How to Engage Your Active Toddler With... A SLIDE!
Raise your hand if you have an active toddler at your house! My hand is definitely in the air! At one of our well checks, our pediatrician asked us if C was able to complete a 3-part puzzle. I remember thinking "my chid can't sit for 1 minute... much less problem solve a difficult task!" As I try to work on speech and language skills with C, I grow frustrated at times that his attention span isn't as long as mine. But then I remember that he is an active boy, and that any skills I try to work with him on will mean more to him if I bring an activity that is engaging to him. Enter... the slide!
We have one of these guys in our playroom and C LOVES it! These are skills you could also target on a playground, swing set or any other slide you come across. Here are some of the ways that we sneak speech and language skills into this fun activity.
1. Teach Prepositions
Up, down, around... these are great prepositional words to highlight while your child plays on the slide. Start by narrating what they are doing "Going up the steps, weeee down the slide, run back around." As your child advances in language skills, you can have him or her tell you what comes next and sequence the steps with the slide (a great pre-reading and organizational skill). You can also highlight adjectives like fast, slow, forward and backward (if your child is adventurous :)).
2. Practice Counting
It's never too early to introduce your child to numbers and rote counting skills. You can count many things on a slide... before your child goes down, count "1, 2, 3 GO." You can practice counting the steps up the slide. You can also pause and have your child fill in your blank. We count "1, 2, 3" and let C say 'go!' If your child is a little more advanced, you could have him or her fill in numbers.
3. Following Directions
This may sound silly, but you can make it as easy or complicated as your child needs. You can start by narrating what your child is doing (like "go up the steps, go down the slide"). To make the directive more complicated, do a 2 step direction by putting both steps together. As your child becomes more adventurous and matures cognitively, you could change up the way they go down (go up the steps and go down on your stomach). C LOVES to put all kinds of random toys down our slide, so you could also give directions to put different toys down the slide (get your car and put it down the slide). Adding modifiers such as color and size can also make the directive more complex based on your child's needs.
4. Work on sequencing
Sequencing is a great skill for organization and story retell. You can start working on sequencing skills by using common and fun tasks. Introduce by narrating what your chid is doing. Using transitional words such as First, Next and Last will help to organize your sentences. Ask your child what he or she did after they've played. As your child is able to explain the sequence, you could have them explain it to a younger child or tell another adult what they did.
5. Turn Taking
Turn taking is a very important skill for pragmatic language, or the use of language skills to communicate socially. You can have friends or siblings take turns with your child, you could take turns with your child or you could have your child take turns with stuffed animals.
I hope this gives you some new and fresh ideas for some slide fun!
We have one of these guys in our playroom and C LOVES it! These are skills you could also target on a playground, swing set or any other slide you come across. Here are some of the ways that we sneak speech and language skills into this fun activity.
1. Teach Prepositions
Up, down, around... these are great prepositional words to highlight while your child plays on the slide. Start by narrating what they are doing "Going up the steps, weeee down the slide, run back around." As your child advances in language skills, you can have him or her tell you what comes next and sequence the steps with the slide (a great pre-reading and organizational skill). You can also highlight adjectives like fast, slow, forward and backward (if your child is adventurous :)).
2. Practice Counting
It's never too early to introduce your child to numbers and rote counting skills. You can count many things on a slide... before your child goes down, count "1, 2, 3 GO." You can practice counting the steps up the slide. You can also pause and have your child fill in your blank. We count "1, 2, 3" and let C say 'go!' If your child is a little more advanced, you could have him or her fill in numbers.
3. Following Directions
This may sound silly, but you can make it as easy or complicated as your child needs. You can start by narrating what your child is doing (like "go up the steps, go down the slide"). To make the directive more complicated, do a 2 step direction by putting both steps together. As your child becomes more adventurous and matures cognitively, you could change up the way they go down (go up the steps and go down on your stomach). C LOVES to put all kinds of random toys down our slide, so you could also give directions to put different toys down the slide (get your car and put it down the slide). Adding modifiers such as color and size can also make the directive more complex based on your child's needs.
4. Work on sequencing
Sequencing is a great skill for organization and story retell. You can start working on sequencing skills by using common and fun tasks. Introduce by narrating what your chid is doing. Using transitional words such as First, Next and Last will help to organize your sentences. Ask your child what he or she did after they've played. As your child is able to explain the sequence, you could have them explain it to a younger child or tell another adult what they did.
5. Turn Taking
Turn taking is a very important skill for pragmatic language, or the use of language skills to communicate socially. You can have friends or siblings take turns with your child, you could take turns with your child or you could have your child take turns with stuffed animals.
I hope this gives you some new and fresh ideas for some slide fun!
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