Describing Pictures in Speech Therapy Activity
A describing pictures activity for speech and language therapy
I often target defining and describing pictures in speech therapy, so I decided to create an activity to allow me to better address those objectives. My students are often working on goals such as identifying or stating the category for items. We also work on object function, describing appearance, stating the composition or material that is used to make an item or object, the parts or associated parts that an item has, or the location (where we might find/ see that object, item, or thing).
It’s important to work on describing skills in speech therapy because this assists your student with understanding and using new vocabulary terms and adding more details and description to written and spoken language.
Category Skills
Naming Items in Categories
This resource is pirate-themed, and it includes 3 “gold coin smash mats” with 8 describing pictures on them. Your student will practice identifying what category each picture is is (naming the category). If you would like, you can cut out the coins, but you also could leave this as a no-prep activity. Print a sheet out, stick it in a sheet protector, and pair it with dough or a magnetic wand and chips, and you’ll be all set!
Object Function
Stating Object Function
Your student will practice stating the object function for each picture in order to describe and answer the question, “What do we use it for?” This resource contains 3 “object function jewel smash mats” with 6 describing pictures on each. This is a super fun activity to use during your speech therapy session.
Describing Appearance
Your student can practice describing what an item looks like as well (for example, stating the size, shape, or color of an item). There are 3 smash mats with describing pictures that were carefully chosen to elicit targeted shapes / appearances (for example, items that are round, rectangular, or shaped like a cube, such as an ice cube). This resource provides a great starting point for describing the appearance of pictures.
Describing What It’s Made Of
Explaining What Material the Item is Made of
I know this can be tricky to find resources for (which is why I also created this What Is It Made Of? flipbook resource), so I made sure to include pages in this describing pictures speech therapy resource that specifically targeted this skill. For example, your student would match the chair picture to wood, and the window picture to glass. Other types of materials targeted include plastic, metal, fabric, rubber, wool, paper, and leather.
Defining and Describing
Define and Describe Using Attributes
This describing pictures resource also takes things one step further and allows you to target defining and describing using attributes. Gold coin cut-outs are provided, and you can use these with the defining and describing page to work on creating definitions based on category, object function, and one additional attribute.
Describing Similarities & Differences
How Are They Alike? How Are They Different?
“Message in a bottle” cut-outs are provided that include two describing pictures on each bottle. For example, one bottle might contain pictures of a chair and a bed. Your student will use the included venn diagram page in order to explain the similarities and differences between the pictures.
Final Thoughts on the Pirate-Themed Describing Pictures Speech Therapy Activity
If your students are starting to work on describing pictures in speech therapy, and you’re looking for a fun, effective resource with an engaging theme (who doesn’t like pirates?!), you’ll definitely want to check out this describing activity in my TpT store.