Racing Toward Great Language Skills... with CARS!!
If there’s one thing I have learned working at a school, it’s that kids LOVE cars! When I got my first job
working with preschool and elementary school students, my mom bought me 5 wooden cars from the
dollar aisle at Target. They are the most well loved and favorite toy in my speech room! Luckily, there
are so many language skills you can target using cars!
1. Basic Concepts
working with preschool and elementary school students, my mom bought me 5 wooden cars from the
dollar aisle at Target. They are the most well loved and favorite toy in my speech room! Luckily, there
are so many language skills you can target using cars!
1. Basic Concepts
According to Super Duper publications, “Basic Concepts are the foundation of a child’s education. They
are words that a child needs to understand in order to perform everyday tasks like following directions,
participating in classroom routines, and engaging in conversation.” Basic Concepts include words
pertaining to colors, directions, prepositions, quantities, shapes, sizes and more. Cars provide such a
fun and natural opportunity to introduce your child to these words! Practice playing a little “red light,
green light” or racing with your cars and embed words like “stop, go, fast, slow.” At first, you may need
to model both the words and the meanings with your cars. As your child starts to think the activity (and
competition) is fun, they will start to pick up and even want to use them with you! I also love to
incorporate texture words like “bumpy, smooth”, particularly if we are playing with cars outside.
are words that a child needs to understand in order to perform everyday tasks like following directions,
participating in classroom routines, and engaging in conversation.” Basic Concepts include words
pertaining to colors, directions, prepositions, quantities, shapes, sizes and more. Cars provide such a
fun and natural opportunity to introduce your child to these words! Practice playing a little “red light,
green light” or racing with your cars and embed words like “stop, go, fast, slow.” At first, you may need
to model both the words and the meanings with your cars. As your child starts to think the activity (and
competition) is fun, they will start to pick up and even want to use them with you! I also love to
incorporate texture words like “bumpy, smooth”, particularly if we are playing with cars outside.
, also lends itself to teaching “up and down”. He loves to stand up (the track is almost as tall as he is!!) and watch his cars race down the raceway! We also talk about up and down when using the gates. These Little People Cars Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies All About Trucks
are great for young children because they don’t have small parts.2. Imitating sounds
I’ve always thought something in that Y chromosome gives little boys the ability to make incredible car sounds. I don’t ever think my “vroom” sounds much like a car, but my husband and C can make sounds that are just like a car! Luckily for me, I can use cars to work on articulation sounds. Target an “r” by calling a racecar sound. Target that “v” by emphasizing biting your lip lightly when you say “vroom.” Ask your child to watch you and do what you do. For many kiddos that are late bloomers, just drawing their attention to how you make the sound and training their ear to ear it correctly will help elicit the sound. I’m planning some future posts and even videos on how to teach speech sounds, so stay tuned (or feel free to comment or email) if you are worried about your child’s articulation.
3. Building Routines
Sequencing is a skill that we use often in everyday life. It helps to build executive functioning skills (one of which is the ability to initiate, plan and sequence tasks). Cars are great functional ways to teach some of those skills. You can verbally sequence to your child getting ready for the car to go down the ramp (First put the car at the top, then say “Ready, Set, Go,” let the car race down, Last put it back at the top to do it again). On C’s particular car toy,
it has a place to fill up the car with gas and a car wash. Those are other great real life experiences that you can sequence (First you park the car, then you put gas in, last you drive away) or (First you drive to the carwash, then you pay, next the car is washed and last you wait for your car to dry). Once you’ve modeled the routines, your child may pick them up and be able to help with some of the steps.
4. Following Directions
Following directions is a great skill that definitely impacts daily life! If you are unsure if your child can’t follow directions or simple isn’t listening (#toddlerlife), giving simple directives during play can help you figure it out! Start out with simple 1-step directions (put the car at the top, pick up the car, etc) and increase in complexity to 2-step (Pick up the car and put it on the road) and 2-step with modifiers (pick up the car and put it beside the gas pump). Often times, when skills are targeted during play, kids don’t even know that they are learning! :)
Some other fun toys to you could use to target these skills:
Drop a comment to let me know how you and your child played with cars this week!
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