December Oral Language Activities

Here are the December activities to promote oral language and early literacy skills.  How many can you and your child complete this month?

A tip for each day!	√
What 2 words do you hear in “candycane”? What sound does ‘candy’ and ‘cane’ start with?
Do you know another word for “present”? (gift, package)
Here’s a riddle for you: What is warm, chocolate, and has marshmallows?
New word: “famished” What does that mean?
Name as many things that you can think of that come in a can (pop, peas, soup, etc.)
Let’s drum out the beats in the word “decorations” [de/co/ra/tions]—4 parts.
Tell 5 things that you will need for winter that you do NOT need for summer.  Use complete sentences (e.g., I will need gloves, I will need boots….)
Make popcorn. Talk about how it looks (before and after it pops), sounds, smells and tastes.
How many words can you think of that rhyme with the word “sack”? (e.g., tack, rack, pack).
Watch a holiday video with your child. Who were the characters? What was it about?
What do you do with these things: snow shovel, sled, scarf, present, snowball
Let’s stretch out the sounds in the word: “lights” [l-igh-t-s]—4 sounds
Let’s write a list of our favourite things!
Tell me another word for “sparkly”.
Tell me one thing that belongs in each category: furniture, sports, tools
How many things can you think of that zip up? (coat, pants, back pack, pencil case)
What sound do you hear in the middle of these words: doll, log, box, song
Let’s name or point to something that is: *long, *short, *hot, *cold,*sweet, *sour
Which 2 words go together best: mittens, boots, cookies.  Tell me how/why they go together.
What does it mean if a person says “I am roasting in here!”
What kinds of things might you see in a toy store?
Find as many “white” things as you can!
How may syllables do you hear in the word “holiday” [ho/li/day]—3 parts
Tell me some words that rhyme with “tree” (e.g., bee, me, see, etc.)
Sing a holiday song with your family.  Tell what the song is about using complete sentences.  What is your favourite song?
What sound do you hear at the end of these words: love, give, have, save
Tell me where you might find these things: socks, juice, plate, coat, dirty dishes
What is crunchy, orange and used to make a snowman?
Have a chat or look at pictures from this year with your family: “What did you do this year?” “Where did you go?” “What was your favourite thing about this year?” “What do you hope to do next year?”
What month comes next?  Do you know what year it will be?  Bye-Bye 2010!

Provided by: The Speech and Language Services Department of 

                      the Greater Essex County District School Board