Low Prep Valentine’s Day Speech Therapy Ideas

Valentine’s Day is around the corner & I love celebrating my students and letting them know how much I care about them. I also like to give them the opportunity to appreciate their family, classmates, teachers, and school staff (if they are interested!).

Here are a few low prep ideas for your Valentine’s Day speech therapy plans! I really enjoy using themes over 1-2 weeks, so hopefully some of these resources will help you plan out a few sessions!

1) Check-in Questions

No matter what my students’ goals are, I start out all of my sessions by checking in about how they are feeling and throwing out a fun question to spark some conversation. A few questions below are my go-to questions around Valentine’s Day:

• What is your favorite candy/snack?

• Who do you like to spend the most time with?

• What is something kind you could do for a friend or family member?

• What’s the best gift you’ve ever made or bought for someone?

2) Higher-Level Language Valentine’s Day Activities for Mixed Groups

I have many mixed groups with speech, language, and pragmatic goals. I like to make or invest in products that I can use for a variety of students’ goals. I originally made this Valentine’s Day resource with my older students in mind, but I’ve been able to use this with my upper elementary school students as well! This resource could be used with any student with higher-level language goals and targets including:

• Conversation skills/oral expression

• Vocabulary - Associations, Categorization, Semantic Mapping

• Sentence Building - Compound & Complex sentences

• Idioms

• Inferencing

It even includes printable Valentine’s Day grams that your students can make and pass out! Paired with other activities on this list, I can stretch this resource out for a few sessions! Some activities are sampled in the pictures above. Check it out here on TpT.

3) Free Holiday Videos

Students young and old love Simon’s Cat. And these wordless Valentine’s Day videos do not disappoint. Check it out here on Youtube.

Sample target goals:

• Prediction - What do you think will happen based on the title? What do you think might happen next?

• Inferencing - Where are they? How are they feeling? How do you know?

• Verb Tenses - Past tense, present progressive, & future!

• Compound & Complex sentences - Tell me what’s happening using the conjunction …

• Story Retell - Beginning, middle, & end

I also have students who personally request MysteryDoug Videos every time I see them. These videos are great for students with an interest in science & non fiction. Check this video out on Youtube on the topic, “Who Invented Candy?”

Sample target goals:

• Activate prior knowledge (KWL charts)

• WH-questions

• Prediction

• Non fiction retell (Main idea graphic organizers)

4) Arts & Crafts

Remember those Valentine’s Day grams included in idea #2? You need somewhere for students to put them!

If I am doing a whole classroom lesson, I have students create simple, decorated “mailboxes” so other students can leave them Valentine’s Day grams (i.e., folding a piece of construction paper, labeling it with their name, decorating it as they please).

If I’m working with individuals or a small group of students, I have them create personal “envelopes” so they can store their Valentine’s Day grams & deliver them to family once they are home. 

For students who really love hands-on activities, there is a short video on ABCya that features how to make an origami candy gift box. You’ll need a few items to make this craft, but the video demonstrates the directions step by step. Check it out on ABCya here! The directions play quite fast, however, this is the perfect activity to reinforce your students’ learned strategies including:

• Self-advocating when you need help

• Did you miss something? Go back and rewatch!

• Writing down the steps to help you remember

• Rephrasing directions in your own words  

Whether you decide to make a Valentine’s Day mailbox or create a card for a loved one,  you can still target a variety of goals during these crafty activities!

• Following Directions 

• Sequencing/Retelling

• Life skills (Writing a card)

• Articulation (Decorating card/envelope with target words/sounds)

I hope this gives you some ideas for your Valentine’s Day speech therapy sessions! Let me know in the comments if you plan to try any out!