There are many stages and types of play. Play is an awesome way to engage in meaningful learning and communication! Here are some types of play that support speech and language development:
Parallel play- playing next to others in the same space with their own toys.
Sharing space with a peer and others can be challenging. This is an important skill as kids enter social settings like family gatherings, daycare, and school.
At-home practice: place toys on the floor and sit next to each other. Play independently and experiment with the space between each other, the types of toys, and self-talk (talking about what you are doing out loud).
Functional play- using toys as they are intended to function.
This skill demonstrates understanding of an object's function. Like bouncing/rolling a ball, stacking blocks, pushing a car, and pressing buttons.
At-home practice: model the actions and words with each item like “turn key” or “pop bubble” and see if your child imitates the play action
Pretend play- using imagination to play with a toy as a real item.
Pretending to use toys as if they were real is a play skill that lends itself to lots of language modeling and learning
At home practice- use toy foods and shop or cook together modeling language as you play (e.g, Let's go to the store! Time to pay. Cut the tomato. Chomp! Yum!, etc.). Model sounds, describing words, action words, and even practice following directions as you play with different toys.
Symbolic play- using an object to represent something else
This type of play is exploratory and imaginative! An example is using a pencil as a telephone, a box as a house, or a blanket as a cape.
At-home practice: be silly and have fun together playing with items and toys in a different way modeling a variety of words, actions, and environmental sounds.
Cooperative play- engaging in the same play activity with another person towards the same goal
This type of play involves joint attention, turn taking, following and giving directions, labeling, and more! Examples of this type of play include puzzles, building a tower together, following a recipe, and team games.
At-home practice: Pick an activity you can complete together. This can be done with siblings, parents, or the whole family as long as you’re on the same team and working together. Some ideas: treasure/scavenger hunt, building a fort, cooking or baking, and completing an art/building project.
During your next play time at home or outside, create communication opportunities by narrating or talking about what you're doing, use fun exclamatory words and short phrases, and talk through problem solving, planning, or teamwork strategies together!
Commenti