From the day your baby is born, they intently listen to you. Their first communication starts making eye contact, smiling, cries, babbling, giggling and more. These skills eventually develop into verbal and nonverbal language. Fostering speech development with fun activities helps them stay on track with their milestones.
“The benefits of play are extensive and well documented and include improvements in executive functioning, language, early math skills (numerosity and spatial concepts), social development, peer relations, physical development and health, and enhanced sense of agency.” ASHA
Animal Jam
Help your child recognize the names of animal and their unique sounds. This simple game can be done anywhere.
A chicken goes “cluck”
A cow goes “moo”
A cat goes “meow”
A duck goes “quack”
Sound Stories
Reading is a great time to bond with your child, while enriching their language development. During this time they are also learning nonverbal communication.
Go the extra mile when reading books, add sound effects, voice inflections, facial expressions, and animal sounds. This will make reading fun and help create a lifelong love of reading.
“Early learning and play are fundamentally social activities30 and fuel the development of language and thought.” ASHA
Karaoke
Your child doesn’t care if you can carry a tune or not. Singing is a great way to learn language. This includes facial expressions, new words, and voice inflections. So sing at the top of your lungs and make sill faces!
“Play is not just about having fun but about taking risks, experimenting, and testing boundaries.” ASHA
Speech and Language Development is a Process
Play is a powerful tool for children, it helps them build communication skills, learn how to express themselves, and expand their vocabulary.
Every Child is Unique and Develops at Their Own Pace. If You Notice Your Child Has:
A limited vocabulary for their age
Not meeting their age appropriate milestones
Becomes frustrated when trying to communicate
Has difficulty being understood or has unclear speech
You may want to consider speech therapy. At First Words Speech Therapy, we provide structure guidance through play based learning to help children develop communication skills they need to confidently express themselves.
