The holidays often mean more time preparing meals, setting the table, and gathering with family and friends. From helping put napkins on the table to talking about favorite foods, mealtime offers plenty of natural opportunities for children to practice speech and language skills.
You don’t need flashcards, special toys, or planned activities to support your child’s communication. With a few simple strategies, you can support your child’s communication skills while enjoying time together as a family. Here are some easy ways to build speech and language skills before and during your Thanksgiving meal!
Before Thanksgiving Dinner: Build Language While Setting the Table
Setting the table is more than just a holiday chore. It’s an opportunity to practice following directions, learning concepts, sorting objects, and using language. And if having your little one help in the kitchen feels like too much during the holiday rush, setting the table is a great way to get them involved!
Here are a few simple ways to turn this everyday task into a language-learning opportunity.
Following directions
Give your child simple directions as they help set the table. You might say, “Get two plates” or “Bring me a spoon.” You can also increase the level of difficulty by adding details, such as “Get four blue plates” or “Put two big spoons and four little spoons on the table.”
This is a great way to practice listening, understanding directions, and learning concepts like colors, sizes, and numbers.
Matching and categorizing
Set up one place setting with a plate, cup, fork, and napkin, then ask your child to make the other place settings look the same.
You can also have your child group similar items together. For example, put all the forks in one pile, all the spoons in another, or group the plates by size.
Name cards for family members
Let your child help create name cards for everyone joining Thanksgiving dinner! If they’re not yet able to spell each person’s name, write it on a separate piece of paper for them to copy.
This activity can encourage letter recognition, early writing skills, and name recognition. Your child can also help decide where everyone sits, giving you opportunities to talk about family members and where they belong at the table.
Spatial concepts
Where does everything go? Setting the table is a great way to practice spatial concepts, or words that describe where things are located.
Try directions like: “Put the fork next to the plate.” or “Move the plate between the fork and the spoon.”
Bonus Idea: Try switching roles and let your child tell you where everything belongs. This gives them a chance to practice using the location words, too!
During Thanksgiving Dinner: Build Speech and Language Skills Around the Table
Once everyone sits down to eat, the opportunities to practice communication continue! Here are some easy ways to encourage speech and language development during Thanksgiving dinner.
1. Offer choices
Thanksgiving often comes with plenty of food choices! Instead of automatically filling your child's plate, give them opportunities to communicate what they want.
Try asking: “Would you like mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes?” or “Do you want a little more or are you all done?”
Offering choices encourages children to express their preferences and gives them a sense of control, especially when there are unfamiliar foods, people, or routines.
If your child is still developing language, you can model the words they might use or accept any type of communication (gestures, signs, pointing) as valid ways to make a choice. The goal is to give your child opportunities to communicate, not to require them to say a specific word before receiving what they need.
Looking for more ways to support language during everyday activities? Check out our post on using everyday routines to support your child's language development.
2. Model and expand language
Mealtime is full of opportunities to introduce new vocabulary and build on what your child already says.
For example, if your child says “potato,” you might respond, “Mashed potato!” or “You want more potatoes!” If they say “more turkey,” you could say, “You want more turkey on your plate!”
These little expansions help children hear new words and learn how to combine words into longer phrases without the pressure of repeating after you.
3. Get the conversation going
Thanksgiving often brings together family members who may not see each other every day. For children who feel unsure about joining conversations, thinking of a few topics or questions ahead of time can help them feel more comfortable.
You might brainstorm questions together on the way to Grandma's house or while helping prepare dinner.
Try questions like:
“What was your favorite thing about fall?”
“What's your favorite food on the table?”
“What's something fun you did this year?”
These conversations give children opportunities to practice asking questions, listening to others, taking turns, and sharing their thoughts.
You can even write questions on slips of paper and take turns choosing one during dinner. Remember to keep it low-pressure. Children can participate by answering, commenting, listening, or asking their own questions.
4. Play Thanksgiving-themed ‘Would You Rather?’
Want to make the dinner conversation a little sillier? Try a Thanksgiving-themed game of Would You Rather?
Take turns asking questions like:
Would you rather eat five pounds of mashed potatoes or a slice of ketchup pie?
Would you rather have a turkey gobble every time you talk or have mashed potatoes for hair?
Encourage your child to explain why they chose their answer. This creates opportunities to practice describing, reasoning, and putting thoughts into words. The goal is to have fun communicating together!
5. Share stories and family memories
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reminisce about family traditions and favorite memories. Use these moments to encourage your child to talk about their own experiences.
You might ask:
“What did we do before we came to Grandma's house?”
“What was your favorite part of our last family gathering?”
Give your child time to think and respond. You can help them organize their thoughts by using prompts like “First we…, then we…, and last we….”
Talking about past experiences helps children practice recalling events, sequencing what happened, learning time-related words, and organizing their thoughts into stories. It’s also a meaningful way to connect with loved ones and share family traditions.
Remember: Connection Comes First!
You don't need to turn Thanksgiving dinner into a speech therapy session! Small, everyday interactions can support your child's speech and language development over time. You don't need a perfectly set table or a perfect conversation to make those moments count.
From all of us at OWLS Therapy, we wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving!