When it comes to speech therapy materials, there is definitely no shortage of Christmas activities to choose from. Between reindeer and candy canes, there are a lot of "Christmassy" things to talk about, which can make your speech therapy sessions feel a little scattered and disjointed.
Since Christmas is such a big theme, sometimes it can be helpful to break it down into smaller sub-topics and hone in on one at a time.
Using a more specific Christmas theme allows SLPs to explicitly target particular concepts and vocabulary in speech therapy. Plus, it streamlines our planning by giving a primary focus to use across the caseload 🙌
So, what's a kid's favorite thing about Christmas? Okay, besides the gifts... and the baked goods? Christmas lights! The twinkling lights excite kids (and adults!) all month long. So, might as well use them to ignite some enthusiasm in your sessions, too!
Check out these links to FREE activities that are sure to "brighten" your speech therapy sessions this holiday season!
Christmas Lights Website Activities
Lucky for SLPs (including teletherapy SLPs) everywhere, there are several free websites that offer interactive and language-rich activities for the Christmas lights theme.
ABC Ya: Hang Christmas Lights
This activity on ABCYa.com is so fun for younger students! They can click and drag the mouse (or use their finger on a tablet or interactive whiteboard screen) to "hang" strings of Christmas lights before watching their creation flash to music.
If you're doing teletherapy and don't have the ability to give mouse control to your students, have them describe to you where to put the lights.
A Kid's Heart: Christmas Tree Light-Up
This strategic maze game from A Kid's Heart is a great challenge for your older students. It has that video game feel, so it's sure to be a hit 😉
The Color: Digital Coloring Pages
You can't go wrong with a quick coloring activity! I use thecolor.com for digital coloring pages all the time. This digital coloring page works great for the Christmas lights theme. This one or this one would work well for printing!
Google Slides Activity
This Christmas lights puzzle is a quick freebie for email subscribers! It opens in Google Slides and makes a nice cooperative group activity or a time-filler for the last few minutes of a Christmas lights-themed session.
Christmas Lights Personality Quiz
Who can resist a good personality quiz? Try this one from Christmas Light Source to help students determine which Christmas lights match their personality type. It'll lead to a lot of discussion and allow students to make inferences about their results.
Virtual Christmas Light Displays
Christmas Designers has created videos of the most impressive light displays across the Eastern and Western United States. I love this activity for comparing and contrasting.
This article on Curiousity's website gives tours of several amazing Christmas markets and light displays around the world! Ooooh.... ahhhhh....
To use with any virtual (or real-life) light display, grab this FREE Christmas lights scavenger hunt! This is another great group activity that provides so many language opportunities. It would also be a fun homework activity to send with students over Christmas break.
Articles about Christmas Lights
Newsela has this article about how Christmas lights work. This would be especially great for older students who are learning about electricity in science class.
This article from Time, which discusses the history of Christmas lights, is great for your oldest students. Since it's not specifically written for kids, it has some advanced vocabulary for targeting context clues.
Don't miss this article discussing how an upstate New York family just beat their own world record for the most Christmas lights on a residential property. It includes a video that your students will enjoy, too!
Lastly, check out these fun facts about Christmas lights from "It's a Wonderful Light" lighting company.
Pick and choose your favorite Christmas lights activities from this list, and then watch your students glow with excitement all week in speech therapy!
Make sure to also grab something holiday lights-themed for your older students. And get even more Christmas activity ideas for teletherapy!
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