Already dreading all that Valentine’s Day candy that is coming home? Turn it into a fun speech and language activity! Everyone loves Tic-Tac-Toe and this simple (and delicious) craft easily targets sorting, following directions, turn taking, requesting, fine motor skills, and more!

Step 1:

For this activity, gather the icing, graham crackers, and all the conversation hearts your child received in their Valentine’s Day cards. (Random comment: when I was little I thought they were conservation hearts…apparently I thought that those little candies were out to save the environment!)

Step 2:

Have your child sort the candies so that each player has their “tokens.” Depending on if you only have a couple from each envelope or if you got the whole box, this may mean that you can sort them by size, color, if they have smooth or straight edges, etc.

Step 3:

You can work on following directions by having your child draw the Tic-Tac-Toe board onto a graham cracker cookie. I was able to find icing that was ready to be drawn with at my local grocery store in the baking aisle.

Step 4:

Playing this version of Tic-Tac-Toe is all about what skills your child needs to target…are they working on taking turns, do they need to request (which means you keep all the candy with you and they have to request each piece that they want), are they working on fine motor skills (maybe make it even harder by having to pick up a heart with chop sticks!), articulation…say a word before you get to place a heart down, the possibilities are endless! Whoever wins, gets to eat that “game board!”

Happy Valentine’s Day

About the Author

Janene Besch

Director/Speech-Language Pathologist

Janene Besch, née Martin, holds a Master’s degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego. Janene is a member of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology
Read more >

More Stories