Support Communication Skills in a Fun, Festive Environment! The holiday season is a time for joy, connection, and celebration for friends and family, but it can also present communication challenges, especially for those with speech and language difficulties. With gatherings, festive meals, and busy environments, it’s important to incorporate helpful speech and language strategies to ensure everyone feels included and heard. From practicing active listening and creating quiet spaces for conversation to using visual supports or engaging in family activities that promote language, these tips below from our Clinical Director of Speech Therapy, Alinoel Navia, M.S. CCC-SLP can make the holidays more enjoyable, less stressful and meaningful for everyone.
- Create Language-Rich Environments
The holiday season is naturally filled with new vocabulary, exciting traditions, and festive decorations—making it a perfect time to introduce language-rich environments that can enhance children’s vocabulary and understanding. Whether setting up a holiday craft station, talking about holiday traditions, or describing the lights and sounds around the neighborhood, creating language-rich spaces encourages expressive and receptive language development. As a communication partner, YOU are your child’s the best toy!
Strategies:
- Label and Describe: As you decorate or cook, label objects and describe actions (e.g., “We’re hanging the ornaments,” “This cookie dough is sticky”).
- Introduce Holiday-Themed Vocabulary: Use words related to the holidays, such as “snowflake,” “greeting,” “gift,” and “tradition,” to introduce new vocabulary naturally.
- Encourage Storytelling: Have children share holiday experiences from past years or describe their favorite traditions.
Research Support: Studies show that vocabulary expansion in natural settings, like family gatherings, enhances word learning and comprehension in young children (Justice, 2004). For young learners, natural conversation around holiday events allows language learning in an engaging, low-pressure way.
- Use Visual Aids and Gestures
Visual aids, such as holiday picture books, recipe cards, and family photo albums, are particularly helpful for children who benefit from visual supports. Gestures and visuals help bridge comprehension gaps, making it easier for children to follow along, remember new words, and express themselves.
Strategies:
- Incorporate Holiday Books: Choose books about holiday traditions and stories that feature familiar vocabulary and repetitive structures.
- Encourage Gestures: Encourage children to use gestures along with their words (like “point to the tree” or “wave hello”) to build communication confidence.
- Create a Holiday Visual Schedule: If your family’s holiday schedule includes multiple gatherings, a visual schedule can help children anticipate what’s coming next and reduce potential anxiety.
Research Support: Visual supports improve language processing, especially in children with language delays, by reinforcing understanding through multiple modalities (Paul, Norbury, & Gosse, 2017). Furthermore, evidence shows that using gestures alongside speech encourages vocabulary development in children with and without language delays (Iverson & Goldin-Meadow, 2005).
- Practice Social Communication Skills in Real Situations
The holidays are prime time for children to practice social language skills, such as greetings, taking turns, and asking questions. These social interactions help children build confidence and develop critical pragmatic skills.
Strategies:
- Role-Play Scenarios: Before family gatherings, role-play social scenarios, such as introducing themselves, saying “thank you,” and asking questions about gifts.
- Set Up a Holiday “Store”: Pretend play a “holiday store” to practice giving and receiving items or role-playing interactions (e.g., “How can I help you today?”).
- Use Positive Reinforcement: Encourage and praise children when they attempt new social skills or initiate conversations, even if they don’t get it exactly right.
Research Support: Social language practice in real-world settings builds pragmatic skills, enhancing children’s ability to communicate effectively with others (Paul, Norbury, & Gosse, 2017). Researchers have also found that children who practice communication in social play settings show improved conversational abilities and adaptive social behavior (Timler, Olswang, & Coggins, 2005).
- Balance Structure and Flexibility
The hustle and bustle of the holiday season can sometimes be overwhelming, especially for children with sensory sensitivities or language delays. To help children stay engaged and comfortable, it’s essential to balance structured activities with breaks and time to wind down.
Strategies:
- Schedule Breaks: If your family gatherings tend to be long, schedule quiet breaks where children can relax and recharge.
- Provide Familiar Activities: Set aside time for a familiar game or quiet play so that children can feel grounded amid the festivities.
- Use Language to Offer Choices: Phrasing choices as questions (e.g., “Do you want to play with the train set or read a book?”) empowers children to make decisions, building their autonomy and comprehension.
Research Support: Maintaining a balance of structured activities and downtime supports children’s social engagement, allowing them to join activities while having opportunities to recharge (Justice & Kaderavek, 2004).
- Engage in Play-Based Language Development Activities
Play is one of the most powerful tools for language development, and the holiday season is a perfect time to encourage play-based learning with a seasonal twist. Engaging in play allows children to learn naturally, building vocabulary, sentence structure, and social skills.
Strategies:
- Set Up Holiday-Themed Sensory Bins: Use sensory materials like fake snow, holiday-themed toys, and miniature decorations to encourage language learning through sensory play.
- Create a “Build-a-Sentence” Game: Write holiday words on slips of paper and encourage children to create sentences by combining them.
- Use Themed Crafts to Encourage Verbal Expression: Craft activities, such as making holiday cards or decorations, give children opportunities to talk about the process and describe what they’re creating.
Research Support: Research shows that play-based language activities significantly improve expressive and receptive language skills in young children by fostering natural communication in an engaging context (Paul, Norbury, & Gosse, 2017).
Sources
- Justice, L. M., & Kaderavek, J. N. (2004). Emergent literacy intervention for vulnerable preschoolers: Relative effects of adult–child shared reading and explicit print referencing intervention. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
- Iverson, J. M., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2005). Gesture paves the way for language development. Psychological Science.
- Paul, R., Norbury, C. F., & Gosse, C. (2017). Language Disorders from Infancy Through Adolescence: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating. Elsevier.
By incorporating these research-backed strategies into your holiday activities, you can help support your child’s speech and language development while creating meaningful family memories. Enjoy the festive season, and have fun creating a communication-friendly environment that’s rich with opportunities for learning, connection, and celebration!
Ali Navia is an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist who provides speech therapy services to children and families throughout Philadelphia. Ali is experienced in working with all populations, from early intervention to skilled nursing facilities. She primarily works with children with developmental language delays and various diagnoses. Additionally, Ali enjoys creating individualized resources for each child’s learning style and interests to make communication fun, meaningful, and engaging. She is passionate about helping families optimize their child’s ability to communicate. She is experienced in supervising younger clinicians seeking certification in SLP. Ali is PROMPT-trained, PECS Level 1-trained and SOS feeding-trained. Read more>>
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