5 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Speech and Language Skills at Home
It’s almost time to send the kids back to school and we all know how hectic our family lives and schedules will soon become (juggling kid pickups/drop-offs, after school sports, birthday parties, bigger laundry piles, meal prep…. the list is never ending). Even though we may have less time with our children than we do over the summer months, there are many ways you can engage with your child in meaningful ways while also maintaining your daily routines and completing household chores.
We’ve come up with some helpful ways for you to continue to develop your child’s speech and language skills, by simply including your children in some of your daily tasks and household chores (a ‘win win’ for your kids AND for your family!) If your child receives speech therapy services, take some time to speak with your child’s speech language pathologist about the specific skills you can help target during these daily routines (bath, laundry, getting dressed etc.) to make sure you’re practicing developmentally and age-appropriate speech sounds and language concepts that will be most beneficial to your child.
1.Bathtime – Bathtime is a wonderful opportunity to be face-to-face with your child (while they are sitting somewhat still) and practice using a variety of new action words, phrases, songs and speech sounds. While you’re scrubbing the dirt off your little ones, take the time to label their body parts as you clean them. Some action words we like to use during bathtime include: splash, wash, dry, pop, sink, float, rub. Here are some other ways to make bathtime a fun and language rich experience: bring in some cooking utensils (pots, pans, spoons, measuring cups) and model pretend play with new action words (e.g. pour, stir, mix, rinse) while they are making 'bath soup'; throw some of their favorite plastic toys in the tub and have them ‘wash’ and clean off their toys (e.g. car wash, baby doll bath time); grab some child safe bath paint (Target typically has this in their dollar section) and use paintbrushes or fingers to help your child get creative while painting the tub walls; bring in a variety of household objects that are safe to be washed and have your child make predictions about what will ‘sink' and 'float.' Need some more inspiration? Here’s a list of 50 bathtime activities for toddlers and kids: 50+ Bath Time Activities for Kids - Happy Toddler Playtime.
2. Laundry – Whether you’re having your child throw their dirty clothes into their laundry bins or they are helping sort through a pile of clean clothes, there are a variety of ways you can use laundry time to facilitate language skills at home. Help your child categorize and separate piles of laundry by clothing type (e.g. socks, shirts, pants), colors (light vs. darks) or who it belongs to (e.g. mommy’s clothes vs. kid clothes). You can play games by throwing dirty clothes ‘into’ your laundry basket or having your child ‘pull out’ the clean clothes. One of our favorites is, ‘find the missing/unmatched sock’ game (since let’s be honest, we always have some single socks floating around). Here are some action and spatial words we like to use during laundry time: wash, fold, take out, put in, on the top/bottom, in/out, under. For older kids, try some of these fun laundry games for kids like ‘folding races’, ‘would you rather’, ‘sock ball toss’ and more: 5 Fun and Easy Laundry Games for the Entire Family (karacreates.com).
3. Cooking & Meal Prep– Prepping meals for school and daycare lunches and busy weeknights is a fantastic time to target your child's language skills. Help your child learn to make choices and communicate their preferences (e.g. “do you want an apple or banana?”). Describe different food types by labeling categories like 'fruits, vegetables, grains, and treats.' Use size and shape words by asking your child if they want their food cut into ‘small or large’ pieces and describe the food shapes as you cut them. Encourage pretend play by allowing your child to ‘cook’ alongside you and provide them with real pots, pans, bowls, spoons and either real or toy food. Describe what you are doing while you are preparing meals and use a variety of action and describing words such as: mix, stir, pour, taste, hot/cold, sticky, wet, squishy/hard, tiny/huge. For older children, consider getting them their own cookbook and go through the steps of picking out a recipe, creating an ingredient list for the store, describing the cooking tasks, etc.: The Best Cookbooks for Young Kids - A Little Library.
4. Getting Ready – Getting dressed every morning and before bed is a great time to target language and sequencing skills. Describe what the child will put on 'first, second, third' and offer clothing choices to increase your child's communication skills and independence (e.g. "Do you want the green or red shirt?") Get dressed alongside your child so you can model what you are doing as you are doing it (while also teaching them how to put on their own clothing items). You can help your child ‘pre plan’ what they will wear on school days by picking out their clothing the night before and talking about what types of clothing they may want to choose based on the weather/daily activities etc. Your child may greatly benefit from simple visual schedules that remind them of the sequences/steps for getting ready every morning: Living Well With Autism - Visual Schedules - Self Care.
5. Reading – We encourage you to make your bedtime reading routine a more interactive and engaging activity for your child and we love using wordless picture books to spark a child’s imagination and help develop their own narrative skills. Take turns coming up with what happens ‘next’ in your picture book and model the use of sequencing words like, ‘first, then, last.’ Repeat and expand your children’s utterances and ideas by turning their ‘words’ or phrases into longer and more complete sentences. Most of all – have fun and follow your child’s lead (the sillier the character names, the better). Here’s a list of wordless picture books that can be used for children as young as toddlers: The Best Wordless Picture Books For Toddlers - A Little Library.
We have a passion for educating families of the children who receive speech and language therapy services through Sunny Spot Speech. We provide private speech therapy services for kids in home, online, at your child's preschool, daycare, private school, or at another community location throughout Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley (Northridge, Calabasas, Granada Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Topanga, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Universal City, San Fernando, Valley Village, Burbank, Glendale).
Are you concerned your child may have a speech or language delay? Contact us if you live in Los Angeles for a free phone consultation: Phone: 818-350-3107 Email: info@sunnyspotspeech.com
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