Watching your child grow can be exciting. It is always a reassurance that you are not only lucky, but also blessed. But things happen sometimes and children grow in strange ways. Some take too long to crawl or to walk. You can, of course, rest easy in such instances especially after a pediatrician has assured you that everything will be fine.
Well, not so when it comes to speech. You wake up in the morning, expecting your child to easily say ‘Mum” or cry for his favorite toy. You instead notice that there is something wrong. You child can’t speak well. You go visit a pediatrician and your worst fears suddenly become real. Your child needs speech therapy in CT. This should not worry you. The therapy sessions can be long. But like you are about to find out, the following summer activities can expedite the speech therapy treatment and help your child learn to talk well with ease.
Leisure walks
A walk that incorporates basic language skills can be as simple as strolling around the neighborhood or as complex as a mid afternoon hike to an adventurous destination. All you need to do is set aside at least 2 hours for the event. As you walk, encourage funny conversations by making observations and asking open ended questions. You can for instance drop a picture with an image of a dog and ask, ‘I wonder which animal this is!’
Take note too of loud things that you hear such as car engines and hoots and ask open ended questions about the sounds. You can also come up with games like Scavenger Hunt where you label objects and prompt your child to look for them as you mark the objects he finds off a picture checklist. Remember it’s all about toying with a child’s imagination in a bid to encourage him to talk.
Make treats
No kid can resist the allure of any game or activity that involves making treats. Use simple recipes to target your child’s language skills. It can be as simple as eruditing the usage of then vs than. Be sure to also use bright food colors to make the whole activity fun. Kids, as you will find out, are always attracted to bright colors. So use as much colors as you can and encourage them to identify the colors. Then while at it, don’t be upset if your kid doesn’t identify colors. It could be color blindness which is by all means a normal condition.
Bring along playmates
Effective speech language therapy is all about promoting social skills. So bring a long one or two other kids and watch them play without interrupting. Make sure the kids have enough toys and ample space to enjoy their interaction. Include bubbles, balls and other toys that can encourage the kids to talk.
Use symbolic language
You can always engage your kid symbolic language games anytime of the year. It doesn’t have to be summer. Symbolic language is simply where you use easy sounds and words to encourage your child to speak. You can use ‘beep beep’ for cars or ‘moo’ for a cow. Use colorful kids’ books and toys to play the game. You can also take the game outdoors by visiting a park, a zoo or a farm. As any speech therapist will tell you, symbolic language games encourage imitation, vocalization, vocabulary building and imitation.
