Speech Therapy Activities for St. Patrick's Day

Speech Therapy Activities for St. Patrick's Day

In America we love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, as do many other countries around the world.

Although wearing green and pinching people is very fun, many people don't know how St. Patrick's Day got its start.

Here are some facts about the real St. Patrick.

Facts About St. Patrick

  1. St. Patrick was born in England in approximately AD 385.

  2. His birth name was Maewyn.

  3. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of 16.

  4. He was taken to Ireland where he worked as a slave for 6 years.

  5. He escaped from slavery.

  6. He became a Catholic bishop in Ireland and many people loved him.

  7. He was imprisoned many times, but always escaped.

  8. He worked as a bishop in the Catholic church for 30 years.

  9. He died on March 17. This is now the day we celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

  10. Some people believe that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland.


St. Patty's.com has information about St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Day, as well as many other websites if you simply google the topic. 



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Receptive Language

Either tell the children the story of St. Patrick, or read the facts together. Another great resource is your public library.

Check out some children's books that are all about St. Patrick!

After they know the background, ask them the following yes/no and wh questions.

Yes/No

  1. Was St. Patrick always named Patrick?

  2. Was St. Patrick born in Ireland?

  3. Did St. Patrick become a slave?

  4. Was St. Patrick 9 years old when he was kidnapped?

  5. Was St. Patrick loved by his people?

WH-Questions

  1. Where was St. Patrick born?

  2. How old was he when he was kidnapped and became a slave?

  3. How many years did he serve as the Bishop of Ireland?

  4. What day did he die?

  5. What do many people believe he did with snakes?

Expressive Language

Shamrock Expressions

Print and cut out five shamrocks from this download. On each shamrock, write or glue the following sentences...

  1. What treasure would you want to find at the bottom of a rainbow?

  2. Tell me what you think a leprechaun looks like.

  3. What is your favorite green food and why? (Jello, salad, skittles, etc)

  4. Describe a time when you felt very lucky.

  5. What would you do with a pot of gold?


Have the child chose a shamrock and answer the questions using full sentences. You can send the shamrocks home and they can do this activity with their parents.

Leprechaun Story

Show the kids this picture.

Tell them this is the end of a story, and they are going to make up the beginning and middle.

Together (or individually) make up a story about two leprechauns looking for gold, and ultimately where the gold ended up.

Storytelling is a wonderful expressive language activity and it gets their creative juices flowing.

Follow each student's lead! It will be fun to see where their stories take you. 

If you want to take this a step further, you can type the story together as you create it and send it for homework.

They can then retell the story to their parents and siblings. 

Secret Leprechaun

In this activity, the children get to become the leprechaun!

Have them choose one person that they want to write a letter for (I like when they do this for their teacher or their parents).

In the letter, they can write all the things they like about that person.

Have them talk about each attribute and then write it (or help them write it).

The other way to do this is to write the nice things on a shamrock and then put all the shamrocks in an envelope.

It is signed, of course, from the Secret Leprechaun. This activity not only encourages expressive language skills, but social skills and emotions. 


SEE ALSO: The Best Free App for Speech Therapy


Treasure Hunt

You can't celebrate St. Patrick's Day without a treasure hunt!

This activity is great for receptive language goals. Here is an example of the clues.

You can print these and use them, or make your own that pertain to your work space.

  1. Leave on the desk...

    CLUE: Its your lucky day! I have lost my treasure, and you get to find it! Go to the place where you turn on the light.

  2. Leave taped to the light switch...

    CLUE: You are one bright kid! Go to the place where you sharpen your pencil.

  3. Leave on the pencil sharpener...

    CLUE: You are sharp! Now look under the table where you work.

  4. Leave taped to the underside of the desk...

    CLUE: You are Getting closer! Go to the place where your speech teacher types.

  5. Leave on or near your computer...

    CLUE: One last clue, and you have found my treasure! Look on the bookshelf where I love to sit and read books. That is where I have left my treasure!


Leave a treat hiding somewhere on the bookshelf.

This will be one of your student's most memorable activities of the year.

They love nothing more than a hunt! I like to buy chocolate gold coins and each student gets one or two, or a little ziploc baggie with a handful of Lucky Charms cereal.

(I can guarantee they will be happy with any treat they find!)

Sequencing

  1. Print and cut out the facts from above into sentence strips and mix them up on the table. Have the child put the facts in appropriate order.

  2. Create a timeline by drawing a straight line across a plain piece of paper. Have the students add facts to the timeline in the correct order, either from memory or while looking at the list of facts.


Let them use green marker or pen, of course!

Sorting

Print and cut out the following words. Mix them up on the table and tell the kids to separate the St. Patrick's Day themed words from other words that don't belong.

If you can find or make a green container or a shamrock to place the words on, even better. 

Shamrock

Green

Gold

Rainbow

Leprechaun

Irish

St. Patrick

Pinch

Eggs

Stocking

Hearts

Turkey

Santa

Costume

Fireworks


Remember, if the student mis-categorizes an item, use it as an expressive language activity and have them explain to you (even persuade you) why. 


SEE ALSO: The Best Books for Speech Therapy Practice

Speech therapy books for targeting multiple goals

Articulation

Print the shamrocks in this download.

Fill each one up with target sounds or words.

If the student is at the sentence level, have them make their own sentences while reading the words in the shamrocks, or use a carrier phrase such as "I found a ____ in my pot of gold!" 



About the Author

Lindsey is an M.S. CCC-SLP from Salt Lake City, UT. She received both her B.S. and M.S. from Utah State University. When she's not chasing her 5 crazy kids around, she enjoys creating engaging speech therapy ideas and materials. Read More



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