Ideas to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
Speech Therapy
Looking for Leprechauns - One popular St. Patrick's Day tradition is looking for leprechauns. This can easily be made into a language activity! Try describing where the objects are hidden to practice positional words (it is under the rock). If your child is practicing speech sounds, you can also hide it by or in objects that include their sound (in the Lucky Charms box, by the keys).
Describing - Describing is a great language-building activity! Try describing St. Patrick's Day items like leprechauns, gold coins, shamrocks, and rainbows. You can talk about their color, shape, size, what they are made of, and so much more!
Occupational Therapy
St. Patrick’s Day Themed Yoga - Try out these poses from PinkOatmeal.com: St. Patrick's Day Kids Yoga - Pink Oatmeal
Dance Like a Leprechaun - Get kids moving by playing some traditional Irish music and dancing together! If you want more ideas on going all-in on the leprechaun theme, check out this post from HowDoesShe.com: Dance like a Leprechaun: Getting Kids to Move!
Rainbow Playdough - Work on fine motor skills while working together to create a rainbow! Here’s an Easy Gluten-Free Kool-Aid Playdough Recipe.
Feeding Therapy
Trying New Foods - There are some traditional St. Patrick's day foods that may be fun to try! You can introduce the new foods to your child. Practice describing the food (is it hot or cold? is it soft or crunchy? how does it smell?). These are some techniques we use in feeding therapy that can help children with feeding disorders learn more about new foods while also building great language skills.
Themed Recipies - Even though these aren’t traditional Irish foods, they are fun and festive!
