Category: Plays

LET’S GET CREATIVE!

Arts and crafts can be a fun way to keep children engaged with learning many different language concepts while their little hands are busy and out of any trouble they may find😊. Even if you only have a few “art” supplies and no “artistic” ability, children will enjoy spending time with you creating, not even realizing they are learning at the same time!  Use whatever supplies you have, get creative! Depending on how old your child is, monitor the curiosity of putting the tools you are using in their little mouths. Whatever you are using, crayons, markers, paint, your children can learn through observation, following directions, or through their own imagination. Label the colors you use as you show them making lines or circular motions.  This is also a good way to make silly sounds for your child to imitate as you teach them scribbling(wheee while making circles, zoom while scribbling back and forth, or zip while scribbling up and down, dot-dot-dot while making dots).  Body parts can be taught while drawing faces or simple sketches of people. Think about objects your child may see around them on a regular basis and provide them with choices of what you can “make” or “draw” for them.  If they choose, model a short sentence to tell them what you made after you draw it, “I made a cat!”  You can also use choices as a way for your child to choose a color they want, material they want(paint vs markers), or project they want to do(make a mask, draw a picture, etc). Teach them the names of the materials you have to use and incorporate some turn taking if possible.  For example, “I have the glue, it’s sticky!” “Do you want some glue?” “My turn with the crayons please”.  Use whatever you have, paper plates, paper bags, ingredients you have in the kitchen, shoe boxes, etc.  There are a ton of creative ideas at your fingertips in a simple internet search!  Your children will be learning ways to gain so many developmental skills and engaging their sensory system at the same time(seeing bright colors, touching different textures, smelling different smells, etc).  Most importantly, use a ton of language to describe what you are doing, what your child is doing, and what has been created. Have fun, get messy, and get creative!

Words/sounds to include: names of objects being used, colors, paint, color, rip, draw, cut, dip, wet, sticky, big, little, water, wheeee, dot, zoom, zip, messy, wipe, etc.

BATH TIME!

Bath time!  It’s one of the first routines we engage our babies in.  Even when they are tiny, we teach our young children a lot during this regular routine.  Babies are learning about how different textures feel-the water temperature, the feel of the wash cloth, what soap feels like.  Some babies love the water, some do not.  Talking them through the process of bath time can engage them to learn and distract them if they feel distress.  Incorporate some singing during the routine and it will help ease not only your child’s stress but your own as well!  Explain what is happening when they are little, ask them questions as they get older about the process.  For example, “We turn the water on”, “Brrrr it’s cold!”, “Let’s make it nice and warm.”, “We get some soap for the washcloth and scrub your belly, your arms, now your…..”.  Keep going as you name each body part.  When they are older, play a game and ask them “Where’s your nose?”, “Where’s Mommy’s nose?”, “Beep, there it is!”.  This is a good way to learn body parts.  Not only are they in the tub and it’s a little more difficult to move to another activity, but the acoustics in the bathtub are beneficial for children to learn speech and language.  Talk about the toys they may play with by labeling them and describing what the toy is doing.  This is also a good time to give choices as they play and take turns with the toys with you.  For example, “Do you want the boat or the duck?”.  Wait for your child to either use the word to ask for it or gesture toward the choice.  If you can, hold the toy close to your mouth as you model the word and cue them to try to imitate it.  Also, make sounds while playing or even silly faces for your child to eventually imitate.  Receptive language skills can also be built during this routine.  Provide them simple directions during play, such “Give Daddy the duck please”, or “Put the boat in the water”.  The bathtub provides a great opportunity to have fun while your baby learns to communicate with you!

Sounds/words to include: water, soap, washcloth, towel, bubbles, on, off, hot, cold, wet, dry, in, out, splash, plop, dump, pop, names of body parts, names of toys, etc.

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 wordsĂ eat, 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.

WATER PLAY

Summer is synonymous with water. The pool, the beach, the sprinkler in the yard. Many opportunities for fun and learning while having fun! Not only can babies and toddlers learn a variety of sounds and words during water play, but they will have sensory experiences that will teach them to tolerate how things sound, taste, look, feel, and even smell. Teach your baby about the different temperatures as they splash around in the cold water from a sprinkler or a hose vs water in the pool that is heated or has sat in the sun.  Model “Brrrr” for your child to imitate when it’s cold or “Ahhhh nice and warm” when the water is a warmer temperature. Teach them hot vs cold during these hot summer days, as well as concepts wet vs dry.  Use water toys to play and splash with while naming them for your child to either find or pick up or to imitate the name of.  Sing songs such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, “Five Little Ducks”, or “Splish Splash”.  Teach actions such as “scoop” or “dump”.  Make bubbles and help them pop them while modeling “Pop!”.  When they are old enough, teach them to blow bubbles in the water.  Whether you are at home or away, water play is a fun way to teach your child and a fun way for them to learn!

Words/sounds to include: Water, splash, wet, dry, hot, cold, plop, pop, bubble, boat, duck, fish, frog, bucket, shovel, cup, scoop, dump, swim, kick

OUTSIDE PLAY

Playing outside is the perfect opportunity to teach a variety of language concepts, as well as, the social aspects of language. Your children will be having so much fun, they won’t even realize how much they are learning! Teaching them the names of objects you see or telling them to find certain objects is a great way to build their vocabulary both receptively(understanding labels of objects) and expressively(names/labels of objects). While they are playing on playground equipment, playing in the sand or water, or playing ball, you can teach your children about action words as well. Be sure to have fun being a kid with your child and incorporate turn taking games or simply making silly sounds as you play.

Words/sounds to include: outside, tree, sky, cloud, sun, flowers, ball, slide, sandbox, uh-oh, boom, up, down, in, out, throw, catch, kick, splash, water, wet, scoop, dump, run, jump, Ready, Set, Go!, My turn, etc.