Holiday Language Modeling Made Easy
The holidays are packed with meaningful routines, family time, and rich sensory experiences—perfect ingredients for early language learning. With school breaks around Thanksgiving and Christmas, families often spend more time together, creating natural opportunities to model new vocabulary and actions in ways young children can understand and imitate.
Below is a simple, connection-focused way to turn holiday moments into powerful speech and language practice.
Holiday Cooking = Language Goldmine
Holiday meal preparation is full of actions and descriptive words that toddlers can see, feel, and participate in. Even very young children can help with small, safe steps (with adult support).
Model these action words while cooking:
stir
mix
push
pour
crack
help
Examples:
“Stir, stir, stir the mashed potatoes!”
“Push the whipped cream button—push!”
“Pour it in—ready, pour!”
“Let me help. Help, help.”
Pairing words with actions strengthens understanding and supports expressive language.
Vocabulary for Food & Quantity
Meal times are perfect for teaching concepts like a little and a lot:
“Do you want a little bit or a lot of corn?”
“You picked a lot of marshmallows!”
“Here’s a little gravy.”
These concrete, visual experiences help children grasp early vocabulary more easily than during play alone.
Talking About Family
Holiday gatherings often mean seeing relatives children don’t interact with regularly. This gives opportunities to label:
Names
Family roles (grandma, uncle, auntie, cousin)
Try modeling:
“This is Grandma!”
“Uncle Joe is here—hi Uncle Joe!”
“Let’s say hi to Cousin Lily.”
Hearing repeated labels helps children connect people with their names.
Talking About Hunger & Fullness
Meals are a natural time to introduce words for internal states:
“I’m full.”
“Are you still hungry?”
“I think you’re full—you stopped eating.”
This also supports early advocacy and communication about needs.
Warm vs. Hot
Holiday drinks like hot chocolate, warm cider, or soup introduce temperature words:
“Careful, it’s hot.”
“This cocoa is warm. Mmm!”
Real experiences help these words stick.
Thanksgiving & Gratitude Language
Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to introduce simple emotional and social vocabulary:
“I’m thankful for you.”
“We are thankful for our family.”
“This is fun!”
Modeling positive statements helps children express joy, appreciation, and connection.
You don’t need fancy activities or structured lessons. Just narrate what you’re doing, include your child, and follow their interests. Holiday moments become language learning moments when we slow down, describe, and connect.
Author: Amber Drew, C-SLPA