“Every child is a different kind of flower and all together, make this world a beautiful garden.” -

Anonymous

The flowers are blooming, the air is warmer and the sun is shining. Spring is here! With all the

beauty around us, we’re inspired to make our own little flower gardens. And even better- you

can eat these once they’re complete! See below for our step-by-step instructions, along with

some other ways to encourage speech and language skills this Spring!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Snack Packs

Oreo cookies

Gummy worms

Green sprinkles (optional)

Plastic spoons

Pipe cleaners

Steps:

First, place the Oreos in a bag (we recommend 2 Oreos per one Snack Pack pudding) and crush the cookies to make the “dirt”.
Pour the pudding into a clear cup or bowl. This will give you more space for the dirt garden! If you’d like, you could layer the “dirt” and pudding when doing this as well. Place the “dirt” on top of the pudding if you’d prefer not to layer the items.
Then, create the flower spoon. To make this, follow the steps below:

Get two colors of pipe cleaners.

To make the flower petals, bend one pipe cleaner into a “W” shape. Then, bend the points of the “W” into the center to create 4 petals.
To make the center of the flower, cut the other pipe cleaner in half. Then, bend it into a “V” shape. Place the point of the “V” over the center of the flower petals. Be sure to catch the bends that are across from each other, not the open sides.
Last, add the flower spoon and as many gummy worms as you’d like to the garden!

After you enjoy the yummy treat, let the celebrations of Springtime continue! Explore the seasonal changes together while working on a variety of learning concepts. See below for 3 other ways to celebrate the season with speech and language skills:

Have a scavenger hunt!

Before the hunt, sit down with your child and discuss some things you may see (or might not see!) outside during the Spring. Flowers, bumblebees, worms, and more! This is a great way to work on themed vocabulary, categories, and descriptive language. Once outside, work on following directions (i.e. “Before you find a pink flower, find a worm!”).

Plant a flower

Plant flowers together and watch them grow! Discuss the sequence of the activity and have your child describe it back to you using sequential language (i.e. first, next, then, last). Take pictures as the flowers grow and compare what has changed!

Plan a Picnic

Organizing a picnic requires problem-solving, perspective taking, sequencing, and planning skills! Create a menu for your picnic and head to the grocery store with your child. Determine all of the foods you need as well as how to prepare them (make sandwiches, cut the fruit, bake cookies, etc.). Work on following the instructions to a recipe and planning and packing the picnic basket. After all that hard work, enjoy a beautiful picnic together!

Be sure to follow us at @owlstherapy for more Spring fun!