August 2020 -

RIDING IN THE CAR

Ever wondered how much children can learn while riding in the car? Whether your child is rear facing or forward facing, it can be possible to learn new fun things during car rides, long or short! Some children love car rides, some do not. For those who don’t like it so much, we can find ways to distract them from their protest by utilizing language! As you are getting them in the car, describe what you are doing, maybe even by singing it. For example, “Up, up, up we go”, “For a ride we go”(tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat), “For a ride”, “In the car”, “For a ride we go”. Talk to them about getting their arms in the straps(Arms in, 1, 2), buckling it up(Snap!), then “Here we go!”. When able, talk about what you see during the ride, sing some songs(especially for the riders that don’t enjoy it so much). For the forward facing riders, ask them questions about what they see or hear so they can tell you. If you’re not the driver, maybe even offer some choices of drinks or snacks, which is also a good way to keep them distracted from any anxiety they may feel. Use a lot of descriptive language as you talk about what you see. For example, “Look!” “A big truck!”, “There’s a blue car”, “Awwww what a cute puppy!”, “There’s a cow, what does it say?”, “Mooooo, that’s what a cow says!”. Even if they aren’t able to, or choose not to repeat sounds/words back to you, they are still absorbing the information and will eventually engage in imitation. Most importantly, have fun with them and enjoy the time without having to worry about the regular interruptions of life!

Sounds/words to include: car, seat, sit, up, down, in, out, go, stop, buckle, snap, truck, plane, house, trees, sun, clouds, stars, moon, sky, beep, zoom, slow, fast, name animals you might see, colors, foods/drinks you may have, etc.

MUSIC MAKES THE WORLD GO ‘ROUND

Music is a universal language. Most children at a very young age respond to, engage, and interact with music. It can be used to get children to move or to help soothe/calm them when they are upset. Music makes us feel many emotions. We can also use it to teach our children sounds and words! Whether it’s popular music you hear on the radio or familiar children’s songs, it can be a fun way to teach them to imitate or anticipate to fill in sounds and words. Some common children’s songs that can often be heard at schools or child care settings are: Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald, Isty Bitsy Spider, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Row, Row, Row You Boat, Happy and You Know It, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, ABCs, and the now very popular Baby Shark. Many of these songs also pair actions to the words. Most children will imitate actions first, then begin to pair a sound/word/word approximation with the action. Children who are less vocal/verbal will gain confidence with action imitation and once they feel able to imitate the sound/word, will do so without even realizing it. For some children, the motor actions are enough of a distraction from speech being difficult for them that they eventually begin to make sounds. As parents/caregivers, we can build their engagement and interaction while singing songs with them by pausing at the end of a phrase or certain part of the song. This will give them the opportunity to try to fill in the pause. For example, while singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, pause before saying “down” to start with. Your hands will already be up ready to show them the gesture of “Down came the rain” so they will have the visual cue of what is coming next in the song. During “Old McDonald” or “Baby Shark”, give them the opportunity to decide who(animal or person) comes next. First ask “Who’s next?” to see if they can suggest, or give them a choice if they aren’t able to. For example, sing “Old McDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O” “And on his farm he had a …..” “Cow or horse?”. That way they can imitate what animal they want next. You can pause at the sound so they can fill it in. It usually works best if you don’t pause until the last phrase of the sound the animal makes so they hear it a couple times first(Everywhere a ……). When they are able, give them the choice of what song they want to sing with you. Such as, “Do you want boat or star?”. Then model the full name of the song for them if they are only at the single word level. As long as they are familiar with the song, they will love to try to sing along. It will boost their confidence to try new sounds and words, and they will enjoy the engagement with you!

PLAYING WITH FOOD!

Does your child love to play in the kitchen? Most small children go through the stage of wanting to be and do everything just like a parent/caregiver. One of the ways they show us this is imitating adults preparing food. They love the “real” kitchen stuff, even if they have the pretend kitchen and all the accessories that go along with that. Using play food and/or a pretend kitchen is a great way to expand both receptive and expressive language skills. It may even help expand the variety of foods they will eat! As they pretend to eat or drink while playing, you can model sounds like you are takes bites, munching/chewing, take a drink(sipping sound, then ahhhh). Definitely model “Yum!” or “Mmmmm” when you like something or even “ooooo, yuck!” when you don’t like it(or if they are pretending to eat something that is not actually edible). To build receptive language, you can ask your child to get a particular food or kitchen object for you, provide simple directions, such as “Stir!”, “Pour”, “Put in”, etc. Expressively, name the foods or kitchen objects you are using or your child is playing with, narrate what you are doing(Make cookies, Blow on the pizza, it’s hot, Stir the soup, Pour the milk, etc) or ask them to name the objects independently. This is also a good opportunity to provide choices for them to imitate words(Do you want milk or juice?) or to give them cues to ask for “more” of something(More cookies). As they build their vocabulary and are spontaneously requesting certain foods, drinks, or objects, expand to modeling phrases for them to ask. For example, “Do you want more juice?” “You tell me, more juice!” so they imitate the word combination. Sometimes, children respond to the adult over exaggerating the phrase(More juice) by slowing down the word(s) or saying it in a sing song like pattern, imitating more easily. Even if you don’t have the play food or pretend kitchen, you can use these same strategies with the items you have in your kitchen to pretend. Not only is this a good way to build pretend play skills, it provides opportunities to learn and express many concepts while communicating with you! Also, “playing” with food and tools used to prepare it can help if your child experiences any anxiety related to trying new tastes/textures.

Words/sounds to include: Names of foods, drinks, kitchen objects, action wordsàeat, drink, pour, stir/mix, dump, scoop, wash, blow, cut, Mmmmm, yum, yuck, oooo/ewwww, more, all done, clean up, hot, cold, wet, dry, on, off, in, out, open, close, pot, pan, fork, spoon, knife, cup, plate, etc.

FUN WITH PLAY DOUGH

Another classic toy that has been around for ages…..Play Dough! Play dough can be used to teach your child many language concepts. The recommended age for your child to play with play dough is 2 + years, mostly because it will most likely go into their mouths at some point. Under and over the age of 2, this is most definitely a supervised activity! Not only does play dough give children a way to keep those little hands busy, it is a great way to teach them many action words. As they play, join in and model action words such as, “roll”, “pull”, “squeeze”. You can make many different shapes whether you have a play dough set you purchased or if you just have some play dough. Roll it into a ball and label “ball” while you show your child. Then you can easily smash it and tell them it’s a pancake or a cookie(of course reminding them they can’t really eat it😊). Roll it a different way and it’s a “snake”, while you make the “ssss” sound. You can give your child choices for different colors, what they want you to make, or what they want to make using the tools or shapes. They most likely won’t be able to open the containers, which gives the opportunity for them to ask you to “open” or “help”. To help cue your child to request, ask them, “Do you want me to open?” or “Do you want help?”. If needed, model “open”, “open please”, “help”, or “help me” for them to imitate. Another way to encourage them to request is to only give them a little at a time. Then you have the opportunity to help them to ask for “more”. Receptively, give them simple directions to follow or imitate actions(put in, push, pull, etc). Show them two tools or shapes and ask them to get one(Get the scissors, Make the butterfly, etc). With easy access to the many different recipes, making your own play dough has never been easier! Wouldn’t it be fun for your child to help make a toy they can play with? Play dough is a simple fun way to teach your children many concepts without them even knowing they are learning!

Words/sounds to include: open, close, in, out, push, pull, roll, cut, squeeze, squish, smash, bounce, ball, snake, sssss, pancake, cookie, hot dog, pretzel, more, colors, names of tools or shapes in kits, all done, clean up, etc.

TIP: Once your child is using single words, help them to expand to phrases by adding one more word to the words they are using. For example, if they ask for more, ask them “More what?” Then you can model a 2 word combination for them to imitate so they can be specific about what they want more of(More play dough/dough, More blue, More stars, etc).

PLAY WITH A POTATO?

Mr. Potato Head has been a toy in distribution since 1952! The Toy Story franchise has made it’s popularity continue among children for many years. Did you know this simple toy could teach children so much with no lights and sounds? Since there are no buttons to push to reinforce children with a familiar song or a flashing light, this is a toy for the parent/caregiver to engage and interact with using the familiar sound of their voice. Receptively(an understanding of language), you can give your child simple directions to follow, such as “Get the shoes” while limiting the visual choice of the parts to 2-3 depending on their age. Help them to push or pull the pieces in and out, while over exaggerating the actions and words as you help them. Pretend you are having a hard time with the pieces as if they were heavy. They may even begin to imitate the words since you are being silly while modeling it. You can also assess their understanding by telling them to pull out a certain piece one at a time when taking it apart after completing it. Expressively(use of language), model the names of each piece as they put them in or take them out. Ask them to choose which piece they want by showing them two and asking “Which one?”. If they don’t independently choose using the word, label each part while holding it close to your mouth so they can see how you are saying the words. Show them some of the same parts on themselves and you. As they get older, you can expand from single words to modeling word combinations(Shoes on, Green hat, Two ears, etc.). This is also a good turn taking activity(My turn, Your turn) with you as the caregiver or between siblings. If they know Toy Story, they will love playing with one of the characters in it!

TIP: If your child has a shorter attention span, start slow. If they only do a couple pieces at a time, it’s o.k. You can build on it over time. Also, it’s o.k. if they put the pieces in the “wrong” spots-it can be a “silly” potato!

Words/sounds to include: hat, shoes, glasses, teeth, mouth, eyes, nose, tongue, hands/arms, in, out, push, pull, again, all done, colors, etc.