January Speech and Language Tip

           Hi Parents,

                  It's January and getting close to the mid year of school.  This is a quick tip to help you help your children develop their language, listening and speaking skills.  Consider going "old school" with your kids when it comes to playing, especially the very young ones at home.  What I mean by this is make sure your children are getting plenty of play time.  Get out the blocks, dolls, play kitchens, play food, play vehicles (without the noises), play animals, pots, pans, spoons, old paper towel rolls, etc. (you get it).  Use anything you can think of to help stimulate their imagination and their imaginative play.  For example if they have plain wood blocks, model how to pretend one of them is a fire truck.  Drive it around making the noises of the siren, saying "hey chief, I'm on my way to the fire."  and other pretend phrases.  Use play food and dish sets and make a tea party, pretending to prepare the food and serve it to your guests.   During these interactions, your children learn social and communication skills, they hear and use language, they practice speaking after hearing role model speech from an adult, have time to interact, and develop their ability to imagine and create images in their minds.   The more time they have to be creative with their play and the less time they have that creativity designed for them through technology the better prepared they will be for listening, attending, planning, and learning.  

Use this link for more ideas for imaginative play at home:

https://www.learning4kids.net/list-of-imaginative-play-ideas/