Speak Play Learn N S'more

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07/08/2020

Enhance speech and language with BAKING!

S’more tips you “knead” when baking with 👶🏼 Baking with your little one is:👨‍🍳 FUN👩‍🍳 Promotes language development👨‍🍳 A...
06/30/2020

S’more tips you “knead” when baking with 👶🏼

Baking with your little one is:
👨‍🍳 FUN
👩‍🍳 Promotes language development
👨‍🍳 Allows you to bond with your child

How to promote language skills when baking with your babe:
🔴Expanding vocabulary: present your child with new words that they may have not heard before and expand on their words e.g. if your child says “Open” with a box in his hand you can say, “Open the box.”
🔸Turn taking: Take turns pouring and mixing while making sure to identify who’s turn it is e.g. “My turn!, now it’s your turn!”
🟨Describing: Have your child touch the mixture and describe it (look, smell, feel, taste) e.g. brown, gooey, bumpy, yummy, chocolate
🟢Actions: pour, mix, roll, wash, open, eat, bake
🔹Following direction: one step direction: open the box, mix 🥣, crack egg
🟪Sequencing: work on first, then
⚪️Narrate: describe what you are doing e.g. “I am pouring the milk, cracking the egg, mixing the batter.” Also narrate what your child is doing, “You are rolling the dough, mixing the batter” etc.
◼️ Use cookie cutters when baking cookies and discuss shapes/animals/objects. If you do not have cookie cutters but have dough cutters (used with play doh) make sure to clean and use those!!

Most important tip - GET MESSY! Let your babe use their hands to touch and taste & enjoy the experience!

Waiting expectantly 😃Wait time is an important technique to use when interacting with a child. It helps the child realiz...
06/26/2020

Waiting expectantly 😃

Wait time is an important technique to use when interacting with a child. It helps the child realize that it is their turn to communicate and provides the child with extra time to respond.

Waiting expectantly is a technique that can be used in addition to waiting! It provides the child with extra cues, showing him/her that we are waiting excitedly for a response, which will in turn motivate him/her to respond.
How to wait expectantly?
🔴 By using your body language and facial expressions to indicate to your child that it’s their turn and you are excited for a response!
🚨 Do not:
Look serious or bored! This is not motivating for the child. The child will not know what is being expected of them or even care to answer! Children want us to be excited especially after they do something. By waiting with an excited look and then praising for their attempt or response, will reinforce that child to demonstrate whatever they did, again!

GET THEM TALKING BY GIVING THEM CHOICES!🔴Providing choices can help your child learn to request for items. Requesting is...
06/25/2020

GET THEM TALKING BY GIVING THEM CHOICES!

🔴Providing choices can help your child learn to request for items. Requesting is important because it shows your child that he/she needs to do something (communicate through eye gaze, gestures, or verbally) in order to get something (the desired item).

🟠By providing choices your giving your child a model of what to ask for. Your child may not know the words or what to say so choices allows you to model and give your child that cue/support that he/she may need!

🟡 Giving your child choices helps them realize how powerful communication can be and allows them feel that they are in control, which can be a powerful motivator for young children.

🟢 When can you provide choices?
EVERY interaction can include choices e.g. In the morning during breakfast you can say, “Do you want banana or yogurt” or “Do you want the big cup or small cup.” Bath time: Duck or boat, plying: car or blocks, reading: brown bear or goodnight moon etc.

🔵How to provide the choices?
You want to hold up the choices, model the words and wait! This is allowing you to set up the stage for your child and then providing your child with a chance to respond. Wait expectantly using your body language, facial expressions and voice!
🟣 What to do if you child doesn’t pick one?
Offer it 3-5 times, giving them a chance to respond. If the child doesn’t have words to say it, do hand over hand to show the child that he/she can point. If the child doesn’t do that, take note of where their eye gaze is. They will be looking and focused on the item that they are most interested in. Praise them for saying the choice, pointing, or looking to reinforce it!

⚪️ If they get mad because they want the item but are not using any form of communication to receive the item then WAIT until they calm down and give one of the choices to the child. Do not give it to them while they are mad because that will reinforce negative behavior - we dont want the child to think if he acts in a negative way he gets what he wants! Continue to try again by providing them with choices!

Dm us with any questions!

Babies and tots have a variety of ways to express themselves and communicate their wants & needs. 🔴Emotions: Young child...
06/24/2020

Babies and tots have a variety of ways to express themselves and communicate their wants & needs.

🔴Emotions: Young children use their emotions to express how they are feeling due to not having the words to verbally do so. Don’t ignore your child thinking they are crying for no reason. Instead try to figure out what it is they are trying to express to you. Validate their feelings by saying “I know your sad because you are crying, are you hungry?” As a parent you can anticipate what it is that your baby want. If your child has the words to express their feelings and resort to their emotions instead, try to calm them down and have them use their words to tell you what is wrong or what it is that they want. Once children realize their words have a lot of power, they will begin using them!

🟠Behaviors: Young children become frustrated due to the inability to communicate their thoughts/wants/needs. Therefore, the frustration leads to a behavior. Instead of getting frustrated or overwhelmed try to not have the behavior effect you and remain calm.
🌟Things to remember:
Do not take it personally, respond consistently (keep your composure), remove the pressure (allow your child to use other forms of communication e.g. pointing to communicate and give your child time to communicate - you want to remove any pressure off of him/her), model the way you want them to talk to you, provide choices to allow them to feel in control, remove your child from the activity/situation and redirect them to another activity.

🟡Gestures: Young children can learn gestures and sign language to communicate before they develop their first words.

🟢Eyes: If your child is not using sounds or words to communicate then take note of their eye gaze. You can provide them with two choices and include a visual or objects (don’t just say, “Do you want cookies or chips?” You want to use a picture of the item or the actual item). Once you do that, you want to give some time and take note at which item your child is focusing on - That will let you know which item they want. You can say, “ I see you are looking at the cookies! You want cookies!” and provide them with the cookie.

BABY SIGNS & GESTURES👋🏼👍🏼👏🏼⭐️Many children demonstrate difficulties expressing themselves and communicating their wants/...
06/19/2020

BABY SIGNS & GESTURES👋🏼👍🏼👏🏼

⭐️Many children demonstrate difficulties expressing themselves and communicating their wants/needs
⭐️Nonverbal communication methods such as baby sign language and gestures can help reduce the child’s frustration. As their frustrations decrease and the child is able to make the connection that these nonverbal methods are providing them with what it is that want, this can in turn facilitate the development of verbal language.

⭐️A child will not be able to use sign language and gestures until after he/she acquires certain motor skills (9-12 months). However, you can begin showing the child the sign and pairing it with the word. This will allow the child to begin associating certain signs with their meanings.

⭐️Information pertaining to gestures:
Children naturally use gestures by holding up an object to show you or pointing to an object in order to indicate to you that they want it. A child may begin to clap their hands to show excitement and/or open and close their hand to say “bye-bye”. By 18 months of age, a child can begin to combine gestures and words such as waving AND saying bye-bye at the same time Or clapping and saying “Yay!” at the same time. Therefore, do not be scared of incorporating gestures and sign language when talking to your baby. It will help them develop their language skills!

How to begin teaching baby signs and gestures?
☝🏼Use simple signs for
everyday wants/needs e.g., more, cup, juice.
✌🏼Combine the sign with word to allow your child to make the connection.
🤟🏼 Guide the child by using hand over hand to assist them to make the sign while saying the word.
🖖🏼Provide your child with multiple repetitions of the sign with the word OFTEN to help them learn it.
✋🏼Use signs or gestures when singing songs

Don’ Anticipate 🤔When you have a newborn, all their wants/needs need to be anticipated and met by you, their parents. Ho...
06/18/2020

Don’ Anticipate 🤔

When you have a newborn, all their wants/needs need to be anticipated and met by you, their parents. However, as a child begins to grow and learn it is important to slowly take steps back and have them start communicating in order to get their wants/needs met.

Communicating does not mean the act of talking. Your baby can communicate their wants and needs without talking by pointing or gesturing. However, if your child has to the words to request verbally, then provide them the opportunity to do so.

For example: You know your baby wants the juice on the table, however they begin to cry. Give them a few seconds and see if they use their words. If not say, “What do you want?” You are giving them that extra push they might need to use their words to get what they want. If the child does not respond, assist them in pointing by providing hand over hand and point to the juice, gesture juice and model by saying “Juice! James wants juice!” Then provide the child with the juice.

As you continue to do this, your child will begin to realize how powerful communication can be as it can get them their wants and needs.

Passive VS. Active Screen Time 💻📺 Nowadays children are spending more time using devices to play games and watch videos....
06/15/2020

Passive VS. Active Screen Time 💻📺

Nowadays children are spending more time using devices to play games and watch videos. Some parents may feel a sense of guilt for allowing their child to sit in front of a screen, however screen time isn’t all that bad, depending how it is being used!

PASSIVE SCREEN TIME:
This consist of a child using a device to watch videos/shows, however he/she is doing so alone. Therefore, no communication or interaction is being encouraged.

‼️ As per Colleen Davis Gardephe from Explore Parents, “Tv shows don’t interact with or respond to children, which are catalysts kids need to learn language”

ACTIVE SCREEN TIME:
This consist of your child using a device to watch videos/shows, however what is being viewed IS encouraging interaction or if not, then a parent/caregiver is encouraging interaction from the child while viewing video/show.

‼️ As per Jasna Cowan, active screen time generates some two way communication and encourages language.

American Academy of Pediatric has provided some important tips involving children and media.
☝🏼 Make your own family media plan that works with your parenting style and family values.
✌🏼Treat media like another environment. Just how you set limits in your child’s environment, set limits in your child’s VIRTUAL environment. Allow your child to use devices for a limited amount of time.
🤟🏼Screen time should not mean alone time. CO-VIEW, CO-PLAY and CO-ENGAGE with your child as he/she is watching. That way communication and interaction is being encouraged.
🖖🏼Be a role model. Use your devices less when in front of your child. Doing so provides a model for your child. This will allow you to interact with your child that much more!

🚨Disclaimer: Please note that we are NOT saying that providing your child with screen time means you’re not parenting properly. We believe that passive screen time should be done in moderation as it can become addicting for the child. However, active screen time has great benefits such as promoting and enhancing speech and language skills!

SUMMER TIME IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER! 😎 Get outside with your babes and tots and try some of these fun activities!Creat...
06/12/2020

SUMMER TIME IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER! 😎

Get outside with your babes and tots and try some of these fun activities!

Create edible sand & hide toys in the container. Then let your child explore and find the toys with their hands 🤚🏽 or a shovel!
🔅Discuss the texture of the “sand” 🔅Label objects/animal
🔅Positional words - in/out, over/under
🔅Verbs: scoop, dig, pour
🔅Following directions: Give me shovel please, scoop the sand
🔅Turn taking
Go on a fishing trip 🎣
🔅Count the fish
🔅Discuss the colors/sizes of fish, temperate of water
🔅Verbs: swim, catch
🔅 Positional words: in/out, under/over, next to, on top/below
🔅Following directions: Put fish in the water, Catch the green fish
🔅Take turns catching a fish
Place a container with soap and water and do one or all of the following🧼💦
Car wash 🚗
🔅Discuss the color/size of car
🔅 Parts of a car: door, wheels, window
🔅 Count the cars
🔅Adjectives: dirty/clean
🔅Verbs: scrub, wash, dry
🔅Following directions: Put soap on the blue car, dry the yellow car
Clean dishes
🔅Label the dishes
🔅Adjectives: big/small, dirty/clean
🔅Verbs: scrub, wash, rinse, clean, dry
🔅Turn taking
🔅Pretend play: have a pretend lunch, discuss what’s on the plate, why they are so dirty.
Doll bath👶🏼
🔅Label body parts
🔅Verbs: wash, rinse, scrub, clean
🔅Follow directions: Put soap on the doll’s head, scrub her face, rinse his hand
🔅Turn taking
🔅Pretend play: discuss why the doll is dirty, what did she do today, what is she doing after she takes a bath
Make ice cream 🍦 in a bag and eat it!! - google recipe
🔅Adjectives: temperature, color, size of bag, taste
🔅Positional words: In
🔅Verbs: pour, crush, break
🔅Following direction: put ice in, hit the bag
🔅Turn taking
Picnic 🧺 🍎
🔅Label food items, basket, blanket
🔅Positional words: in/out
🔅Follow directions: sit on blanket, get the apple
Beach ball
🔅Label color, size
🔅verbs: hit, throw, kick
🔅Body parts: hand, head, foot (kick the ball with our foot)
🔅Positional words: on/off, over/under, next to, on top/below
Bubbles 💦 - view our post about bubbles!!

𝕌𝕊𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝕆𝕌ℝ 𝕊𝔼ℕ𝕊𝔼𝕊 👀 👂🏼 👃🏽 👄 👆🏽Swipe for more info 👈🏼Babies & toddlers use their sense to explore the 🌎 around them. Havin...
06/11/2020

𝕌𝕊𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝕆𝕌ℝ 𝕊𝔼ℕ𝕊𝔼𝕊
👀 👂🏼 👃🏽 👄 👆🏽

Swipe for more info 👈🏼

Babies & toddlers use their sense to explore the 🌎 around them. Having children actively use their senses, by providing them with opportunities to do so, is very important for child development.

Sensory activities helps our child’s brain create stronger connections to sensory information in order to differentiate which are useful and which are not. For example: a child that has difficulty with enjoying an acitivity due to there being too much noise - sensory play can help him/her get adjusted to the different noises and eventually help him/her block out the noise or for example: if a child doesn’t like certain textured foods - sensory play can assist the child by having him/her explore the food through touching, smelling, and playing with the undesired food in an little expectation environment. The child may then begin to develop understanding and comfort with this texture which will help build positive ➕pathways to the brain 🧠

The following are some of our favorite sensory activities to do at home with your child! To make it more fun add some of the items we mentioned above 👆🏼(You can google to find how to create the following items)
☻︎ Homemade rubbery goop
☻ Soaghetti (add food coloring to make it more fun!)
☻︎ Sams foam
☻︎ Homemade edible finger paint
☻︎ Cloud dough
☻︎ Gel bag
☻︎ Bubble wrap
☻︎ Water beads

Disclaimer⛔️: DO NOT leave your child unattended with the above items/activities for safety reasons. An adult should ALWAYS be with the child when participating in the above activities.

For any questions dm or email us at speakplaynlearn@gmail.com

We’ve got some 🇹 🇮 🇵 🇸 for you!🇹 Take turns➪ Activities like “peek-a-boo” and various songs can promote turn taking. We...
06/10/2020

We’ve got some 🇹 🇮 🇵 🇸 for you!
🇹
Take turns
➪ Activities like “peek-a-boo” and various songs can promote turn taking. We can make almost ANYTHING a “back-and-forth” game.
🇮
Imitate whatever you’re child is doing in an exaggerated way!
➪ If your child is below the age of 1, imitate random actions, sounds or facial expression that he/she makes.
➪ Once your child begins to use intentional gestures, begin imitate that, such as a point.
➪ When your child begins to say their first words or word combination you can begin imitating their words. For example if your child says “wa wa” you can respond “You want water!” If the child says “Daddy eat” you can respond “Yes, Daddy is eating!”
🌟You can imitate ASAP or wait a few seconds before imitating, however delayed imitation can up the ante and excite your child. See if your child notices... is this a game? 🇵
Point things out
➪ Follow your child’s lead. We want to make sure attention is 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑. Label and comment while your child is attending (e.g. I see a doggy!)
🇸
Set the stage
➪ Using anticipatory sets and routines allows your child to predict what gesture/word/phrase is coming next! (e.g. one,two....THREE! Or Ready,Set.....GO!)
✨
For more information dm or email us:
Speakplaynlearn@gmail.com

06/09/2020

Choices! Choices! Choices!

This cute speak, play and learner is exploring all about her body parts! This mama is improving receptive language by giving her baby a choice of two! Notice how baby attempts to grab both mouth and eyes but mom does not discourage baby from exploring and having fun- rather she models the CORRECT answer by giving direct feedback “Eyes! Good Job!” Mom is rewarding her tot's attempt and making her feel validated!

Mom is making sure that her baby’s attention to the objects is established when she gives her baby choices and uses hand over hand to assist her!

Turn taking skills are being established during the back and forth interaction between mom and baby. Mom says “Yay!” then pauses, allowing baby to respond with a squeal. Mom acknowledges the squeal by responding saying “yeah!”

JOIN US and email speakplaylearn@gmail.com to get your hands on this video and our new release!

YES/NO QUESTIONS!👍🏼 👎🏻 We want to be able to help children communicate their basic wants/needs. STEP 1: Using an item t...
06/08/2020

YES/NO QUESTIONS!👍🏼 👎🏻

We want to be able to help children communicate their basic wants/needs.

STEP 1: Using an item that you know your child will say YES to, ask the child “Do you want cookie?” Model yes immediately after the question by stating “yes” and nodding your head. We want to prompt/model the right answer. You want to continue to do this multiple times with different items that you know the child would say yes to.

STEP 2: Now introduce NO by providing your child with an object that you know they DO NOT want. Ask the child, “Do you want this paper?” Immediately model NO by saying “no” and shaking your head. If you ask and the child happens to say yes, then GIVE them with the paper. That way they can make a connection with what yes means. If they seem confused and discard the uninterested item you can say “Oh! No, no paper”

STEP 3: Make sure the child can answer “Do you want ___” with either yes or no. Make sure they aren’t just saying yes to everything. Once your child can do this try using other questions about their basic wants and needs. You can ask questions like “Can I have…”, “Do you need help?”, “Are you ready?”, etc.

STEP 4: Now you can begin teaching yes/no regarding information. First make sure that you use items that you know the child knows. Go through each item and ask the question and respond i.e. dog toy “Is this a dog?” “Yes it is a dog” then ask again to see if THEY respond. If they do not then model the correct response. This should be done multiple times. Provide opportunities to respond and model if no response is given are key. Now you need to work on responding with no. I use the items that they know and now ask them a NO question. i.e. a dog toy “Is this a horse?” NO,it’s a dog. Exaggerate by overemphasizing the word NO and shaking your head no. Continue to do this over and over. Once you feel that the child understands, begin mixing up yes/ no questions to test their understanding.

For more information dm or email us at speakplaynlearn@gmail.com

Emotions & Feelings😃😔🤔😧Naming feelings will allow your child to develop the vocabulary words in order to use language to...
06/03/2020

Emotions & Feelings😃😔🤔😧

Naming feelings will allow your child to develop the vocabulary words in order to use language to describe their emotions and discuss their feelings. It is important to teach your child about emotions at a young age since feelings afffect all our choices. If kids are able to understand their emotions and use language to describe how they are feeling then they are less likely to act out by using temper tantrums, aggression, and defiance to express themselves.

With the negativity that is occurring in our world currently, it is extremely important that kids are able to express how they feel to their parents and caregivers that way parents and caregivers can validate their feelings and help them overcome their emotions.

Young children experience similar emotions that adults do such as happiness, sadness, excitement, jealousy, anger and worry. However, children, birth to 3 years of age, lack language skills to express their feelings. Therefore they use their sounds and body movement to express how they feel.

Reading books about feelings is a great way to help your baby to begin to understand emotions. A few of our favorites are listed above.

What can you do while reading with your child?
Point to the faces in the book and identify how the character is feeling based on the situation, actions, and facial expressions i.e “She is smiling, so she is happy” or “He’s mad because his toy broke, so he is stomping his feet!”

When your child begins to learn and grow you can work on their receptive language skills by asking your child to “Point to the baby that is sad.” Once your child is able to use words, you can have your child identify characters emotions by asking “How does the girl in the picture feel?” You can ask your child more advanced questions such as “How do you know she is sad?” (because she is crying) or “Why is she sad” (because she broke her toy).

For more information feel free to dm us or email us at speakplaynlearn@gmail.com
H

HEARING requires our ears but LISTENING requires our entire body!Listening involves more than just using your👂🏼. Susann...
06/01/2020

HEARING requires our ears but LISTENING requires our entire body!

Listening involves more than just using your👂🏼. Susanne Roulette Truesdale came with up with the concept of whole body listening. This notion breaks down how to listen using your entire body - not just your ears.

🧠: Your brain should be thinking about what is being said
👀: Your eyes should looking at or toward the speaker
👂🏼: Your East should be ready to hear
👄: Your mouth is quiet when listening
👋🏼 🦵🏼: your hands and feet should be quiet and kept to yourself
🧍🏼‍♀️🧍🏾: Your body should be facing toward the speaker
❤️: Your heart is caring about what is being said

Children hear the words “listen” and “pay attention,” however may not not what exactly they should be doing. I believe this is a great tool to use with all children. It teaches children what is expected of them and how to use all parts of their body to listen.

Is it typical or atypical?No-one speaks with perfect fluency, however it is important to take note as to what is conside...
05/29/2020

Is it typical or atypical?

No-one speaks with perfect fluency, however it is important to take note as to what is considered typical disflunency vs signs of stuttering.

🗣Typical disfluency is a term used for normal irregularities presented in a child’s speech. This consist of multisyllabic whole word and phrase repetitions, interjections, and revision. No other behaviors are noted i.e. physical tension, secondary behavior, negative reaction, or family history.

🗣 Stuttering is a term used for the impairment of the ability to produce smooth, fluent speech. These characteristics differ in the following ways:
🔘Sound or syllable repetition
🔘Prolongation, in which one sound is carried out
🔘Blocks in which a person tensely pauses while trying to speak however no sound is coming out.

When an individual demonstrates stuttering there are other characteristics that you may observe:
🔘Secondary behaviors such as hand tappinng, eye blocking, or throat clearing.
🔘Negative reaction or frustration, such as stating that they can’t talk or trying to avoid talking.

Some children may no longer show signs of disfluency, however some may persist. Below are some factors that help to indicate if your child is at-risk for continued stuttering:

🔘Family history of stuttering
🔘Age of onset (began after 3 ½ years of age)
🔘Demonstrating stuttering for a 6+ months
🔘Gender (males are 3 to 4 times more likely than females to persist in stuttering)

How many words does my child actually have? You can say that your child has that word in their vocabulary IF the child u...
05/28/2020

How many words does my child actually have?

You can say that your child has that word in their vocabulary IF the child uses it
⭐️CONSISTENTLY
⭐️INTENTIONALLY
⭐️INDEPENDENTLY

What are words??

Gestures and signs: “more” or “again”
Word approximations: “bu” for bubble or “ow” for cow
Exclamatory words: “Yay!” or “ouch!”
Environmental sounds: animals - “meow” for cat or “baa” for sheep or vehicles - “vroom” and “beep”

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Cedarhurst, NY

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Monday 11:15am - 12pm
Tuesday 11:15am - 12pm
Thursday 3pm - 3:45pm

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