Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, offering plenty of opportunities for students to get in the spirit – and help strengthen their speech and language skills. There are a number of Valentine’s-themed crafts you can have them complete. Check out the list below for fun, thematic activities:

Matching games

This game from Speech Buddy is based on cutting out hearts and writing connecting words on each side of the heart. Then, cut each heart in half and mix them up. Your student will be able to build his or her understanding of different objects as they seek out matching pieces. If you are looking to focus on building fluency, ask your student to read each word out as he or she looks for its match.

Venn Diagram Hearts

You can choose two different kinds of flowers or chocolates and ask your students to compare and contrast what they see in front of them – without sampling the candy, of course. Ask them to speak in complete sentences and work on building their vocabulary. This exercise can help build their language-processing.

Playdoh Story time

Fight the temptation to join your students as they mold and mash together playdoh into different shapes. Therapy Buddy blogger Tanya Topper recommended using playdoh to let kids exercise their imagination. Add Valentine’s Day cut-outs, like hearts, for students to mold the dough so they can strengthen vocabulary. You can also ask them to explain, in full sentences, what they’re making. To help students practice certain sounds, you can have them build objects that start with different letters and use them in a sentence. This will give them a chance to flex their creativity muscles as well as practice specific sounds.

Candy Hearts

What would Valentine’s Day be without these sugary little hearts? Speech therapy blog Home Speech Home created an activity that combines learning and candy – what could be better? Instead of using the messages stamped on the front, write individual letters on the back of each piece of candy with a permanent marker. Have your students build different words and practice articulating the sounds in each one. You can also keep a few hearts unmarked for you and your students to eat!

Valentine’s day is the perfect opportunity for students in speech therapy to build their skills. With these activities, they will be excited to practice – and they’ll be able to bring their valentines home and give them to those they love most!