A Project for all ages and skills
There is nothing more exciting than opening your mailbox and seeing a beautiful postcard from someplace interesting! Here are some ways to help your child make post cards to describe their summer while also targeting speech and language skills. It is a great activity with multimodality learning opportunities including writing, verbal expression, and drawing.
Start with large index cards. On the back instruct your child where the mailing address, return address, and stamps should be located. Provide lines to write in narrative. Then start getting creative…
Speech: Have your child determine a preferred activity or event from this summer. Choose some relevant words incorporating speech targets and have your child draw a picture and/or write out the words or sentences including the speech targets. Then have your child read/tell about their postcard. Example: going to the beach. Target words with /s/: sun, sunscreen, sand, sock, snack, snail, etc.
Language Processing/Word Recall: Have your child make multiple post cards to be used as picture prompts when he/she goes back to school and is asked “What did you do this summer?” This will be a great tool to help your child retell experiences. Include pictures, words, or narrative varying on your child’s ability.
Comprehension: Help your child make a few postcards to take with on the first day of school. Post cards could contain real pictures from summer outings or vacations with narrative on the back detailing the location, experience, and preferred activities. Magazine pictures could also be used. Provide your child choices to increase comprehension. Example: “Did you go swimming or ride a horse?”
AAC: On your child’s device, program in specific vocabulary related to summer experiences. Real pictures could be utilized on buttons to double as a show and tell feature (sort of like a post card) or create postcards and have your child practicing using his/her device to describe them. Don’t forget to also include social questions to ask peers when school starts. Ex. “How was your summer?” “What did you do this summer?” “Did you go to camp?”
Vocabulary: After your child determines what activities, trips, and experiences were the most memorable this summer, explore some new vocabulary to describe them. For each postcard, pick a new vocabulary word to use to describe the picture. Your child will have opportunities to practice the word every time someone asks how their summer was. Example: “Going camping was fun because I got to be adventurous.” “Learning how to use the rainbow loom was tedious.”