include:

• What is this ornament about?
• Where did this ornament come from?
• Who most likely made the ornament?
• Who was the ornament made for?
• Why was the ornament made?
• How was it made?

2. Attributes: Find an ornament that is….

• Round
• Shiny
• Pointy
• Multi-colored
• Made of plastic
• Noisy

3. Comparing/Contrasting: In the above photo, you’ll see a silver ball and a silver Eiffel Tower. They have the same color and are both shiny. They are different because one is a tower and the other is round etc.

4. Conversation Skills: Ask your students to…

• Ask WH questions about your ornaments and insert appropriate follow-up comments
• Share personal stories about their own favorite ornaments.

I hope you enjoy these seasonal, hands-on language learning ideas!

Have you ever brought ornaments into the speech room? If so, let me know!