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).