Only a few more sleeps until Christmas and for all those who do not want to fall behind with speech practice, here are some great Christmas conversation starter. While these topics are great for targeting all sounds, they are separated into the three most commonly targeted sounds for kids in speech pathology.

The ‘r’ sound

• Rudolph the red nose reindeer is a classic Christmas song that is a great talking point not only for sounds but also as a teaching tool. Have a discussion around how Rudolph teaches us about importance of embracing our individual differences and how they can be a positive impact in our lives.
• Having a chat about some ideas for Kris Kringle gifts is a good way to get in a lot of practice with the ‘r’ sounds in clusters.
• The Grinch story is a great conversation starter for more practice with those ‘r’ clusters as well as teaching the importance of being appreciative of non-material gifts that the holiday season brings us.

The ‘th’ sound

• A child friendly version of the story of Father Christmas or Saint Nicolas would be a good topic to discuss with late primary and early high school students. It gives an opportunity to practice those ‘th’ sounds and discuss the importance of helping those who are less fortunate.
• The Twelve days of Christmas is a good theme with the words ‘fourth’, ‘fifth’, ‘sixth’, ‘seventh’, ‘eighth’, ‘ninth’, ‘tenth’, ‘eleventh’ and ‘twelfth’ providing an abundance of ‘th’ sounds to work on.

The ‘s’ sound

• The classic discussion of what kids want Santa to bring them for Christmas is a great one for practicing the ‘s’ sound. It even works for kids that refer to Santa as Saint Nic or Father Christmas.
• The story behind the mistletoe tradition is a good one for teens that may find the topic interesting and still have a bit of trouble with their ‘s’ sounds.
• If your kid’s participate in a Secret Santa with cousins or friends, you can discuss what they received from their Secret Santa.
• Tales of Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future is a topic loaded with ‘s’ sounds, good for late primary and early high school kids.

Contact us for results focused speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have speech pathology related questions, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post Christmas Conversation Starters for speech appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.