Looking for some fun winter speech therapy activities? Winter is the perfect time to add cozy, seasonal themes to your speech sessions — no snowballs required. From snowmen and hot chocolate to polar animals and winter clothing, this mega guide includes ideas that work across a wide range of speech and language goals.
Tips for Planning Winter Speech Therapy Activities
Winter break is over, and it’s the perfect time to tap into some New Year energy! Since getting back into a routine can feel challenging, I recommend keeping things simple when planning your winter speech therapy sessions. Choose just a few seasonal themes to guide your lessons, and before you know it, you’ll be relaxing on spring break.
- Choose no/low prep materials. Honestly, this is always my number one tip no matter the time of year haha!
- Select a few winter themes. Using themes like snow, winter clothing, or arctic animals encourages vocabulary development, supports language expansion, and makes it easier to target multiple goals within the same session.
- Revisit favorite books. If you’re short on time, pick two or three books and revisit them throughout the season. You can even rotate them.
- Consider mixed groups. Activities that can be easily adapted help you support students with different needs within the same session.
- Lean on your membership resources. The Speech is Sweet Club is packed with winter-themed activities—from articulation crafts to book companions—that will take the stress out of winter planning.
Winter Themes for Speech Therapy
I love this time of year! There are truly so many fun winter themes to explore. I love using themed therapy because it makes lesson planning more efficient. With thousands of winter themed speech therapy materials available, narrowing your focus to a specific theme like winter sports or arctic animals can make planning much easier.
Themes also help build world knowledge and vocabulary, and most of all, they’re fun. Grab a cup of hot cocoa and let’s dive into some thematic therapy.
Snowman Themed Speech Therapy
There is nothing that defines winter quite like building a snowman. It’s the perfect winter activity and a snowman theme is truly a must! The Speech is Sweet Club features more than a dozen snowman-themed goodies!
Check out my snowman read alouds blog post for loads of literacy-based therapy ideas for some of my favorite snowy reads!
You can also find a free story map in my blog post all about Snowman All Year by Caralyn Buehner!
Snowman Articulation
These snowman printables are super cute! You can even turn them into play-doh smash mats by putting them inside a dry erase sleeve!
Winter Articulation Notebook
This resource is a collection of five different fun activities! These snowman puzzles are perfect for a snowman theme! Every activity features target words for all speech sounds and consonant blends! The other tasks include a hot chocolate pouch, Jack Frost flips, mitten flap-ups, and a snow globe sort with initial and final sounds.
Snowman Articulation Crafts
Your articulation students will love super simple crafts! Just color and cut, no glue required! These no prep activities are exclusive to The Speech is Sweet Club! These address initial, medial, and final positions for all speech sounds, s blends, r blends, and l blends!
Snowman Dabber Crafts
I love breaking out the bingo daubers/dot markers any chance I can get! Just color, cut, and dab! These winter activities are also only available in the membership!
Yeti Themed Speech Therapy
Yetis are always a student favorite! I mean who can resist these rugged snowy monsters?! This theme is out of the ordinary and can spark your students’ imaginations! Check out my blog post, Yeti Theme in Speech Therapy, for loads of ideas, games, and resources!
Winter Speech Therapy Activities
Winter AAC and Literacy Activities
I’ve created AAC book companions for tons of winter favorites, so you’ll be set all season 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 a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow, The Biggest Snowman Ever, and more! Each companion includes storyboards, retelling strips, communication pictures, file folder games, and comprehension cards—everything you need to bring winter vocabulary to life in your speech room!
AAC and Literacy Resources
- Winter AAC and Literacy Volume One (also in a seasonal bundle)
- Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright
- Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett
- Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
- Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman
- Winter AAC and Literacy Volume Two
- Bear Can’t Sleep by Karma Wilson
- Loud Winter’s Nap by Katy Hudson
- Flight School by Lita Judge
- Snowmen at Work by Caralyn Buehner
- Winter AAC and Literacy Volume Three
- Snowy Nap by Jan Brett
- Mouse’s First Snow by Lauren Thompson
- The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel
- Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen
- January AAC and Literacy 1st Edition (also in a year long bundle)
- There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro
- The Mitten by Jan Brett
- The Hat by Jan Brett
- Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
- February AAC and Literacy 1st Edition
- Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- January AAC and Literacy 2nd Edition (also in a year long bundle)
- Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson
- The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll
- Snowman All Year by Caralyn Buehner
- Bedtime for Yeti by Vin Vogel
Apraxia Winter Speech Therapy Activities
Over the years, I’ve created a wide variety of apraxia resources, including Apraxia on the Go, Apraxia Snip and Stick, Apraxia Printables, and Apraxia Interactive Notebooks. These winter-themed packets are a great way to keep therapy sessions engaging during the colder months. Let’s take a peek inside and see how these activities can add a little winter magic to your apraxia sessions!
January Apraxia on the Go – This packet is perfect all season long!
Winter Apraxia Printables – These simple sheets also make great homework activities!
Love classic color, cut, and glue activities?! Check out Winter Snip and Stick Apraxia!
Winter Articulation Worksheets and Activities
Here is a quick list of some of the winter themed articulation activities I’ve created over the years:
- Winter Color, Cut, and Glue Articulation Activities
- Winter Articulation Vocabulary Books – blog post
- January Articulation Games
- February Articulation Games – blog post
- Jack Frost Articulation
- Winter Spin-Go Articulation Games
- Winter Articulation Notebook – blog post
Winter Language Activities
Grammar, describing, and WH-questions, brrr! From snowy scenes to arctic animals and winter adventures, these activities make it easy to target a variety of language goals. Here’s a round-up to simplify your planning:
Winter Describing
Describing is such an important (and complex!) skill. It draws on background knowledge, categorization, vocabulary, and so much more. Whenever I can, I love weaving in seasonal vocabulary because it’s meaningful, relevant, and gives students plenty of opportunities for repeated exposure. The winter edition is packed with cozy, seasonal vocabulary (from polar bear to ice hockey), worksheets, and task cards that your language groups will love!
January A Dab of Speech and Language
This is the ultimate packet for mixed groups and makes lesson planning easier! It targets articulation, language, and fluency with fun, no-prep pages that make planning a breeze. I just love bringing a little winter fun into the speech room!
Winter Barrier Games
Barrier games are such a fun and engaging way to tackle a wide variety of language skills such as spatial concepts, following 2-step directions, answering WH questions, and much more! All of my barrier games are included in The Speech is Sweet Club or in a money-saving bundle. These winter scenes feature winter animals, snow, and so much more!
More Language Resources
Here is a quick round-up of the rest of my language therapy resources to help you plan your winter speech sessions! These cover a variety of skills.
Winter Receptive Language
Winter Expressive Language
Winter Color By Pronouns
Winter Snip and Stick Grammar
Groundhog’s Day Pronouns Freebie
Winter Literacy-Based Therapy Activities
Books are truly my favorite therapy tools, especially during the winter months. There’s something so cozy about curling up with a great story while building language and literacy skills. Over the years, I’ve created a library of winter-themed book companions to make your planning easier and your speech therapy sessions more meaningful. And yes, every single one is included inside The Speech is Sweet Club! Here’s a quick list of winter book companions your students will love.
- Tacky the Penguin – blog post
- Bear Snores On – This is one of my favorite winter-themed books!
- Snowflake Bentley
- There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow – blog post
- The Hat Lap Book Companion
- Wilfred Lap Book Companion
- January Literature Flip Books 1st Edition – blog post
- January Literature Flip Books 2nd Edition
- The Mitten Freebie – blog post
- Groundhog’s Day Picture Books
Winter Themed Phonology Activities
My Phonology on the Fly Bundle features tons of printable activities such as games, worksheets, interactive notebook activities, and more for minimal pairs! These are great activities to tackle phonological processes. Let’s peek inside the winter edition:
Check out a full preview on my Winter Minimal Pairs blog post!
Winter Themed Stuttering Activities
My Fluency in a Snap series includes an entire year’s worth of no-prep stuttering activities and games! The January version features a winter theme complete with penguins, polar bears, and snowmen to keep your students motivated and engaged.
These activities are designed around the fluency shaping strategies of easy onsets and light contacts. There are also no prep pacing sticks included to practice flexible rates! I’ve also included stuttering education pages in every packet so that students can learn how to spot stuttering myths and learn about strategies!
Easy Crafts for Winter Speech Therapy
As speech therapists, we juggle so much once the new year is in full swing. Winter months can be especially busy with IEP meetings, progress reports, indoor recess schedules, and all the little disruptions that come with the season. That’s why I love winter crafts that require little to no prep. Just print and go for a meaningful therapy 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 winter crafts for speech therapy.
January 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! (also in a bundle)
January Speech Therapy Crafts 2nd Edition – The second edition packet features more winter themed templates (snowboards, ice skates, polar bears, and more)! (also in a bundle)
Penguin Crafts – These no prep crafts are exclusive to The Speech is Sweet Club! How cute are these for the winter season?!
Digital Speech Therapy Materials for Winter Teletherapy
Are you a speech teletherapist or a no print enthusiast?! My digital snowball games are the perfect way to incorporate some frigid fun in your cozy speech room! I have three different winter games: Articulation Snowballs, Apraxia Snowballs, and Fluency Snowballs (only available in the membership)!
Winter Speech Therapy Activities Conclusion
I hope this massive round-up of winter-themed speech therapy activities has been helpful! Feel free to visit it time and time again — think of it as your own cozy hub for inspiration whenever you need help planning winter speech therapy sessions. I’ll continue updating this post as I create more winter resources and curate new seasonal themes.
Don’t forget, all of the resources featured in this blog post can be found inside my membership, designed for SLPs just like you — The Speech is Sweet Club!
If you’d love speech therapy ideas delivered straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email community.
Here’s to a winter filled with cozy themes, snowy fun, and joyful speech sessions. Have a wonderful day!
