Speech Therapy Camping Activities for this Summer
Got the Tent? Check!
Got the Sleeping Bags? Check!
Got the Bug Spray? Check!
Got the Speech Therapy Activities? Check!
Wait a minute, speech therapy camping activities? This summer, while planning your camping trip, why not use this quality family time as an opportunity to work on speech therapy skills. Board games are an excellent way to reinforce good speech and language habits and are easy to pack along, but you may also want to take advantage of the outdoor game board! The sights, sounds and smells of good ol’ fashioned camping! A recent article in Parents Magazine touted the many benefits of camping, including helping children become more environmentally conscious, and reducing symptoms of boredom and ADHD.
“Kids today are spending more time indoors and plugged into a screen, so camping is a great activity because it gets them outdoors, whether they’re hiking or telling ghost stories by the fire,”
says Meri-Margaret Deoudes, spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federations’s Be Out There initiative, which encourages kids to get outside.
Speech Therapy Activities While Camping
How about the Alphabet Game? This game works well during your family hike. The main idea is to find object along the trail that starts with each letter of the alphabet. The trick is that you can only win this game by finding objects in the correct alphabet order, A through Z.
And, don’t forget Campfire Songs! Sitting around the campfire is a perfect time to practice songs with rhyming, repeating word patterns, and basic parts of speech! We explored ways in which music can be an excellent speech therapy tool in our blog at the beginning of the year. Don’t worry if you are not the world’s best singer. What matters is that you’re modeling a love for music to your children.
Pinterest has some terrific suggestions for family activities that are fun for kids while camping! Think about Bug Collecting! Your child can practice looking for, labeling, pronouncing each bug type, and proudly showing off his find during a family Show and Tell session.
One activity that is always fun for kids is a Scavenger Hunt. Of course, a hunt doesn’t have to be speech therapy related, but why not include a few items that your child may have trouble pronouncing? A scavenger hunt is also an excellent and fun way to encourage your child to follow simple directions, and engage his senses. If the great outdoors is not being particularly cooperative (we’ve all been rained out, right?) bring along some Printable Activity Sheets that your kids can work on while in the tent. These even work for the car ride too!
Have fun out there!
Speech Therapy Camping is the best idea, Thanks for share really it’s very helpful