Springtime Activities for Early Language Development

With springtime upon us, now is a great time to incorporate some speech and language skills into the outdoors.

Egg Hunt: Using plastic Easter eggs create an egg hunt. Talk about where you found the eggs (under the pillow, beside the chair, in the tree, etc.). This activity will improve your child’s knowledge and use of prepositions. Prepositions are essential for following directions, increasing vocabulary, and expressive language.

Blowing Bubbles or Dandelions: These exercises are great for children who have difficulty with lip rounding to produce sounds like /p/, /b/, /w/, and “oo”. This activity will improve your child’s oral-motor skills.

Treasure Hunt: Create a treasure hunt to help your child follow directions. Include descriptions of items or places and have the child collect clues to discover what the item is. For older children, make a riddle to describe the location of the next clue.

Get Outside: Dig in the dirt and plant flowers, take a nature walk and climb trees. Talk about the differences in the flowers’ size, color, and number of blooms. When digging and planting compare the different seeds and talk about what they need to grow. These outdoor activities will help your child improve his vocabulary and ability to describe objects.