Earth Day offers the perfect opportunity to bring nature-themed fun into your speech sessions—while still targeting meaningful goals. From themed books and sensory bins to crafts and favorite toys, and books-there are endless ways to build speech and language skills through hands-on, engaging activities. Whether you’re focusing on implementing core vocabulary, following directions, WH questions, articulation, or expressive language, Earth Day can be a playful, purposeful theme that keeps kids motivated and engaged.
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Now, let’s dig into some favorite toys, books and crafts that can help support and foster the growth of language development. (Click the pictures to go directly to that toy/book/activity!)
Earth Day Toy Favorites
1. Fisher-Price Little People Recycling Truck
This classic pretend-play toy is perfect for targeting a wide range of speech and language goals in a fun, Earth Day-themed way. Use the recycling truck and figure to work on core vocabulary like go, stop, put, in, out, more, open, and help as students act out the recycling process. You can also model verbs and location concepts (“He’s putting it in the truck!” or “Let’s drive over to the next bin.”) and practice WH questions (“Where does the bottle go?” or “Who is driving?”). Pretend play is a great context for building early narrative skills too—encourage your student to tell a short story about where the truck is going or what it picks up next.
2. Play-Doh Wheelie Bin Truck Set
Play-Doh and Earth Day? Yes, please! This set combines tactile sensory play with the theme of cleaning up and sorting trash—great for targeting fine motor skills and language. As students press, roll, and fill the bin, you can model descriptive language (“squishy,” “green,” “long,” etc.), action words like push, roll, squish, and practice articulation targets within play-based contexts (e.g., saying /s/ blend words while pretending to “smash” the trash). Want to target following directions? Give two- or three-step prompts (“First roll the Play-Doh, then put it in the bin”). Sensory play keeps kids engaged while giving you tons of language opportunities.
3. TOP BRIGHT Magnetic Color Maze Sorting Game
This wooden magnet maze is not only eco-themed but also ideal for targeting cognitive and language skills like categorization, color and object identification, and following directions. Use it to practice WH questions (“Where does the apple go?” or “What color is this bin?”), spatial concepts (“Move it up/down,” “Put it next to the blue bin”), and core words like want, more, move, turn, and all done. It’s especially great for students working on fine motor coordination alongside communication. For articulation, embed target sounds in phrases like “Put the can in,” or “Let’s find the yellow bin.”
Earth Day Book Favorites
Books are one of the most powerful tools in a speech therapist’s toolbox—and Earth Day brings plenty of fun, vehicle-themed stories that grab kids’ attention while supporting key communication goals. These books aren’t just about trucks and trash—they offer rich opportunities for vocabulary building, WH questions, inferencing, sequencing, and even social-emotional learning. Here’s how you can use a few favorite titles to support speech and language growth during your Earth Day sessions.
1. Buster the Little Garbage Truck
This story adds a character-driven twist to the garbage truck theme, focusing on Buster’s fear of loud noises. It’s perfect for working on perspective-taking, feelings vocabulary, and narrative retell. You can also target problem/solution structure and ask students to make predictions (“What do you think Buster will do?”) or practice recalling story elements like setting, characters, and key events.
2.The Very Sneezy Garbage Truck
This silly, engaging story blends environmental awareness with a sneezy twist. It’s great for inferencing (“Why is the truck sneezing?”), cause-and-effect language (“What happens when he sneezes?”), and targeting articulation goals with /s/ or /g/ sounds in a meaningful context. You can also build emotional vocabulary and discuss how the truck feels and what helps him feel better.
3. Goodnight Garbage Truck
This calming bedtime-style book is a great way to introduce new vocabulary in a soothing rhythm, especially for students working on sentence structure, descriptive language, or routines. Talk about what the garbage truck does during the day, then model temporal concepts like first, then, later, and at night. It also offers great visual support for WH questions and verbs like lift, dump, and rest.
Earth Day Crafts & Sensory Bin Favorites
1.Recycling Truck Low Prep Earth Day Craft Activity
This engaging Earth Day recycling craft doubles as a powerful language development tool for young learners. Centered around vibrant recycling truck and themed sorting visuals, this activity invites learners to “recycle” speech sounds and items that belong in the garbage. This craft also allows learners to categorize items by function or location, and explore vocabulary through playful interaction and shade each image to their desired color. This craft is sure to build critical language skills such as phonemic awareness, expressive vocabulary, strengthen articulation, and categorization. It will also promote conversation, such as talking through choices –“Where would you find this?” or “What does this do?”) naturally and encourages sentence formation. Plus, the hands-on nature of the craft keeps learners motivated and engaged.
2. Recycling Sensory Bin Add-On with Themed Vocabulary Cards
Take your Earth Day language activity to the next level by adding a sensory bin—a powerful tool that supports both sensory regulation and language development. In the example above, the bin is filled with recycled smoothie/pouch/yogurt caps, crinkle paper, and picture cards featuring Earth Day-themed vocabulary and images.
As children dig through the sensory bin to find matching picture cards, they’re not just having fun—they’re engaging multiple senses at once. The textures, colors, and movement stimulate tactile and visual input, which can help improve focus and regulate emotions, especially for children with sensory needs.
Combining the low-prep Recycling Speech Sounds craft with a hands-on sensory bin gives learners a rich, play-based experience where language naturally blossoms through meaningful, interactive play. It’s an Earth Day win for both speech and sensory success!
To find all of these toys and books, plus MORE, click the picture below!
Implementing Core Vocabulary Effectively: When and How to Teach It