For the LOVE of Speech!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Love is in the air! What better way to ring in February – and better yet Valentine’s Day – than with some special speech and language ideas you can try at home!

Expand Vocabulary: Valentine’s Day is synonymous with HEARTS! Hearts that are different shapes, colors, and textures are all around! Use this as an opportunity to encourage your child to use descriptor words (again, referring to the color, size, shape, etc.) to describe what they see. You can also expand beyond single words to for more simple sentences such as, “I see a ___ heart!”

Compare/Contrast: After describing different hearts, have your child tell you something that is the same about two hearts, and then something that is different (or not the same) about them. If they have a hard time with this, encourage them to identify (show you) which hearts are the same.

Concepts and WH- Questions: Get in the kitchen and get to cooking some extra SWEET treats! One idea is Valentine’s Day Pudding Mix! Get a box of vanilla flavored pudding mix and add some red food coloring to give it that Valentine’s Day glow. While you’re making it, use concept words such as wet/dry, empty/full, some/all/one/rest. You can ask questions such as, “Is the bowl empty or full?”, “Do we need some of the food coloring or all of it?”, “What do we need to do to the box?”, etc. to aid your child’s understanding of wh- and yes/no question words. When you’re finished, feel free to add some red fruit or candy or sprinkles to give the finishing touches to your pudding! The treat you’re creating can be adapted! Whatever you’re making… just ensure you’re using concept words, asking questions, taking turns, and following directions!

Pragmatic/Social Skills: Make some Valentines with your child! Have them say or write what they like about each person with the carrier phrase “I like you because…”. You may have to help your child think of some ideas. You can prompt them with things about how their  friend acts, thinks, plays, or looks. This is also a great way to use new vocabulary words!

Articulation: Time to hunt for some hearts! What better way to work on speech sounds than with a classic scavenger hunt with a Valentine’s Day spin. Hide hearts around the house and have your child find them. You can put a picture and/or a word on each heart that targets certain articulation sounds. For example, if your child was working on the /s/ sound, you could add pictures such as sail, saw, sea, salt, see, etc. Google is a great way to get simple pictures! When your child finds the heart, have them say the name of the item 3-5 times. If they’re having a hard time locating a heart, this is also a great time to target locational phrases such as “look UNDER the table” to increase understanding of complex prepositions.

If you have additional questions, contact your current speech and language pathologist, or always feel free to contact me at tkent@gigisplayhouse.org

-Taylor Kent-Kowalski

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