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`Summer Speech Fun: Sand Dough
Welcome to the first post in a series about ideas for fun summer activities and how to tie in speech/language skills to your summer fun!
Hopefully this summer will be full of sunny beach days! But, for those times that Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, it is a good idea to have some ideas for some indoor fun up your sleeve. In my house, a go-to inside summer fun activity is Sand Dough.
Recipe:
4 cups of sand (we used beach sand)
3 cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of warm water
¼ cup of oil
Mix all of the ingredients together and knead until dough forms.
*After we mixed the initial recipe together we added a little more sand/flour to make the consistency a little bit less sticky.
Once the dough is formed it’s time to play! We found some beach rocks and small beach toys to use with the dough. My daughter enjoyed playing with her sand dough all week!
How to tie in speech/language skills:
- Work on following directions while mixing the ingredients
- Use describing words to talk about how the ingredients feel and how the sand dough feels (sticky, wet, dry, etc…).
- Roll the sand dough out and use your fingers to draw shapes and letters with your child
- Hide things in the sand dough and let your child dig to find the treasures – then talk about what your child found
- Roll the sand dough into various size balls and talk about the different sizes
I hope you enjoy this fun summer activity and can to tie in speech/language skills to your summer adventures!
Summer Speech Therapy
Does your child receive speech therapy at school during the school year but not during the summer?
Are you concerned about them not receiving services for two months?
Are you looking for someone to provide services over the summer?
Call Golden Speech Therapy!
Summer is a time to enjoy the sun, head to the beach and have some fun! However, if your child has a speech/language disorder you don’t want them to take any steps back. Golden Speech Therapy in Plymouth is happy to offer services in a fun, family-centered environment.
Booking an appointment for an evaluation in the next few months can assure that your child is able to begin receiving services before the end of the school year!
Call today to inquire about our services or to book an appointment.
781-603-8529
What did I learn today? How can I use it?
I have a sign hanging by the door in my office for my clients to read (if they are able to) on their way out. It says: “STOP! Think about it…. WHY do I come to speech? WHAT did I learn today? HOW can I use it outside of speech?”
The meaning behind this sign is so important. I try to address these questions with all of my clients. In order to make progress it is so important for clients to know what they are working on and why it is important. While it is easier for my older clients to take ownership of their therapy than it is for my younger clients, a key piece to the puzzle is also the caregivers.
As a parent of a child in speech therapy it is so important to be involved. Being “involved” may mean a variety of different things depending on you, your child and your child’s therapist. For some families it may be beneficial for the parent to sit in the therapy room for every session. This will allow the parent to watch the techniques the therapist uses, understand the goals that are being worked on and easily take away strategies to use at home. For other families, having the parent in the room can be too distracting for the child. In this case, the parent may instead choose to sit in for one session every month or every other month. Or, if possible, the parent may watch the therapy through a one-way mirror in an adjoining room.
Whether the parent is in the room or not, it is important for the parent and therapist to have open communication. In my clinic, I try to take the last 5-10 minutes of my session to talk with the parent. I inform them about what goals we addressed that day, what activities we completed and what carryover activities can be done at home. This is also a time for parents to ask any questions they may have. Parents and therapists should work as a team to have open communication and share ideas/strategies to increase the progress of the child.
If you are a parent of a child in speech therapy (or any other kind of therapy!) I urge you to truly be involved in your child’s therapy. Think about the words on the sign:
Know WHY your child goes to therapy.
Know WHAT your child is working on in therapy.
Know HOW you can promote the carryover of skills to outside of therapy.
You are your child’s best teacher and advocate!
Summer Speech Fun
I know it’s summer and everyone is enjoying the beautiful (HOT) weather, playing outside and cooling off at the beach! But, it’s still important to think about speech and language skills during the summer! Here are some tips to include some work on speech/language skills at the beach!
- Give/follow directions while playing “Simon Says” in the water
- Take a walk along the beach and talk about the shells and sea-life you find
- Pick up some of the things you find on your walk and use your describing words to talk about them (wet/dry, rough/smooth, hard/soft, color words, etc..)
- Jump into some imaginary play by while building sand castles
- Grab a stick and practice writing letters/words in the sand
- Have a beach scavenger hunt for objects containing your child’s target speech sounds (ex: find all of the things at the beach that start with “k”)
- Bring your summer reading books and relax on a towel while reading
- Work on pragmatic/social language while making new friends at the beach
Don’t forget that once you are done with the summer sun and fun, give Golden Speech Therapy a call to set up an evaluation for the fall!
Phonics Studio
Phonics Studio by Grasshopper Apps
Phonics Studio is an awesome app by Grasshopper Apps. This app presents color picture cards organized into 22 different sound groups.
After you choose your sound and your player, your flashcards will appear!
These cards are great for children who are learning to read and for children with articulation/speech sound disorders! Swipe through the flash cards to see pictures of words containing the target sound you chose. The child can attempt to say the word on his/her own or touch the picture to hear a model of the word. The recording feature allows the child to say the word and listen back to it.
The green arrow and red “x” buttons also allow you or your child to keep track of their success!
I love this app – and my favorite part – it’s FREE!
This app is available on iPod, iPhone and iPad.
If you have a child who is learning to read or has some speech sounds he/she is targeting, I highly recommend you download this app today!
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Free App!
Toca Boca makes engaging and colorful apps for kids and today the app Toca Band is free in the App Store!
Toca Band has 16 different characters that each have their own sound and rhythm. Drag the characters to the stage to create your own unique musical sound!
I use this app in therapy as a motivational tool/reward for working hard!
Do you use this app either with your child or in therapy? Leave a comment to tell me your favorite thing about this app!
Click here to visit the App Store and download this app for free today!
Speech Therapy Plymouth, MA, South Shore, MA
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