Blueberry Picking & Language Building!

By: Noelle Scolieri, M.S. CCC-SLP

One of our FAVORITE summer activities in the northern Pittsburgh area is going to pick blueberries at Bowser's Blueberries  in Renfrew, PA! It is such a fun and engaging activity to bring your little ones to. Plus, there are so many ways to work on your child’s speech and language abilities while you’re there picking berries. Read through below to see some out of ideas from our pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, Miss Noelle, AND a yummy lemon and blueberry recipe to make with the berries you pick!   ​

1. ​Describe the Blueberries!

While you may think a blueberry is a blueberry, there actually are many different varieties of blueberries, which have different flavors and qualities to them.

At Bowser's Blueberries, they have multiple varieties of blueberries, so you can use this to work on comparing and contrasting with your child or describing. ​

Are the berries dark blue, light blue, more of a purple color, etc.?

What is the texture of the berry? Is it squishy? Is the outside smooth or wrinkly?

How does the blueberry taste? Sweet? Tarte?

Try to work with your child on describing blueberries beyond just saying they are blue.

2. B is for Blueberry

Practice your child's words that start with the B sound! Try practicing a word each time your child drops a berry in the bucket.

Remind your child to put their lips together for the B sound and turn their voice on.

Here are some initial B words:

Blueberry Blue Berry Busy Bucket Bee Basket Bake Buy Bowl

3. ​Talk about action words while you pick

Work on action words (or verbs) while you walk through the blueberry fields with your child.

Here are some action words you might talk about:

• Walk: walking through the field
• Pick: picking the berries from the tree
• Drop: putting the berries into the bag or bucket
• Choose: to pick which blueberry your child wants
• Pull: pulling the berries off the bush
• Eat/Taste: trying the blueberries

4. ​Books About Blueberries!

Your child might enjoy reading a storybook about blueberries before or after you go blueberry picking. (This book is also available as read alouds on YouTube if you don't own the book already.)

"One Little Blueberry" by Tammi Salzano
This book has great rhyming, counting and opportunities to label animals.

One Little Blueberry by Tammi Salzano

5. Work on Sequencing and Following Directions by making a recipe with your blueberries!

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups of Bisquick (you can use Gluten Free Bisquick if needed)
• 2/3 cup of milk (or dairy free milk alternative)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3/4 cup of blueberries
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Steps: 

• First, we get out the ingredients.
• Then, we mix them together in a bowl.
• Next, pour the batter into muffin tins and put it in the oven.
• Bake the muffins at 400 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes or until your knife comes out clean.
• Last, enjoy your blueberry lemon muffins!

Blueberry Lemon muffins made by Miss Noelle's mom

Happy Blueberry Picking! 
-Miss Noelle 

​Article Written By: Noelle Scolieri, M.S. CCC-SLP