It’s officially turkey time in the speech room! If you’re an SLP looking to spice up your Thanksgiving speech therapy sessions, you’re in the right place! From delectable pumpkin pie articulation crafts to football-themed short stories, there’s definitely something for everyone on your caseload.
I’m a huge fan of weaving in seasonal themes because they’re so relevant to our students’ lives—and they make speech therapy sessions even more engaging and meaningful. In this post, you’ll find a roundup of my favorite Thanksgiving speech therapy activities, from language and literacy ideas to crafts and games your students will gobble right up!
Tips for Planning Thanksgiving Speech Therapy Activities
Thanksgiving is such a cozy and heartwarming time of year—but it can also feel a little overwhelming with so many festive ideas floating around! When planning your Thanksgiving speech therapy sessions, I recommend keeping things simple and intentional. Choose a couple of themes to focus on—like turkeys, Thanksgiving dinner, or even more general ideas such as food and gratitude. With Thanksgiving break, Election Day, and Veterans Day all packed into the month, November tends to fly by—so simple is best!
- Choose no prep materials. Honestly, this is always my number one tip no matter the time of year haha!
- Revisit books. If you’re short on time, pick one or two books and revisit them throughout the month!
- Consider your caseload. Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving and it may be best to focus on fall themes such as leaves, scarecrows, or harvest fun.
- Lean on your membership resources. The Speech is Sweet Club is packed with Thanksgiving-themed activities—from articulation crafts to book companions—that will take the stress out of November planning.
Thanksgiving Themes for Speech Therapy
I’m not going to lie, after Halloween I become so anxious to bust out the Christmas materials, but I always have to remind myself that there are so many fun themes to explore in November! So before we deck the halls, let’s allow Tom Turkey to have his moment to shine. haha!
Turkey Themed Speech Therapy
Without a doubt, November isn’t complete without a turkey theme! Turkeys are the stars of the season—whether you’re reading turkey picture books, making adorable crafts, or practicing speech sounds with feather-filled fun!
Turkey Articulation Ladder Crafts
Scaffold your students through the hierarchy of speech with these engaging Thanksgiving articulation crafts! Your students will love climbing the Turkey Speech Sound Ladders as they practice their target sounds. Each word target is a festive Thanksgiving vocabulary term. I love sneaking in seasonal vocabulary whenever I can!
They come with three different feather options so your students can create their own unique turkeys!
Turkey Dabber Crafts
It’s no secret that my favorite school supply is the bingo dauber! I created a whole line of dabber crafts that are currently exclusive to The Speech is Sweet Club—mostly because I just wanted another excuse to use them, haha! These simple crafts are super low-prep: just dab, color, and cut! This set includes two options—a turkey and a cooked turkey!
I’m definitely thankful for dot markers! Students love dabbing their articulation targets!
A Plump and Perky Turkey Lap Book
The Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman is a delightful Thanksgiving romp and always a hit in the speech room! This book companion is packed with engaging activities to target comprehension, vocabulary, and story grammar. Students will love working on speech and language goals as they laugh their way through this turkey’s clever plan. It’s the perfect mix of humor, holiday fun, and meaningful practice!
This is definitely one of my favorite Thanksgiving books!
November Articulation Notebook
The November notebook is jam-packed with great hands-on activities- including this build a turkey activity! Students practice their target words as they place the turkey feathers. This is a great way to incorporate fine motor skills into speech therapy this holiday season!
Turkey School Crafts
Gobble, Gobble! Here is another easy-peasy Thanksgiving articulation craft! These can also double as no prep worksheets if you can’t be bothered with busting out the scissors! Simple crafts are such a great way to help ensure 100 articulation trials! They’re no fuss and don’t distract from the true task at hand. These crafts address all speech sounds in the initial, medial, and final position.
These would also look super cute on a bulletin board or as door décor! Pair them with the phrases “Gobbling Up Speech” or “Thankful for Speech.”
Turkey Picture Books
Check out this fun round-up of Turkey Picture Books!
Food Themed Speech Therapy
Want a Thanksgiving-adjacent theme that isn’t focused on the holiday itself? A non-seasonal food theme is the perfect choice! When I think about Thanksgiving, the second thing that always comes to mind is food—so why not bring that delicious inspiration into the speech room? You can use toy foods, visual recipes, or even grocery store ads to support this theme and spark conversation!
Food Articulation Vocabulary Books – Your students will love making these little booklets and they’re perfect to send home to promote carryover! Every word target is a food-themed vocabulary word!
Food Interactive Articulation Notebook – Tackle speech sounds with these interactive activities! From sandwiches to popcorn, these cute food items will delight your students!
Fry Bread Flip Book Companion – Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard is a beautifully written story that celebrates Native American culture, family, and tradition through the simple yet meaningful act of making fry bread together. It’s a wonderful addition to a food theme because it highlights how food connects us to our families and communities. This book companion includes engaging activities to target vocabulary, comprehension, and sequencing while helping students appreciate the power of food and storytelling. This is part of November’s Literature Flip Books 2nd Edition packet.
Thanksgiving Speech Therapy Activities
As speech-language pathologists, we wear so many hats in November—chef hats, teacher hats, and maybe even a pilgrim hat or two! With packed caseloads and the hustle of the fall season, it can feel like we’re constantly juggling a mix of goals every single day.
This round-up will help you create your November speech therapy lesson plans with ease! Whether your students are working on articulation, AAC, or language goals, you’ll find festive and meaningful activities to make your sessions both fun and effective. So grab your turkey headband and let’s dive into some Thanksgiving speech therapy fun!
AAC Thanksgiving Speech Therapy Activities
I’ve created AAC book companions for tons of Thanksgiving favorites, so you’ll be set all November long! These resources make it easy to target core vocabulary, comprehension, and retelling while keeping your students engaged with meaningful seasonal fun. From silly turkey tales to stories about gratitude and family, you’ll love using these AAC and literacy activities throughout the month!
Inside The Speech is Sweet Club, you’ll find AAC companions for books like There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, Turk and Runt, and more! Each companion includes storyboards, retelling strips, communication pictures, file folder games, and comprehension cards—everything you need to bring Thanksgiving vocabulary to life in your speech room!
Here’s a list of all my Thanksgiving AAC and Literacy resources:
- November AAC and Literacy 1st Edition (also part of a bundle)
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey
- I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie
- Turkey Trouble
- Strega Nona
- November AAC and Literacy 2nd Edition (also part of a money-saving bundle)
- The Night Before Thanksgiving
- Turk and Runt
- Thank you, Omu
- The Roll-Away Pumpkin
Apraxia Thanksgiving Speech Therapy Activities
Over the years, I’ve created a wide variety of apraxia resources—like Apraxia on the Go, Apraxia Snip and Stick, Apraxia Printables, and Apraxia Interactive Notebooks. November is the perfect time to use the Thanksgiving-themed packets to keep your sessions both effective and festive. Let’s take a peek inside and see how these activities can bring a little turkey-time fun to your apraxia caseload!
November Apraxia on the Go – This features some year around no prep worksheets and some Thanksgiving themed pages!
Thanksgiving Snip and Stick Apraxia – This is such a simple Thanksgiving speech activity! They’re also great to send home for speech homework!
Thanksgiving Articulation Worksheets and Activities
Take a look at this round-up of Thanksgiving-themed articulation activities I’ve cooked up for your speech room:
- Thanksgiving Articulation Worksheets
- Thankful Articulation
- Thanksgiving Color, Cut, and Glue Worksheets
- November Articulation Game Boards
- Thanksgiving Spin-Go Articulation Games
Thanksgiving Language Activities
Grammar, describing, WH questions—oh my! Whether you’re working with mixed groups or focusing on language goals alone, I’ve got plenty of Thanksgiving fun for you. Here’s a round-up to make planning easy:
Thanksgiving Describing
Describing is such an important (and complex!) skill. It draws on background knowledge, categorization, vocabulary, and more. Whenever I can, I love weaving in seasonal vocabulary—because it’s meaningful, relevant, and gives children the chance for multiple exposures. The Thanksgiving edition is bursting with thankful vocabulary words, worksheets, and task cards!
November A Dab of Speech and Language
This is the ultimate packet for mixed groups and it makes for some easy lesson planning! It targets articulation, language, and fluency with fun, no-prep pages that make planning a breeze. I just love bringing a little Thanksgiving fun into the speech room!
These also include some blank worksheets so you can customize them for any goal during the month of November!
November Interactive Language Notebook
These interactive resources feature year-round activities along with a fun Thanksgiving theme to keep your students engaged in November. They’re a great, hands-on way to get in some language practice!
These language notebooks address vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms), grammar, WH questions, categories, sequencing, and more! The food sort is also perfect for a food theme!
November WH Question Short Stories
These no prep pages features 30 different short stories with November themes such as football and Thanksgiving! Currently, these are in a bundle or in the membership!
I also have some oldies, but goodies! Check out this blog post for Thanksgiving Expressive Language Activities and Thanksgiving Receptive Language Activities!
Thanksgiving Literacy-Based Therapy Activities
Books are hands-down my favorite therapy tools! They spark so much language and make literacy-based therapy both engaging and effective. Over the years, I’ve created a whole library of Thanksgiving-themed book companions to make planning easier for your language groups. These stories are perfect for targeting a wide range of language skills—from vocabulary and comprehension to sequencing and describing—all while bringing a touch of Thanksgiving fun to your speech room. And yes—every single one is included in The Speech is Sweet Club!
Here’s a quick list of Thanksgiving book companions your students will love:
- I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie – blog post (update coming soon)
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey – blog post
- Bear Says Thanks – This is great for teaching story elements!
- Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’ – The perfect book for the Thanksgiving holiday!
- Turkey Trouble – blog post with freebie
- November Literature Flip Books 1st Edition – blog post
- November Literature Flip Books 2nd Edition
Thanksgiving Themed Phonology Activities
My Phonology on the Fly Bundle is packed with games, worksheets, interactive notebook activities, and more for practicing minimal pairs! These no-prep activities make it easy (and fun) to target phonological processes during your sessions. Let’s peek inside the Thanksgiving edition:
Thanksgiving Themed Stuttering Activities
My Fluency in a Snap series includes an entire year’s worth of no-prep stuttering activities and games! The November version features a festive Thanksgiving theme to keep your students motivated and engaged.
Thanksgiving Speech Therapy Crafts
As speech therapists, we juggle so much once the school year is in full swing! November can be packed with IEP meetings, progress reports, and busy schedules—both at school and at home. That’s why I love Thanksgiving crafts that require zero prep. Just print and go for a meaningful session without the extra stress! Crafts are also a wonderful way to target fine motor skills in the speech room and are perfect for co-treatments with occupational therapists. Here are some of my favorite Thanksgiving crafts for speech therapy:
November Speech Therapy Crafts – These are a fun activity for mixed groups! They address a wide variety of speech and language targets, speech sounds, syllable patterns for apraxia, and words for working on fluency shaping strategies!
Pumpkin Pie Craft – Super simple crafts are my latest obsession! Just color and cut! These are currently exclusive to my membership (photo coming soon).
Thanksgiving Word Lists Crafts – Perfect for mixed groups! These Thanksgiving-themed word lists address articulation, fluency, and language goals. These easy-peasy crafts are a great way to introduce your students to new vocabulary in your speech sessions. I love a good craft (photo coming soon) and some quick lists!
Pilgrim and Mayflower Crafts – This packet features three different activities – a boy pilgrim for the initial position of words, a girl pilgrim for the final position of words, and the Mayflower for the final position! This is also a club exclusive!
Thanksgiving Speech Therapy Activities Conclusion
I hope this massive round-up of Thanksgiving activities has been helpful! Feel free to revisit it anytime—it’s your go-to hub for inspiration whenever you need fresh ideas or a boost for your lesson plans. I’ll continue to update this post as I create new resources and curate even more Thanksgiving themes for your speech groups.
And don’t forget—all of the resources mentioned in this blog post are included inside my membership, The Speech is Sweet Club, designed especially for busy SLPs like you! Joining The Speech is Sweet Club is a great way to save time and get instant access to every Thanksgiving resource in one convenient place.
If you’d like more seasonal ideas delivered straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email community for updates, freebies, and inspiration all year long.
Here’s to a Thanksgiving season filled with laughter, gratitude, and meaningful speech sessions—and may this collection spark new favorites to add to your November lesson plans!
Happy Thanksgiving!
