As you prepare for the busy holiday season, consider ways that you can promote speech and language skills with your child!
Here is a small selection of toys, games, and activities that can be used to facilitate imaginative play, turn-taking, engaging with peers, and many other skills. These would also make great gift ideas!
Cause and Effect
Understanding cause and effect results when children explore their environment and manipulate materials. They can do this by pressing buttons, shaking, and hitting items. The following toys can be used to facilitate understanding of cause and effect:
Rattles
Shakers
Toys that Light Up or Make Music
Pop-Up Toys
Play Skills
Functional play involves playing with items in their intended ways.
Puzzles
Car Ramp Set
- Imaginative play involves role playing and acting out experiences. The following toys can be used to encourage imaginative play as well as social skills if used within play with other children.
Grocery Store
Toy Food
Play Tool Workbench
Receptive Language
Receptive language is a child’s ability to understand language. These skills are important for understanding concepts, answering questions, and following directions.
Lego Sets
Lego sets and other build-it-yourself activities often require following directions.
Books
Books can be used to promote literacy development and a variety of language skills. Ask your child basic wh- questions (e.g., what, who, where) while you read to target receptive language.
Decorate the House
Give your child directions to follow while decorating the house for the holidays. You can embed various concepts (e.g., color, shape, size, number) into the directions as well. For example, “Put one red ornament on the tree” or “Pick up the blue ornament and put it on the tree.”
Play Simon Says
Expressive Language
Expressive language skills include being able to label, describe, answer questions, put words together, use grammar appropriately, and retell stories/events. Expressive language enables children to express their wants, needs, thoughts and ideas, and to engage in interactions with peers and adults.
Label Items
Name items together while looking at a book, in the car, looking outside, in play, or when Christmas shopping.
Engage in Play
Model how to play with toys, follow the child’s lead and talk about what they are doing with the toys. Model new words and phrases.
Books
Look at books and talk about what you see. Stories help to model correct use of language. Ask questions about the events of the stories.
Songs
Sing songs together. Fun holiday examples include Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Sharing & Turn-Taking
Memory Games
Sports Games
Toss a baseball back and forth, kick a soccer ball to one another, or take turns shooting a basketball into a hoop.
Card Games
Pop the Pig
Pop Up Pirate
Written By:
Danielle Bornemann, MS, CCC-SLP & Brittany Macrander, MS, CCC-SLP