My husband last night: “Babe, where’s my Mio?”
Me: 😳😬🤭

Whoops! I guess you should ask before you snag your husband’s water flavoring. BUT, snow cones have been a hit in speech this week! Sound complicated? It’s not! Here’s all you need:

✅ Blender (I used my own Ninja blender!)
✅ Ice (from our ice/water machine at work)
✅ Water flavoring (I used Mio)
✅ Cups, bowls, spoons

I’ve been using this activity with EVERY kid on my caseload. (Except for kids I see on telehealth, of course.) Scroll down to discover all the ways I target speech and language goals by making snow cones together!

Speech Sounds: I paired speech sound cards and objects with this activity. Scooping ice into the detachable blender cup was the reinforcer and, boy, was it motivating! Even my itty bitty 2 year-olds were engaged throughout the whole activity! For every 3-5 productions of our target word (either at word, phrase, or sentence level), they got to scoop ice from the bowl and drop it into our blender cup. For my little friend working on “S” blends, we didn’t even need cards! We practiced words like “snow” and “scoop” within the context of the activity.
Prepositions: Target words like “in” and “out” as you scoop ice, put it in the blender cup, squirt the water flavoring, and serve the snow cones.
Requesting: I cue kids to request in the way that we’re targeting, whether it’s the ‘more’ sign, ‘more’ or ‘want’ on their AAC device, or “want more” verbally.
Requesting Help: Asking for assistance is an important pragmatic function. Luckily, scooping ice cubes with a plastic spoon can be a little tricky. It creates the perfect opportunity for them to ask you for help.
Following Directions:  Give the child directions and cue them to follow them to complete the activity of making snow cones.
Describing:  Use EET or a visual to describe the different objects needed to make snow cones (ice, blender, spoon, cup, bowl, water flavoring, etc.). Click here to download my super helpful describing anchor chart for only $1!
Sequencing: Write out or draw the steps for making a snow cone and discuss them before, during, and after the activity. You could also cut the steps out and have the child arrange them in the correct order.

I’ve linked some inexpensive blender/snow cone machine options and water flavoring for you. I ensure you that the kids on your caseload will LOVE this activity just as much as mine did!

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