Summer Routines to Spark Speech and Language

🌞 Summer Language-Building Routine for Late Talkers

Looking for some fun and simple activities for your toddler this summer? Here are FIVE easy and effective activities that will help strengthen speech skills this summer. Try to use routines to help your toddler participate in these play based activities! Take a look below and let us know which is your favorite!

Structure it like this each day (30–45 min total):

  1. Start with a Themed Activity (15–20 min)

  2. Snack + Choice Time (5–10 min)

  3. Movement or Water Play (10–15 min)

🔆 Activity #1: Backyard Car Wash

  • Materials: toy cars, bubbles, soapy water, sponges

  • Targets: verbs (wash, scrub, dry), spatial words (under, on, next to), adjectives (wet, shiny, clean)

  • Language Strategy Tip: Narrate their actions (parallel talk), expand with verbs:
    Child: “Car!” → You: “Yes! Wash the car.”

🧺 Activity #2: Picnic Pretend Play

  • Materials: play food, basket, blanket, stuffed animals

  • Targets: food vocabulary (apple, juice, sandwich), pronouns (I, you), social phrases (“more please,” “your turn”)

  • Language Strategy Tip: Use expansion + adding 1 word:
    Child: “Juice.” → You: “Cold juice!!”

🌻 Activity #3: Nature Scavenger Hunt

  • Materials: simple checklist or picture cards (leaf, rock, flower, bug)

  • Targets: colors, sizes, categories (plants, animals), action words (find, pick, look)

  • Language Strategy Tip: Give 2 choices to encourage expressive language:
    “Do you want to find a flower or a bug?”

💦 Activity #4: Sink or Float Water Table

  • Materials: bin of water + random toys (ball, spoon, crayon, leaf, block)

  • Targets: descriptive concepts (wet, dry, heavy, light), cause/effect, science vocab

  • Language Strategy Tip: Use “communication temptations” (pause before dropping the object) to prompt commenting or requests.

🍦 Activity #5: Ice Cream Shop Role Play

  • Materials: pretend ice cream (felt or scoops), cones, toppings

  • Targets: requesting, labeling, sequencing, descriptive language (cold, sweet, soft, big scoop)

  • Language Strategy Tip: Model short phrases in play:
    “I want pink ice cream.” “Scoop it!” “Put it on.”

Nicole Dobranski