Education Station Helping at Home Things to do at Home: Using Games , Toys, and Books

Work target sounds into games. For example, to model and encourage the "y" sound, say "yippee, yahoo, yes!" when something good happens in the game.

Provide "blowing" toys: balloons, party blowers, bubbles, harmonicas, pinwheels, whistles, kazoos, toy flutes, and cotton balls. (See recommended catalogs for more.)

Try straw-painting: put some thinned tempera paint on paper, and have your child blow through a straw to move the paint around the paper.

Use straws to blow in water. Buy tiny boats to float on top of the water and have your child "make the wind blow."

Fun products that encourage motor planning: make rabbits or clouds from cotton balls, use Play-doh, a cornstarch and water mixture, finger paints, or shaving cream. (See play with food for edible dough recipes.)

Break words down into the sounds and write them on squares of paper, arranging them in sequence and using them to "prompt" speech. For example: an "s" in one square, "un" in another, and a picture of a sun at the end. Repeat this in patterns: "s" [wait] "un", gradually quickening it so that in the end it sounds like "sun."

Using Colorforms: A variety of these games are available with different themes: "Silly Faces," in which you take turns choosing eyes, noses, mouths, hair, and ears to put on the colorful blank faces; "Elmo's Playroom"; a playground theme; and others. When playing with these games, encourage the use of carrier phrases such as "I want...," and "I see..." Incorporate sound production into the activities through modeling and turn-taking. For example, you and your child take turns choosing the next Colorforms piece to put on the board. However, before you take each turn, you say "our sound" (perhaps a target sound that your child's therapist is working on). The child is provided with a model and the "dreaded sound practice" becomes part of the game.

Books can help make speech and oral motor practice fun. Look for books with animal sounds: "moo" for cow, "oink" for pig, etc. These words (onomatopoeia) are often easier for our kids to say. Alternately, look for books for which you can use "daddy" voices and "baby" voices, such as The Three Little Pigs. Over-enunciate the target sounds. Example: "I'll hhhhhuff and I'll pppuff..." Stop to let your child finish repetitive sentences such as "I'll blow your house-" and wait for the child to say "down." To further encourage speech, ask questions during stories: "What color is the shirt?" or "Do you think the girl feels good or bad?"

Resources:

Toys and DVDs to Encourage Speech and Language
Music and Other Audio to Promote Speech Development

Playful Puppets, Inc.
9002 Stoneleigh Court
Fairfax, VA 22031
Telephone: (703) 280-5070
Fax: (703) 280-0918
E-Mail: fann@tidalwave.net
http://www.playfulpuppets.com
Puppets That Swallow, useful for therapeutic and educational purposes, including feeding, oral-motor and sensorimotor activities, speech and language activities, and signing.

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