Over the last few months, we have all been spending time outside with our families even more often than before. With Summer ending and Fall right around the corner, Winter will be here before we know it! Let’s get out and take a walk! Whether your kiddo is in a stroller, wagon, or walking with you, this is a great opportunity to teach them new words. Think of all the things they can see and touch outdoors. Label what you see while pointing to it or even helping your child feel all the different textures. For example, “Look a flower!” or “There’s a tree!”. When they are a little older, you can add some descriptive words as well. “The grass is green”, “The plane flies high up in the sky”, “Splash in the puddle”, “All wet!”. Encourage your child to feel the bark on the tree and how rough it is, then how soft the grass is or even the dog you may see! If you have multiple children, make your walk a game so they can find certain objects you tell them to, like an “I spy” game. When your child spots what you asked them to find, model “I see the….” for them to imitate. This builds on the words they may be using to label the objects as a natural expansion. There are so many bright colors right now to point out and describe. Soon, we will be describing all the beautiful Fall colors and the “Fall” objects we will be seeing. Children learn new words so quickly as adults around them teach during regular routines and activities. Let’s take advantage of the outdoors as long as we can to have fun engaging with our children while teaching them in a fun way. Plus, we all get some exercise which will help everyone feel good while soaking up all kinds of information!
Sound/words to include: trees, grass, flowers, birds, bees, butterflies, leaves, house, sun, sky, clouds, rain, snow, hot, cold, wet, dry, big, little, up, down, colors, car, truck, bus, plane, bike, train, vroom, beep, zoom, choo choo, stop, go, names of animals and their sounds, hi, bye, etc.