Summer is well and truly in full swing! Now that the crazy Christmas period is over it’s time for some summer fun! Summer time is a wonderful time to reconnect as a family and try generalising some therapy goals across a range of settings together.
What To Do: This is easy. Play with water. That’s it! There are so many ideas on what you can do with water and kids just love it just remember to be water wise!
Target Goals:
– Concepts: Wet vs Dry
– Articulation: /w/, /t/ (water), /s/ (spray), /k/,/p/ (cup) – the possibilities are endless. Pick out a toy that matches your child’s articulation goal and play with it.
– Vocabulary: Wet, Dry, Spray, Dump, Fill, Half, Full, Splash, Puddle, Jump, Push, Bath
– Following Directions: Give each other directions such as “fill up the small cup” or “water the pink flowers after you water the yellow ones.”
What to do: We have made this easy for you and made up some scavenger hunts for you to try.
Target goals:
– Concept- inside outside, fruit/vegetables, toys, tools ect
– Specific Vocabulary: e.g. beach vocabulary – bucket, spade, shell, rock pool or household vocabulary e.g. lounge, cupboard, oven
– Following Directions: Provide your child with directions using prepositions e.g. find the car under the lounge.
Try our scavenger hunt activities below!
What To Do: Play with sand! If you don’t have a sandpit, you can head to the beach!
Target Goals:
– Concepts: Dig vs Bury, Build vs Knock Down, Construct vs Destroy
– Articulation: /d/, /g/ (dig), /b/, /d/ (build), /m/, /k/, (make), /s/ (sand)
– Vocabulary: Dig, Sand, Soft, Pour, Build, Castle, Pack, Dump
– Following Directions: Find the cup, Fill up the green bucket before the yellow one
– Social Skills: Practice taking turns , asking for items out of reach, working together to build.
What To Do: Make characters out of rocks, leaves, feathers, sticks, etc. Once your characters are made, have fun telling stories.
Target Goals:
– Narrative Structure: (Setting – who, what, where, Problem, Feelings, Resolution)
– Questions: who is it?, where do they live?, what is it made of?
– Vocabulary: leaves, pebbles, soil, rocks, nature.
– Social Skills; Conversations with the characters, play interactions, imaginative play, feelings of the characters
What To Do: Find good old fashioned chalk and find a path or driveway and have fun. You can target almost any speech or language goal. The possibilities are endless.
Target Goals:
– Articulation: /d/ (draw), /r/ (red), /m/ (make)
– Vocabulary: Colours, Draw, Dust, Picture, (draw any vocabulary word!)
– Following Directions: Take turns giving directions to players for what to draw
– Social Skills: Practice taking turns. Practice asking for items out of reach
– Narrative Structure: Draw a character, place, and action. Then, take turns creating a story using proper narrative structures.
