Speech and Language Activities for 3 to 5 year olds

Next up we have activities for our very active 3 to 5-year-old friends. These activities are taken directly from our Leaps and Bound Speech and Language Resource Guide.

1. Bubbles: Bubbles focuses on requesting more, using the b, m, g, p, w sounds, following a routine and imitating words and sounds. Practice saying or signing “open” and “bubble”. Say “Ready, Set, Go!”. Blow bubbles. Say “wow” as the fall. When bubbles land, start popping them and say “pop” each time. Before the next round of bubbles, ask “more?”
2. Books: This activity focuses on naming and identifying vocabulary, following routine and emergent literacy skills. Show your child the book. Practice saying “book” and “open”. Point to one picture at a time, say the name of the say the name of the object. Repeat the name 5-10 times while pointing to it. Encourage your child to point to the picture while you name it. Track print as you read. Once your children becomes familiar with the book, as them to point to the pictures, say “Where is ___?”
3. Puzzles: By playing with puzzles, you can address naming and identifying vocabulary, following routines, requesting and following 1 or 2-step directions. Show your child the puzzle. Name each animal/object on the puzzle. You can also say the noises they make too. Take the pieces off and give them to your child. Ask for each item from your child, say “I want ___” “___ please!” If they have trouble picking it out, point to it and show them your open hand. Give your child a puzzle piece followed by the command “put on”, you may need to gesture where the piece should go.
4. Toy Cars: Playing with toy cars increase naming vocabulary, following routines, requesting, imitating environmental noises and using the “b” and “m” sounds. Put toy cars on the ground or table. Have one car for you and one for your child. Point to and name it frequently saying “car”. Pretend to drive around. While you drive, make the “vroom” noise. Encourage your child to imitate you noise. “Drive” your car towards your child’s while saying “beep-beep!” Flip cars over and say “uh-oh”. Pretend to crash cars while saying “boom!” “crash!” While driving stop suddenly and say “stop!”, pause and say “go!”
5. Playdough: This activity focuses on following routines, basic concepts (on/off), naming/identifying vocabulary if using a playdough mat, naming colors and basic verbs. Show your child different color tubs of playdough. Name the colors, encourage your child to name the colors. Ask them which color they want. Encourage them to request by signing/saying “more” or “please”. Get the playdough out, practice acting out. Modeling basic verbs (ex: roll, push, smash, cute, etc.) using the playdough. If using playdough tools, you can create different objects/animals/people. Name each thing that you make.
6. Pretend Playhouse Kits/Costumes: These toys are so cool and have come a long way since I was dressing up in my brother’s clothes or cutting up my dad’s shirts. These kits are great for building vocabulary and acting out familiar and unfamiliar scenes. This is also a great way to talk about feelings (i.e. feeling sick or hurt with a doctor set) and asking and answering wh questions.

There are so many great toys for this age group! The blog from our first post in this series is also another great resource for this age group. Check it out here.

Submitted by Jenn Parsons, GiGi’s Playhouse Quad Cities Program Managers and Speech and Language Pathologist