December 2020 -

PICNIC

Many children go through a phase that they begin to feed their dolls, stuffed animals, or their family members. This a BIG milestone for play development. It can also be a great way to learn language! Join in with them to help create a picnic inside…or out! Those of us living in cold weather the next few months, we can turn any space inside into a picnic. Your children can bring along their favorite dolls or stuffed animals. Help them pack a “picnic basket” by asking them to find certain foods/drinks you would like(or pretend one the dolls wants). Also, when the kiddos choose what they want, help them name the food or drink before putting it in the basket. While setting everything up, talk about everything else you need for the picnic and describe what you are doing. Ask your children to help! Everyone will need a plate, cup, fork, spoon, etc. Model the language you would like them to use. For example, “May I have some grapes?”, “Thank you!”. You can use their pretend food or what you have in your kitchen. The kids will have fun hearing you pretend to talk in funny voices for their friends(dolls or stuffed animals). They may even begin doing it as well! Modeling words and phrases during pretend play helps them learn and build their language skills, social skills, and maybe even some motor skills too! If your child(ren) prefer a tea party, make it a tea party! For some of our “picky eaters”, this may help them to try new foods! Picnics, real or pretend, are a great way to help children learn new words and how to use them!

Sounds/words to include: names of foods and drinks, names of dolls or stuffed animals, blanket, basket, plates, cups, fork, spoon, napkin, pour, scoop, pass, more, please, all done, yum, yuck, yes, no, thank you, your welcome, etc.

BABY SOUNDS

What are the first sounds babies begin to use? You will hear their first cooing/gurgling sounds around 6-8 weeks. These sounds typically occur at the back of the mouth so think “ga-ga-ga” sounds. When they begin babbling between 6-9 months you will likely here “Mamama”, “Bababa”, or “Dadada”. It’s when you begin to respond to these babbles they begin to attach meaning that “Mamama” goes with “Mama” or “Dadada” goes with “Dada”. As you model “Mama” and get very excited, the babbles shorten in length. They figure out that, when I do this with my mouth and make these sounds only twice, that important lady who always takes care of me, responds to me and gets very happy😊 These sounds can be important indicators on what’s to come next. Your interactions and responses play an important part with more sounds and words that happen over the next year.

What’s an easy, fun way to help this continue to expand? Animal sounds, environmental sounds, and exclamatory sounds. What does that include? Glad you asked! Ask yourself what animals do you and your baby see regularly. In your house, around your neighborhood, looking at books, playing with their toys, etc. Model when you see them, “Moooo says cow”, “Woof-woof says dog”(or insert your own dog’s name), “Tweet-tweet says bird”. You get the picture.

What are environmental sounds? “Vroom-vroom goes the car”, “Beep-beep says the bus”, “Choo choo says the train”, and so on.

Exclamatory sounds you ask? “Ta-da!” Here they are(hope you caught that example right there!): “Boom”, “Uh-oh”, “Plop”, “Wheee!”, “Whoa!”, “Wow!”, “Zoom”, “Mmmmmm!”, “Ahhhhh”. You can model these sounds as soon as your baby begins to smile at you(6-8 weeks) as you begin bonding through daily interactions-feeding, diaper changes, and play. Follow their lead sometimes too! Imitate the sounds they make and see how long they will keep the exchange up. This is the beginning of the natural pauses in conversation and learning about turn-taking!

SENSORY PLAY

What is sensory play or sensory-motor play? Play that engages your sensory system(thing the 5 senses) along with two more senses few people know about that involve movement and balance/body awareness(vestibular and proprioceptive). Stay tuned, and I will explain how you can use these activities to boost speech and language development. As your baby grows into a very busy, curious toddler, it is important to provide them with a variety of “sensory” type activities. You may not even realize how many you are already doing, or how they are exploring and learning how to manage all the sensory input their bodies and brains are craving. For more information, visit www.yourkidstable.com.

Why is it important? Children learn best while engaged and motivated. They are already gaining so many skills so quickly in the first years of their lives. Engaging all systems during daily routines and activities provides optimum learning experiences for development. Providing these activities and engaging with them will help develop motor skills for future athletes or writers, language skills for future public speakers(#teachersareessentialworkers), and social skills for future community leaders. You can find a ton of creative ideas on the internet using everyday household items and daily routines to create these experiences.

Some children need more sensory activities than others. These are great opportunities to teach new sounds and words! Also, it will be more motivating to use that sound/word to request a continuation of the activity😊 Below are some ideas to help get those sounds and words out for the “quiet players”:

Messy play– finger painting(paint or foods like whip cream), play dough, sandbox, bin of rice/noodles/water. Words/sounds to include: wheee!, zoom, dot-dot-dot, smash, roll, push, pull, bounce, ball, snake—ssss, cookie, yum, yucky(ooooo), scoop, dig, dump

Bouncing/rolling on a ball- make sure it’s a large enough ball that they need a little help staying on it. Words/sounds to include: bounce, roll, up, down, more, all done, sing songs while they are on it(Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Wheels on the Bus, ABCs)

Swinging– on the playground, in your arms, or in a blanket(safely with two people holding the blanket). Words/sounds to include: swing, wheee!, up, down, more, all done, Ready-Set-Go, 1, 2, 3, Go

Jumping/Hopping– you can pretty much do this anywhere! Words/sounds to include: jump, hop, boom, up, down, more, all done, Ready-Set-Go, 1, 2, 3, Go

There are so many more activities out there that are examples of sensory play! If you have questions or concerns, feel free to message me. Always remember to speak to your pediatrician about your local Early Intervention program.

BUBBLES, BUBBLES, BUBBLES!

Why are bubbles such an important toy for early learning? Besides being fun and motivating for young(and even older) children, it’s a simple way to engage them with you! When they are actively engaged in watching them form and float, they will then move to try to touch them. You can model action words such as, “Pop!” or “Blow!”, and descriptive words such as “Big!” or “Little”. Your child will want more to continue this activity, so you can wait for them to ask for “more” or ask them if they want “more”. This will give them an opening to respond by imitating “more” or respond “yes” or “no”(verbally or non-verbally). As they get older and more mobile, you can give them directions to “stomp”, “clap”, “kick”, or “poke” the bubble to pop it. Also, you can teach them to blow bubbles which is important to build awareness of their mouths and what each part(cheeks, lips, tongue, jaw) has to do to successfully blow bubbles. If they aren’t able to round their lips to blow through a wand, you can find bubble blowers on line or at a local toy store that they dip one end in the bubbles and blow through the other. They will be so proud of themselves when they blow their own bubbles AND have a blast taking turns with you to see who can blow the biggest bubble!

Sounds/words to include: bubble, blow, pop, kick, stomp, clap, poke, big, little, more, all gone, oooo, wow, me, my turn, etc.