52 FUN ACTIVITIES. for. Alex Trichilo

Transcription

1 52 FUN ACTIVITIES for Speech and Language SAMPLE Alex Trichilo

2 52 FUN ACTIVITIES for Speech and Language All pages in this book may be printed and/or photocopied for personal use including being provided to parents by teachers and therapists. The book may not be provided in its entirety to another person by any method for free or by sale. Please purchase this book if you find it useful and support the author and her time.

3 CONTENTS Notes from the Speechie Before you Start Focus Areas Concerns Speech Sounds Out and About Craft Indoor Cooking Toys Sports Songs No Resources Boardgames Events Printable Activities

4 NOTES FROM THE SPEECHIE Communication skills are essential for life. They give us the ability to make friends, go to school, find a career, make money and much more. When speech pathologists refer to speech and language, we mean communication in any form reading, writing, sign language, speaking, listening, gestures, body language, facial expressions and much more! When you think about it like this you can see how critical it is to our functioning and wellbeing. It is so important that we give kids the best start in life by giving them strong communication skills. The research tells us that children are most able to absorb new skills when they are young and so therefore between the age of 0 and 6 is a very important time to be helping them to develop these skills (Owens, 2005). This book is designed to make that easy for you with a selection of 52 activities that you are probably doing everyday, or using toys and resources that you have at home. I especially want to show you how you can use what you have instead of buying expensive toys or games. You will see that there is a different age group on each page and some activities are designed for multiple ages. Many are designed to be able to work with multiple children great if you have a few kids at home of all different ages. In addition, you will see that each page indicates the focus areas that are covered within the activity. The 4 key focus areas are language, literacy, comprehension, and social skills. Enjoy adding language to your child s day and make it fun! Alex Trichilo Speech Pathologist

5 BEFORE YOU START Just a few tips before you get started: Each page in this book will give you great vocabulary that you can be using when you are doing the activity with your child. When deciding on the vocabulary that you are going to use, consider the following questions first: 1) Which vocabulary does your child already use during that activity? 2) How long are the sentences that your child uses? (i.e. one word, five words, long!) When you have answered those questions, choose three words that they aren't yet using and put them into sentences that are one word longer than what they are currently using. So the rules are: 3 NEW WORDS SENTENCE LENGTH +1 ADD LANGUAGE TO EVERY ACTIVITY Of course you can use more language if you want to, but these are good rules to follow. Notice that the rules do not include asking questions all the time, this is because we want you to focus on commenting and talking about activities rather than continuously asking questions. Alex's Top Tips Think outside the box - change the 'normal' way that you would do an activity The pages in this book are only suggestions - don't feel you have to stick to it You know your child best, only do what you feel your child can cope with Don't force your child - follow your child's interest in the activity - they may think of an even better idea than you! The activities in the book are not designed to be done in an order, just choose the one you like best. Also, repetition is good for kids, do them over and over. Some activities might be recommended for 0-2 year olds but ensure you consider the huge range of difference between a newborn and a two year old!

6 FOCUS AREAS On each page, the focus areas are coded as below. If a focus area is covered by an activity, the code is black, whilst if it is not covered, it is shaded grey. V VOCABULARY Vocabulary refers to all of the amazing words that your child has stored in their brain. Each day we want to increase that vocabulary of words that they use and understand. The activities in this book have suggested vocabulary and you will notice that the vocabulary covers not just labels, but also description and action words. C COMPREHENSION Comprehension refers to three key skills - following instructions, answering questions and understanding concepts. These are three skills that we encounter every day so it is important that we are constantly teaching kids how to cope with all of them. Try to mix it up by asking different questions and introducing new concepts. The comprehension questions and instructions on each activity page are just samples. SS SOCIAL SKILLS Social skills often get forgotten about when we are doing activities with young children, with the focus primarily being on manners. Social skills prepare us for world experiences as a child and as adults so they are extremely important. Many activities will highlight social skills that you can teach your kids during the activities. L LITERACY Literacy includes the ability to read and spell, but also the skills that come before which is awareness of sounds and letters. We can be developing young children's literacy skills by talking about rhyming words, syllabifying words, pointing out words on signs and in books, reading books to kids and learning the alphabet.

7 CONCERNS? Do you have concerns about your child's speech and language skills? Please note that this book is in no way a replacement for the expertise of a Speech Pathologist when you have concerns about your child. On the website you will find free charts that you can download to check if your child is developing all of their skills at the rate that would be typically expected for their age. If you still have concerns, contact a local Speech Pathologist or your child's doctor to discuss this. Speech Pathologists will typically begin by speaking with the parents and then completing a comprehensive assessment on the child. After this, they will analyse the data from the assessment and determine whether Speech Pathology intervention is required. They will then make recommendations and provide you with activities to complete at home if necessary. This book will be useful for supplementing the service that your child receives and will teach you, as a parent, many strategies and new ways of doing activities. SPEECH SOUNDS Speech sounds are all of the sounds that children produce to make words. When children have difficulty with them you would typically refer to them having difficulty with pronunciation or articulation. Speech Pathologists work with children who have difficulty saying their sounds and can teach them to make new sounds, improve their sounds and be generally more clear when they speak. There is a typical development of sounds and there are many sounds that are not developed until the age of 5 to 7 years old. If a young child has difficulty with those later developing sounds, often they will not require speech therapy services. Download the chart from to determine whether your child is developing their speech sounds at a typical rate. Speech sounds are not a focus area for this book.

8

9 1 GARDENING AGE LEVELS FOCUS AREAS SS V L C WHAT TO DO Watering the plants together Planting seedlings - complete the whole process together. Making a terrarium - making a mini garden in a glass jar or mini green house. Digging holes for plants or trees - measuring the necessary width together. VOCABULARY plant, flower, garden, water, watering can, sun, soil, sand, grow, up, down, dig, push, rough, soft, hard, wet, cold, dry COMPREHENSION Where is the watering can? Can you find a leaf like this? What are you doing? What do we dig with? Get your hands dirty! COMPLETED 9

10 2 SAND PLAY AGE LEVELS FOCUS AREAS SS V L C WHAT TO DO Building sandcastles (and decorating and describing) Making tunnels Imaginary play with shells, castles and moats Digging holes and comparing depth VOCABULARY sand, castle, dig, spade, shovel, bucket, shell, water, cold, warm, soft, hot, fish, umbrella, suncream/ sunscreen, make, build, run, wash COMPREHENSION What are you making? Where will we put the shells? How do we make a sand castle? What will happen if we don t put sun cream on? SOCIAL SKILLS Turn-Taking and Sharing with the bucket and spade Working Together building a big sandcastle together Remember your childhood! COMPLETED 10

11 3 SSS WALK SENSATIONS SOUNDS SMELLS AGE LEVELS FOCUS AREAS SS V L C WHAT TO DO Go for a walk (or walk to school) and talk about all of the awesome sensations, smells and sounds that you touch, smell and hear along the way. Add language to these sensations and spend time appreciating them. Sounds animals, cars, electrical noises, roadworks, people, businesses, trains Sensations soft, rough, hard, bumpy, smooth, furry, fluffy, spiky, Smells flowers, grass, trucks, industrial, wood, smoke/fire, rain COMPREHENSION What can you smell? What can you hear? What did you touch? VOCABULARY smell, sniff, touch, feel, loud, yucky, loud, quiet, ouch, nice Go slow and enjoy it COMPLETED 11

12 4 SHOPPING AGE LEVELS FOCUS AREAS SS V L C WHAT TO DO Ask your child to get items e.g. Get 5 red apples (make sure your child stays in your line of sight) Play Spotto e.g. First one to spot 5 green things (make your own spotto task!) Reading and Writing the Shopping List COMPREHENSION Get 5 red apples and 2 bananas Find the aisle for the flour Can you tell me 5 fruits? SOCIAL SKILLS Sitting nicely in trolley not running away Using manners please and thank you LITERACY Reading and writing the shopping list Reading the signs and packaging at the shops Reading the prices and deciding which one is cheaper/more expensive COMPLETED VOCABULARY fruit, vegetables, trolley, cart, shopping, put, buy, money, pay, basket, push, get, write, tick, finished, drive, please, thank you Sometimes you just need to get your shopping done! Involve your kids when you have the time! 12

13 5 MUD PIE SHOP AGE LEVELS FOCUS AREAS SS V L C WHAT TO DO Making mudpies of different sizes Roleplay selling them in the shop with a shopkeeper and a customer Follow up with a tea party with mud pies VOCABULARY mud, pie, make, big, small, one, two, three, mix, cook, sell, buy, please, thank you, yes, no COMPREHENSION Can I have one big mud pie please? How do we make them? Where is the oven? SOCIAL SKILLS Roleplay (assigning roles to each person) Imaginary play pretending there is an oven if there isn t one. Be creative - make mud pies, mud cakes, mud tea, mud biscuits and anything else you can think of! COMPLETED 13

14 6 WATER PLAY OUTDOORS AGE LEVELS FOCUS AREAS SS V L C WHAT TO DO Writing on warm concrete with fingers dipped in water (watch the water disappear!) Sprinklers running through them Playing in the pool VOCABULARY write, draw, hot, cold, water, sprinkler, run, stop, jump, slide, swim, catch, pool, dive LITERACY Write names on the pavement with the water Draw pictures and patterns on the pavement Perfect on a hot day! COMPLETED 14

15 7 ICE DESTRUCTION AGE LEVELS FOCUS AREAS SS V L C WHAT TO DO Freeze favourite toys and objects in water (Add food colouring if desired) overnight in a container with no lid Pop the ice out of the container outside and give kids a variety of tools hammers (with supervision), buckets of water, playdo tools to excavate the toys out of the ice. VOCABULARY cold, freeze, frozen, water, break, smash, melt, hot, found, find, out, in, stuck, more, COMPREHENSION How will you get the toys out? What toys can you see? What will happen if the ice gets hot? Great for problem solving and understanding cause-and-effect! COMPLETED 15

16 GIVE YOUR CHILD THE GIFT OF SPEECH AND LANGUAGE Buy it now