Summer is a time to relax and take a break from the busy schedule during the school year. However, summer should also be a time to continue improving your child’s language skills. Learning should always be fun and natural for younger children, and working on language skills is no exception. Below are 5 FUN summer enrichment activities that will also improve your child’s language skills.
1. Make a fruit salad with your child. Choose several types of fruit to add to your fruit salad. Chop up the fruit with your child and place them in a bowl. Name each fruit as you put it in the bowl and describe each step as you perform it. Have your child stir the fruit.
2. Go for a walk in your neighborhood. Encourage longer utterances by modeling the phrase “ I see a ____” for your child. You can add more describing words as appropriate for your child. For example, instead of saying “ I see a flower”, you could say “ I see a small, pink flower”. Also practice answering wh- questions by asking your child “What do you see?”
3. Blow bubbles together. Make the bubbles go high then low. Pop the bubbles with your feet and your hands. Take turns and practice saying “my turn” and “your turn.” Make big bubbles and little bubbles.
4. Play with plastic ducks, frogs, or boats in the bathtub. Practice using verbs such as “swim, float, go”. Talk about where ducks, frogs, etc. live. Practice preposition words by talking about where the boat, duck, etc. is (on top of water, under water).
5. Go to the pool! While packing a bag for the pool, talk to your child about what you need to go swimming (bathing suit, goggles, sunscreen, towel, etc.). While playing at the pool, talk about what you and your child are doing (jumping, swimming, diving).
Make a visual schedule!
I use visual schedules with my preschool students for almost every activity. I also use visual schedules with my older students who have a hard time transitioning from one activity to another. In the morning before school, you can make a visual schedule with your child’s usual activities (brush teeth, eat breakfast, get on bus). I would not use more than 4 steps on the schedule to start with. As you finish each activity, you can put the picture in an envelope marked “done” and ask your child “What’s next?”. This will alleviate anxiety in the morning.
Read Books!
There are several wonderful books about going to school, or experiencing the first day of school. Here are some of my favorites:
Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
Mouse’s First Day of School by Lauren Thompson
First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
Back to School Rules by Laurie Friedman
Sing Songs!
Singing songs about school is a great way to calm your student before school starts. “Wheels on the Bus” is always a favorite!
There is a lot of discussion today among parents about screen time and children: How much is too much? Will screen time delay my child’s speech and language development? Will it hinder my child socially? A new study found some surprising results. The study found that children between the ages of six months and two years were more likely to experience speech delays if they were exposed to more screen time. “Screen time” includes: smartphones, tablets, electronic games, and television. Interestingly, the study did not find a link between screen time and other areas of communication, including gestures, body language, and social interaction.
So…what does this mean for parents? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screens at all (with the exception of video-chatting with family) for children who are under 18 months of age. For children over 18 months, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents choose high-quality, educational programming that could foster learning and language development.
Children learn language best through natural play and interaction with other humans, which supports this study’s research. The less interaction time a child has with parents, caregivers, etc. has been linked to lower vocabulary levels. So turn off the I-pad, take away the cell phone, and engage in appropriate pretend-play activities with your child. Play skills are directly linked to language skills, and for babies and toddlers, playing is learning.
1. Use construction paper to cut various sizes of leaves. You can then sort by color, shape, and/or size.
3. Collect Leaves. Go on a nature walk around your school or neighborhood. Allow your child to collect different colors, shapes, and sizes of leaves, and ask them a question about each one. For more advanced language skills, you can compare and contrast the leaves that your child has collected.
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro
It’s Fall by Linda Glaser
Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall
3 Toys You Should Consider for Christmas This Year
As a speech-language pathologist, parents often ask me what toys I would recommend to help foster their child’s speech and language skills. With the holidays fast approaching, I created a list of my top 3 “old-fashioned”, language-fostering toys. Consider adding a few of these to your list when buying for your child this year!
1. Potato Head
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Identifying and Naming common body parts
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Functions of objects (e.g.: What do we use our eyes for?)
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Following directions (e.g.: First, put in his nose, then put in his ears)
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Solving problems: (e.g.: Oh no! Mr. Potato Head doesn’t have any feet….how can he move?)
2. Cars!
Cars, trucks, airplanes… you name it, I probably have it in my traveling speech bag. Cars (or trains, etc.) provide an excellent opportunity to foster language development. Below are some ideas you can use at home during play:
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Verbs- While playing, there are many opportunities to use a variety of action words (go, stop, drive, park). Many clients that I see use a wide variety of nouns, but not a lot of verbs. During play, we can target action words and teach synonyms for verbs that we may commonly use (e.g., using “start” instead of “go”).
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Adjectives- Toy cars also provide ample opportunities to use adjectives. Some commonly used examples include: fast, slow, and different colors.
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Social Skills- You can use toy cards to work on turn taking and sharing, which are both important social skills. Take turns racing your car around a track, or use only one car and practice saying “my turn”, or “May I have the car now?”.
All children love playing with blocks. Speech-language pathologists also love blocks, because we can target so many skills while playing and having fun. Below are a few ideas to help foster your child’s language development while using blocks:
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Prepositions: Place different objects under the blocks, on top of the blocks, or between the blocks to work on spatial concepts.
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Problem solving skills: How can we build a tall tower without it falling?
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Cause and effect relationships: For clients with delayed language skills or very young clients, teaching the cause and effect relationship is one of the first steps in therapy. It is a precursor to using language and understanding its implications.
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Concepts- tall, short, wide, narrow are all wonderful concepts to target while playing with blocks.
I often get referrals from parents or pediatricians with concerns about a child’s fluency skills. Simply put, they think that a child is stuttering. For parents of pre-school aged children, it is important to note that many preschoolers go through a period of normal dysfluency. Because young children are learning language at such a rapid rate, often times they might have difficulty expressing themselves coherently. This period of normal dysfluency appears to be a stutter, but typically will resolve itself in a 6 month period without help from a speech-language pathologist. But how do you know when a stutter is developmental and when it might be something more? Certain factors can increase the likelihood that a stutter will persist beyond the typical 6-month time period. Below are risk factors that should be considered if you think your child is stuttering:
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Family history– Are there any family members who stutter? If so, the child is at a greater risk for stuttering.
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Age at onset– Children who begin stuttering before age 3 ½ are more likely to outgrow stuttering. Typically, children will outgrow “normal dysfluencies” or developmental stutters, within a 6-month period of time.
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Gender– Girls are more likely to outgrow stuttering that boys. This factor may be related to the development of language in girls vs. boys. Boys are 4 times more likely to experience a stutter that persists beyond developmental dysfluencies.
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Other speech and language factors– If a child makes frequent speech sound errors or has trouble following directions, he or she is at a greater risk for stuttering. Advanced language skills also appear to be a risk factor for children whose stuttering persists (Yairi, E. & Ambrose, N. (2005). Early Childhood Stuttering: For Clinicians by Clinicians, Chapter 7, Pro-Ed, Austin, TX.).
It is always important to talk to your pediatrician and consult a local speech-language pathologist when you have concern’s about your child’s communication skills. Each child is unique, and a licensed speech-language pathologist will be able to evaluate your child’s fluency skills, and determine if therapy is necessary. For more information regarding stuttering, please visit:
Yairi, E. & Ambrose, N. (2005). Early Childhood Stuttering: For Clinicians by Clinicians, Chapter 7, Pro-Ed, Austin, TX
One of my favorite populations to help as a speech-language pathologist is late-talking toddlers. Concerned parents will often tell me, “he can say the word but he just won’t do it on his own”. It is important to consider the stark difference between your child communicating and your child imitating.
In my speech therapy sessions, I avoid saying “say ____” and having the child repeat the word. Admittedly, it is a hard habit to break. It is easy for parents and speech-language pathologists alike to tell a toddler to say a word and then reinforce his or her use of it. Below, I have outlined some different, more naturalistic approaches which will teach your child how to communicate instead of solely imitate.
2. Provide choices: Providing your toddler with choices gives him some control over his communication. An easy time to practice this skill is during meal time (“Do you want a goldfish or a pretzel?”) Remember that not all children are ready to speak using words- some children who have delayed language skills may point to their choice- and that is fine! Meet your child where he is right now.
3. Fill-in-the-blank: This is another one of my favorite techniques to use with late-talking toddlers. While singing a well-known song, the parent or therapist can pause and look expectedly at the toddler to fill in the blank (“The wheels on the bus go round and ______). The wait time and expected look will let your child know that it is his turn to communicate.
As always, if you have concerns about your child’s speech and language development, consult your primary care physician and contact a local speech-language pathologist. And remember- early intervention is always best!
For parents of preschool or early elementary-aged children, this is a wonderful time to practice spatial concepts. Wherever Elfie ends up, have your child describe his location. Don't forget to provide choices for your child if that is their current level of functioning. For example, "Where is Elfie? Is he under the table or beside the fireplace?"
See, working on language skills can be fun and this is one easy way to build some practice opportunities into your everyday life around Christmas time.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to work on your child's language skills at home is during routines. Daily routines include meal time, getting dressed, bed time, and bath time, to name a few. During bath time, parents can easily strengthen their child's language skills without feeling like they are doing work, or adding another chore to the to-do list.
Why choose bath time?
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Build Vocabulary: If your child only has a few words in his or her vocabulary, you can introduce new words. Go to the dollar store and buy water toys, boats, or dolls. You can work on labeling animals (e.g., duck, frog, whale), describing boats (e.g., big, small, red, blue), or name body parts on a doll (e.g., eyes, nose). If your child is already a pro at labeling objects, work on adding action words or adjectives (e.g.: swim, go, dive, big, little). Be creative!
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Expand on Utterances: For children who use 1 or 2 words, you can use this time to expand on his or her utterances. For example, if a child says "duck", parent can respond "It's a yellow duck", "ducky swims", or "ducky goes IN the water". This provides a model for your child and allows him to see what is coming next in terms of language development. It is not necessary for your child to repeat what you are saying. Remember: your child is soaking it all in just by listening to you while playing!
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Play Skills: For children who are working on developing age-appropriate play skills, bath time provides ample opportunities to practice. Work on making your bath toys swim, dive, jump, and/or splash. Have fun! Instead of lining up boats in the water, show your child how the boats drive around in the bathtub, crash into each other, etc.
Here are some words to target during bath time: wet, dry, wash, soap, water, swim, jump, splash, scrub.
Buying a new toy for your toddler is always fun and exciting. However, everyday items that we all have around the house can be just as therapeutic as buying a new toy for your toddler. Often times, toddlers are more excited by these everyday items than new toys! Below, I have listed 5 everyday objects that I am sure you have at home, and ideas to promote speech and language development for your toddler.
Before you throw them away- let your child have some fun! Use paper towel rolls as tunnels for cars, build a towers or rocket ship, or pretend that the roll is a telescope. Practice prepositions by using the words “in, out, through” if you decide to play with cars. Several action words can be targeted while playing with paper towel rolls, such as “stack, build, knock down”. If your child wants to pretend he is an explorer with a telescope, go outside in the backyard and see what he can spot!
2. Plastic Cups
3. Pillows
4. Cotton Balls
Of course, these are only a few examples of everyday household items that can promote your child's speech and language development. Get creative and remember to have fun! Leave us a comment and let us know what everyday household objects you like to use with your toddler.