Preschool

Language

  • Play with your kids. Follow their lead. Comment on what they are doing. Expand verbally on what they say, using the +1 strategy. Child: “bird” Parent: “yes, bird!” or “red bird”, “cute bird”, “small bird”, “fast bird”.

  • Go on a nature walk. Comment on what they see. Don’t quiz them (i.e., “What is this? What is that? What do we call this?) Instead, model for them. Name it, describe it. Talk about what it does. How does it feel? And then answer for them. After you model the response. Ask questions. Give them time to answer. If they don’t know, give choices. (e.g., Is it a bird or a mouse?).

  • Read aloud or listen to an online book, with Vooks, Storylineonline, or TumbleBookLibrary. Snuggle time and reading are so great at this age! Look at the cover. Ask, “What do you think the story will be about?” Ask what, who, where, when, and how questions periodically. Make predictions. It’s OK and actually important to read a story over and over again. Then, have the child “retell” the story to you if they can...

  • Play Hide-and-Seek with a toy. Hide the toy, then go “look” for it together. Where is it? Under the couch. Next to the refrigerator. On the bottom shelf.

  • Play “I Spy”- you can work on colors, shapes, concepts (round, square, big, small, soft, hard, hot, cold)

  • Cut out magazine or grocery flyers- sort by category (e.g., animals, food, people, tools, transportation, clothes, toys, furniture, letters, numbers, etc., ) sort by speech sound(e.g., find all the pictures that start with “l”) sort by concept (e.g., big vs. small, round vs. square, hot vs. cold, hard vs. soft)

  • Here are some great language-building tips for parents!

Articulation

  • Choose your favorite board game (Candyland, Trouble, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Ants in the Pants, etc.,). Have the child say a target word 10 times before taking a turn. Word lists can be found here: Speech Word Lists or Speech Word Lists

  • Sidewalk chalk- draw pictures of your speech sounds- practice saying them as you jump from picture to picture

  • Color & practice - Use a word list from above and find your child’s speech sounds to practice. Say a word 10 times then color 10 pictures on one of these Spring Articulation Drill Sheets . If you do not have access to a printer, you could try stamps, or finger painting- dipping your finger in paint and pressing down on the paper every time your child says a word

  • Dice - Throw a set of dice and have your child count the number that rolls out. Practice a word that number of times.

Early Language Skills

  • Mr. Potato Head- a great toy to introduce or review body parts, requesting (e.g., I want arm., I want eye.), basic concepts (e.g., nose off, ear off, ear in, nose in),

  • Dollhouse or Farm set- two great toys to introduce/review these basic concepts- awake/ asleep, open/closed, in/out, big/little, happy/sad, top/bottom, loud/soft (noisy/quiet), behind/in front, outside/inside, fast/slow, up/down

  • Bubbles! - perfect for requesting (e.g., more bubbles, all done, my turn, your turn, stop, go, again, I want, I want more, give me)

  • Shoebox- use the box as a mailbox for speech sound cards- as you say the word drop it in OR collect random objects your child wants to chat about that you found in your house or outside Watch this to get some ideas!

  • Find a repetitive story on Youtube to expose your child to a predictable narrative, here are some examples- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Way Down Deep

  • Find a repetitive song on Youtube to practice vocal and hand imitations Here are some examples- Itsy Bitsy Spider, Five Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, If You're Happy and You Know it, ABC song, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Wheels on the Bus