grevstadg – Speech-Language Pathology Services

It’s winter! When the weather is cold and rainy, it can be hard to think of ways to have fun outside. Here are ten ideas of fun outdoor activities for those cold or rainy days that have lots of opportunity for using receptive, expressive, and social communication skills. So, dress for the weather and get outside!

Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
Before heading out, create a list of things to find that match the season and weather (you can use pictures or drawings for your list for the non-readers. You can assign roles (e.g., navigator, hunter, recorder) to practice listening, speaking, and cooperation. List ideas might include pinecones, icicles, or footprints if it’s snowy; or worms, waterspouts, or raindrops on a flower if it’s rainy.
Winter Obstacle Course
Set up a simple obstacle course, like walking on a “balance beam” (a log or bench work well), jumping over rocks or snow mounds, splashing through a puddle, or crawling under low tree branches. Players can take turns giving each other instructions for the route and kids can earn points for how many obstacles they remember, how quickly they complete the course, or how fun the participants rate that route.
Cold Weather Charades
Act out winter-related activities (like sledding, skiing, or shoveling snow). Kids guess the actions, practicing both expressive and interpretative communication skills. You could extend this activity so that people then act out something that could happen next, like winning a gold medal at the Olympics for a fast ski race.
Weather Reporter Role-Play
Pretend to be weather reporters covering a “storm.” Take turns as the reporter and camera operator. Practice making up news stories about what’s happening. You could think of “guests” to interview, like Mr. Squirrel, Windy the Wind, or Ms. Orca, to practice perspective-taking, acting, clear speaking, and using your imagination. Film the weather reports and watch them together after, reliving the fun!
Winter Survival Scenario Game
Pretend to be stranded in the snow and brainstorm survival strategies. Kids can discuss what they’ll need, negotiate how they will prioritize tasks (e.g., building a shelter, finding food), and come up with creative solutions to solve problems that arise.
Cold-Weather Role-Playing Adventure
Create a story-based game where kids play different characters in a chilly environment (e.g., Arctic Explorers, Animals in the Tundra, Treasure Hunters). Kids can talk about what they’d see, hear, smell, and feel in these roles and situations, what they’d wear, how they’d move, and adventures that might occur.
Puddle Reflection Exploration
While out for a walk, look around for interesting reflections in puddles. You can look at the puddle from opposite sides or directions and describe what you see to each other (kind of like looking for different shapes in clouds in the summer!). If you each see different things, switch sides and try to see how both of your perspectives can be true, depending on your viewpoint.
Fort Building Challenge
Use natural materials (sticks, leaves, rocks) or what you have around the house or yard to construct a “fort” that can withstand the rain. Tell each other your ideas and problem-solve as a team if something doesn’t work the first time. Make it a goal that the final fort includes at least one idea from everyone playing.
Group Storytelling in the Rain
Dress for the weather, then find a spot to sit or take a walk while taking turns contributing to a collaborative story. The setting can be inspired by the weather or a storybook, like “A Rainy Day Adventure.” This is more fun if everyone has a hot chocolate to enjoy while being storytellers together!
Tropical Island Beach Vacation
Some days it just might be TOO nasty out for much outdoor play. Escape the weather inside by pretending it’s summertime and you’re on a beach or tropical island! Ask everyone what they think of when they think of summer? What would they see? Hear? Feel? Taste? Smell? Kids can wear their bathing suits or summer clothes, lay out towels, put on sunglasses, and pretend to be at the beach. To burn some energy, try a take on “the floor is lava” and pretend to hop between islands (Pillows? Cushions?), avoiding the ocean and sharks (floor) below!

Have fun playing and communicating together, and stay warm and dry!

The winter holidays can be a fun (and busy!) time of year for many kids and their families. There are lots of opportunities to support language skills during holiday activities while your family is away from school over the holidays. See what suggestions below would be fun and easy for your family to try.

Happy holidays, from the Burnaby SLP Team!

Take a lot of pictures and look back at them together frequently. This can also be looking back at photos from past holiday get-togethers and activities. Talk about what happened, using a good language model. This can help your child/student know what to expect.
Prepare for phone calls or Zoom meetings with family by talking about things that happened and practicing sharing. You can also prepare questions for your child to ask others.
Talk about Small, Medium, and Large problems that could happen around the holidays and how you can keep calm and solve them.
Discuss options of things your child can do to take a break if the holidays get overwhelming. Make a picture menu of choices. You can make one for your whole family and model using it also!
Read books together about your holiday and traditions.
Do holiday crafts or baking together. Talk with your child about what you are doing, and include the steps (e.g. “Let’s make a card for your grandma! First I draw a picture, then I write the name, then I put it in an envelope, last we send it!”).
Sing holiday songs and pause before a key rhyming word to allow them to fill it in to support their phonological awareness skills. You can also make a game of practicing rhyming other holiday words (e.g. light, night, fright, tight, bite).
To build vocabulary and categorization, try thinking of holiday words with your child, taking turns and supporting as needed. You can ask: “What are some things we see during the holidays?”, “What are some things we smell?” etc.