Activity of the Week April 22

It's Playtime!

Can you think of something that is "up"? Look waaaay up. In the sky. Is it flying overhead? It's not a bird. It's an...airplane!

For playtime today, let's dream of a trip we might take on an airplane. You and your child are invited to take turns pretending to be a customs agent/border control agent. This type of play is really good for learning how to ask and answer questions, speak in long, grammatically correct sentences, and learn social communication skills (like turn-taking and eye contact). You (the parent) can use this opportunity to model correct grammar. You don't need to correct your child's speech, just model back to them how it should sound.

To start: we recommend that the parent be the customs agent the first round and your child can be the traveller. Print the sheet out (or make your own, if you don't have a working printer). You will ask your child the customs questions and mark their answers on your sheet (by circling their response). Once you have had a turn, now your child gets a turn to be the customs agent. Your child will ask you the questions and circle your response. If your child makes a grammar mistake, simply model how it should have sounded (modelling means repeating back what they said with the correct sentence). For example, if your child asks, "Where you going?" you might respond with, "Where am I going? I am going to ..."

[For question 6, the "customs agent" can try to write down what the "traveller" says - for your child's turn, that might just be the first sound in the word. So, if you said, "swimsuit," your child might just be able to write the "s"]