Camping Themed Activities for Speech Therapy
Summer is in full swing, and whether you're soaking up the sun or planning your back-to-school therapy ideas, a little camping theme goes a long way in keeping sessions playful and purposeful. From sticky s’mores to pretend campfires, this theme is perfect for targeting a variety of speech and language goals with minimal prep.
In this post, I’m sharing some of my favorite camping-themed speech and language activities that work well in summer or even during those first few weeks of school. These activities are ideal for preschool through 2nd grade and are easy to adapt for a range of learners and goals.
🍫 Articulation Around the Campfire
My S’more Articulation Camping Activity is a sweet and simple way to target speech sounds while building a pretend s’more! Students practice their target words as they build their treat with printable graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate pieces. You can use the included word cards or add your own targets with sequencing cards and a craft, this hands-on activity is great for:
Repetition-based practice (drill with a purpose!)
Sorting by initial, medial, and final sounds
Play-based speech sessions during summer or camp-themed weeks
Bonus tip: Bring in real mini marshmallows or use pom-poms for extra sensory fun!
🔥 Sentence Expansion with Campout Scenes and S’more Sensory Bins
Set up a simple camping-themed background scene (felt board, printable scene, or a tray with mini items like tents, logs, and animals) and encourage students to create detailed sentences. Try using picture supports or sentence starters like:
“The raccoon is…”
“I see a ___ under the ___.”
“The marshmallow is on the stick.”
You can gradually expand their sentences from 2 words to full 5+ word phrases depending on their level. Use visuals to scaffold and model expanded utterances.
My S’more sensory bin (pictured above) includes:
Cotton Balls (for Marshmallows)
Sticks from the backyard
Card board square cut outs (for graham crackers)
Brown felt squares (for chocolate)
Clothes pins with paper cut out flames (for fire)
🍃Nature Scavenger Hunt
Target “where questions” and using attributes to describe the finds by going into the back yard, woods or local playground and hunt for nature items. Bring a bag (or an egg carton) to put your natural treasures into. Click for free 4 season nature scavenger hunts resource that has the pictures of the items that kids can look for.
🏕️ Core Words in the Wild
Camping offers the perfect setting to practice core vocabulary! Set up a pretend play session where students get to pack for a camping trip or pretend to roast marshmallows. Some easy-to-target core words and concepts include:
In / out – “Put the marshmallow in the bag.” “Take it out.”
On / off – “Put it on the stick.” “Take it off the fire.”
Open / close – “Open the cooler.” “Close the tent.”
Yummy / yucky – Use real or pretend food to describe likes/dislikes.
Pair these concepts with a simple communication board or AAC system to support all communicators.
📚 Camping-Themed Books for Language Goals
Books are a natural fit for summer speech sessions. Here are a few camping-themed titles that work well for targeting WH questions, verbs, vocabulary, and more:
“Pete the Cat Goes Camping” by James Dean
Great for sequencing events, describing actions, and answering WH questions, Pete needs to overcome his fears about Bigfoot!“Maisy Goes Camping” by Lucy Cousins
Simple text and bright illustrations make this perfect for describing actions and targeting positional concepts and for inferencing.“I Hear Nature” by Clay Hadden
This interactive flip book for toddlers and babies by a Speech Language Pathologist develops early language, prediction, sensory engagement, and interaction skills.
Pair reading with a follow-up retell activity using character cutouts or sequencing cards for comprehension and narrative language.
🐻 WH Questions and Verb Use by the Fire
You can turn just about any pretend play or book activity into a WH-question practice moment. Try using a camping scene to ask:
Who is in the tent?
What is the bear eating?
Where is the marshmallow?
When do we sleep at camp?
Why do we need a flashlight?
Encourage students to respond in complete sentences and expand with supporting visuals or sentence stems.
You can also have students act out or label verbs during camping play: roasting, hiking, eating, sleeping, building, running. Use props like flashlights, sticks, and toy animals to make it active and fun!
Wrap-Up: Language Learning That’s S’more Fun!
Summer therapy doesn’t have to feel like summer school. With a fun theme like camping, you can target a wide range of goals while keeping your sessions light, hands-on, and engaging. Whether you’re working on articulation with a s’more in hand or building language through pretend play and stories, these activities are designed to keep kids communicating.
If you’re looking for a no-fuss way to bring this theme to life, check out my Camping S’mores Articulation Activity—it’s a hit with my students and a great addition to your summer therapy toolkit.
