St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun theme to use in your speech and language therapy sessions. There are tons of great vocabulary and activities.
I will admit that Saint Patrick’s Day is not my favorite holiday.
While it’s fun to talk about catching a leprechaun and finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I don’t love the leprechauns that are mischievous and leave messes/pranks behind. My students don’t need any more ideas on how to misbehave! 😂
Here are some fun St. Patrick’s Day books and 13 easy St. Patrick’s Day-themed ideas to use in your speech therapy sessions the next couple of weeks.
The Best St. Patrick’s Day Books
- Pete the Cat: The Great Leprechaun Chase by: James Dean
- Good Luck! A St. Patrick's Day Story by: Joan Holub (Great for Preschool and new readers!)
- How to Catch a Leprechaun by: Adam Wallace
- There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover by: Lucille Colandro
- The Night Before St. Patrick's Day by: Natasha Wing
- Ten Lucky Leprechauns by: Kathryn Heling & Deborah Hembrook
- The Luckiest St. Patrick's Day Ever! by: Teddy Slater
Now, pair that book with an activity (or 2) for some super simple therapy planning!
St. Patrick’s Day Speech Therapy Activities:
- Read a St. Patrick’s Day-themed book. See the list above for some ideas!
- Make or draw a leprechaun trap. Discuss the items you need and how you will build it. Use all of your good speech sounds!
- Practice following directions with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. Use props/pictures and create your own directions for students to follow. You could even grab some gold coins to use as manipulatives.
- Print and cut out St. Patrick’s Day-themed shapes (e.g., clovers, shamrocks, gold coins, leprechauns, etc.). They can all be the same, or they can be different. Write target vocabulary on them and hide them around the room. As you practice the vocabulary targets, say “where” you found the picture. For example, “I found the pot of gold under the table!”
- Cut out some paper coins or shamrocks, write target words/vocabulary on each one and fling it off of a parachute. Practice the words as you find the coin/shamrock. While using the parachute, you can also target up/down, high/low, fast/slow, etc.
- Create a simple St. Patrick’s Day themed sensory bin. Use a filler such as green and yellow crinkle paper. Add a scoop, tongs, spoons, or measuring cups. Add objects to find such as mini clovers, gold coins, flash cards, and clover shaped toys. That’s it! You can also add a small container to “hide” the items into such as a miniature cauldron. Buy a black one to use for your Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day sensory bins.
- Check out a NO PREP St. Patrick’s Day themed activity by clicking HERE, or find it at the end of this post.
- Sing a St. Patrick’s Day song. One great song that includes movement is “St. Patrick’s Day Songs Boom Chicka Boom” by The Learning Station. Another good one is “St. Patrick’s Day Dance and Freeze” by Jack Hartmann. *Make sure to watch videos in advance to check for appropriateness for your students.*
- Using lots of paper coins or candy coins, spell out letters and names. You could also line them up and talk about which line is long/longer/longest, short/shorter/shortest, etc.
- Practice describing different St. Patrick’s Day themed items using photos.
- Create a leprechaun using modeling dough and additional items such as googly eyes, toothpicks, twist ties, pipe cleaner pieces, and beads. Describe your leprechaun. Talk about what it looks like, but also tell a story about it. What does your leprechaun like to do? What does your leprechaun like to eat? Is your leprechaun similar or different than your friend’s? Target fringe vocabulary words such as squish/squeeze, mold, roll, and pound/smash.
- Whatever toys your students love to play with, turn it into a St. Patrick’s Day scene by taping paper clovers, shamrocks, and gold coins on it! It's really fun with toy doll houses and plastic barns.
- Grab some clover shaped sugar cookies to decorate with frosting and candy. A little too much effort/money? Cut out some clovers, coins, pots of gold, and other smaller shapes. Decorate them by following directions or describe your item. Make sure to use all of your good speech sounds!
St. Patrick’s Day can be such a fun theme to use in therapy. It can be tricky, though, if your students start misbehaving because of all of the naughty tricks and pranks leprechauns often do.
🤔 But what if you want to do St. Patrick’s Day activities, but you don’t really have access to a lot of materials? Or you don’t have a place to store them?
No problem! Just grab some NO PREP differentiated St. Patrick’s Day categories and following directions activities.
🤔 No access to a functioning printer?
No sweat! Just open these worksheets in a PDF reader on a device and mark up the page digitally.
🤔 Need help coming up with a homework idea?
Just print a few extra worksheets to send home as homework. Simple enough!
🍀 Cross something off of your to-do list and save time planning by checking out these NO PREP St. Patrick’s Day themed speech therapy activities below!
Check out the St. Patrick’s Day activities by clicking HERE.
Comments
Post a Comment