10 Summer Speech Therapy Activities to Try at the Beach

Summer is the perfect time to turn everyday moments into meaningful speech and language opportunities—and what better place to do that than the beach? Whether your child is working on articulation, language development, or social skills, the sandy shores are full of engaging, hands-on ways to practice.

Here are 10 speech and language activities you can try during your next trip to the beach!

🐚 1. Beach Search with a Sound Twist

Ask your child to find things on the beach that start with a certain sound (e.g., “Find something that starts with /s/!”). This is a fun way to target articulation and phonological awareness.

👉 Bonus: Describe each item—its size, color, texture—for extra vocabulary practice.

🏖️ 2. Build-a-Story Sandcastles

As you build a sandcastle, co-create a story together:“Who lives in the castle?” “What magical sea creature visits?”Great for narrative development and imaginative play.

🐠 3. Beach Bingo: Category Edition

Create a mental or printed bingo board of beach-related categories like “animals,” “clothes,” “foods,” and “toys.” Have your child find or name one item from each. Targets categorization and vocabulary.

🏄 4. Preposition Practice in the Sand

Use toys or shells to model prepositions:

• “Put the shell under the bucket.”

• “Bury the crab toy in the sand.”

• “Place the rock next to the shovel.”This helps build understanding of spatial concepts.

🗣️ 5. Beach Charades

Act out different beach activities (like surfing, swimming, building a sandcastle) and have your child guess. Then switch roles! This builds expressive language and social inferencing.

🍧 6. Descriptive Snack Time

Have a snack at the beach (think: watermelon, juice boxes, goldfish crackers) and encourage your child to describe the taste, temperature, texture, and color.This promotes descriptive language and sensory vocabulary.

🏝️ 7. Treasure Hunt with Two-Step Directions

Hide a “treasure” like a toy or seashell and give your child two-step directions:“Walk to the umbrella and turn left to find the treasure.”Perfect for practicing listening skills and following directions.

👣 8. Footprint Storytelling

Walk along the shore and use footprints in the sand to tell a story.“Who do you think left these?” “Where were they going?”This encourages question answering, imagination, and inference.

🐬 9. I Spy: Ocean Edition

“I spy with my little eye… something blue that swims!”Great for descriptive language, question formulation, and turn-taking.

🧺 10. Pack & Plan Together

Before your beach day, involve your child in planning and packing. Ask:

• “What should we bring?”

• “What do we need to stay safe in the sun?”This promotes sequencing, problem-solving, and functional communication.

  
  

🏆 Final Tip:

Keep it light and playful. The goal is to integrate speech and language practice into natural interactions—not make the beach feel like a classroom.

With a little creativity, your child can soak up the sun and language skills at the same time. Have fun, and don’t forget the sunscreen!