The Kleenex Box Game

Often the best activities are plain, simple, and quite honestly are often games using odds and ends laying around the house. 

The other day I walked in on my little hippo pulling every single Kleenex out of the box. Every single one. She loved it. It was simple. And in her mind; never ending. However, it may not be the best use of Kleenex. So I made her her own Kleenex box that she can pull "Kleenex" out of over and over. 

Materials; 

Scrap material 

Empty diaper wipe container

To assemble this activity I simply cut some scrap material into various rectangles and squares. I washed out the diaper wipe container and once it was dried, stuffed the multiple pieces of fabric in the container as though they were wipes/Kleenex! 

This was a fun game that allowed my hippo to pull the fabric out, then shove it right back in. Best part; not only was it a game that allowed her to pull the fabric out, but we also practiced our vocabulary by saying "pulllll" while she pulled out a piece of fabric, or "out!", and "uh-oh" throughout our game of empty the Kleenex box. 

When you're practicing vocabulary it's best to practice a word multiple times. Additionally when you're teaching a verb / action word (such as pull), it is best to teach the word while your little one is doing the action. This paired with repetition will have your little one learning new vocabulary in no time! 

Like this idea? Let me know how your little one liked the Kleenex box game! 

Screaming and Learning

My little hippo loves to scream and play around with her vocal range. And there are various times I engage in screaming with her to amuse her and make her giggle. But today our goal in screaming was to get little miss hippo to scream intentionally and to imitate me. By doing this I'm teaching her how to tell me it's my turn.

So set scene; little hippo and I are sitting facing each other on the floor and I'm holding a towel. 

Our game starts out by lil miss hippo screaming and me immitating her. As soon as she realizes I'm imitating her it becomes a game. You can observe her pausing and waiting for me to imitate her before screaming again. So I comply and imitate her; and somewhere in our match of screaming "Ahhhh" I take the lead and you can tell miss hippo is now imitating my scream. When I become the "lead screamer" I scream and immediately pull the towel up blocking my face and wait. I wait for her to imitate my scream; as soon as she does I drop the towel and scream back only to quickly pull the towel up again.  

By pulling the towel down when miss hippo screams I'm teaching her her vocalizations communicate to me that it's my turn in our game. Additionally when miss hippo begins to imitate me I switch up how I scream. For the first bit we screamed "Ahhhh", the next bit we screamed "dad dad dad" and other sounds!

So go ahead. Sit down on the floor with your babe and practice your vocal play. And see what sounds you can get your baby imitating. 

Goals;

1) Have your baby imitate your screaming or babble. Play around with different sounds and vowels. 

2) Hide behind something and wait for your baby to tell you it's time to come out. 

If your baby isn't telling you to come out right away, take a step back and focus on the imitation aspect only! 

Most importantly make it fun! 

Nom Nom Nom

We have graduated. Graduated that is from constantly gumming on every toy within our reach to banging toys together. To me this thrills me. This shows me that my little hippo is learning to explore her world in new ways and learning how objects can work together. It's amazing how much learning she does in a day!

Now that we're banging more toys together than gumming does not necessarily mean I discourage her from mouthing objects; because she still will mouth objects. In fact I still encourage her to explore toys with all her senses, understanding that oral exploration is important for her development. Exploring toys orally allows my little hippo to learn movements of her tongue, learn where her gum line is and learn where her teeth will be. It also allows her to learn different positions and movements of her tongue in her mouth that are important for later speech sounds.

Try allowing your little one to explore his or her world with all their senses. That means that yes teddy bears can go in your mouth. Yes mommy's ruler is fun to chew on. Yes daddy's slipper is smooth to gnaw on. Yes that rattle is exciting. Yes that toy is bumpy. Yes that whisk is so fun to stick your tongue through.... so go ahead let your little babe explore and develop their skills.

Check out some of our favorite "toys" to chew on these days.

Building Language While Reading

Let me start by saying books are amazing.  Why are books so amazing? The images paired with your little babies interests literally provide mini vocabulary sessions.

My sweet little hippo is just about seven months and we read books upon books, upon books, upon books, upon ... well you get the idea.  My little hippo even has her favorites; a Curious George Mirror Book, Very First Gruffalo,  and That's Not My Monkey.

These are her favorite right now because they are interactive and have details for her to touch and feel. Her Curious George book has mirrors that allow her to see herself, kiss her reflection and allow me to talk about her eyes, ears, nose, lips, etc.

Although this is her favorite, I like her other books better; and its not because of the story line. Trust me. I just feel it is easier to talk about items in those books. Such as "look at the monkey's feet", "look at his nose", "do you feel his nose?", and so forth.

When I read books we dont follow the story line. Instead I talk about what she touches and is focusing on. When I "read"  to her it goes something like this;

Mamma:  "There's the gruffalo. He's a big gruffalo. Look at his nose. Touch his nose. Gruffalo's nose. His nose. Where's your nose? There's mama's nose. Oh yep there's his silly nose. It's a green nose. Ewww yucky nose."

Hippo: Drooly grin

Mamma: "oh did you see his nose again? Such a silly nose. There's his nose. Can you touch his nose? His nose has a -- oh! We're turning the page?  Ok, turn the page.... oh look at his knobbly knees!"

And on and on it goes.  What is important to remember is that it is O.K. read only a few minutes at a time, not follow the story line and not "finish" a book.

Early Reading Tips

- only read for as long as your baby tolerates

- talk and sing about the pictures you see

- point to the words and show your children the words

- let them hold the book (even if upside down)

- talk about what they touch

- make books part of your daily routine

- show them the cover of the book

- let them play with books beside you and you read your books

- most important; make reading fun and enjoyable

So go ahead read some books. What are your favorite books?

The Magic in Her Lace

The Magic in Her Lace

I will be the first person to say, my baby hippo is very hesitant and seems to be a cautious observer. This makes playing peek-a-boo with her very difficult. She is a little upset at the idea that some one disappears and then reappears quickly. Enter her ever so lovely piece of lace fabric…

It’s amazing; she doesn’t get spooked by the lace when it covers her face.  Better yet she gives you this look behind the lace as though she thinks she is oh-so-sneaky and can see you but you can’t see her type of thing. She really is clever. I ask her all the time, “Where’s my hippo?” And she giggles (rookie move, gives her spot away); then I lift up the piece lace and SURPRISE! There she is! It’s perfect. And the best part is she can still see me use American Sign Language (ASL) behind the lace.

And what may sound like a simple game of peek-a-boo, we have developed a fabulous routine that allows my little hippo opportunities to learn how to communicate with me.

Set scene;

I give Baby Hippo an anticipating smile while holding her piece of lace, Baby hippo smiles back and wiggles

(this is her way of telling me she is oh so excited to play our game and is demonstrating anticipation)

I hold up her piece of lace and cover her with it … Baby Hippo squeals

(This is her way to say she loves this part in our peek a boo game)

I ask, “Where’s my baby hippo?” … Baby hippo shouts at me

(This is how she shows me she knows to answer questions)

I then lift the lace she squeals with delight and I begin the routine again… But before I begin the routine again, I make the sign for “more” and wait for her to coo in response; thus beginning the cycle over again.

Peek-a-boo is a great game, and the best part is that Kids love it.  Second best part? It allows kids at such a young age to demonstrate anticipation, laugh during play, pay attention to the speaker, and vocalize during a game.  All which are skills we expect around 6 months of age. 

So give it a try, play peek-a-boo with a towel, a favorite blanket, a piece of lace like we did and see how your wee one enjoys it! Better yet, see if you can encourage your little one to hold the blanket or towel up themselves in a game of peek-a-boo!

Here are some other play skills we expect to start emerging between 6 to 9 months;

-       demonstrate anticipation of play

-       play with objects without mouthing or banging them

-       reach for self in the mirror 

-       tries to secure an object out of reach

St Patrick’s Day

Last year at this time I was enjoying an epic adventure celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with none other than the lovely Irish themselves. My husband and I went on a three-week trek around Ireland and finished it off with celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin.

I love holidays. Doesn’t matter what kind. And what I love even more about holidays is how easy it is to build a theme to learn about, talk about and even practice multiple speech sounds while playing various games.

 I also love the idea of turning old games into “new games” simply by adding certain holiday aspects to them.

I’ve just recently opened my TPT and have a few treasures to target speech sounds. And of course they have a St. Patrick’s day theme. Be sure to check them out! Here is a link to my store; 

Language First

                 Happy               

          St. Patrick's 

                Day!

“I just Rossettied my Daughter”

“I just Rossettied my daughter.” Those were the words that exited my mouth as I was discussing my daughter with my friend. 

I am a Speech and Language Pathologist(SLP) by training, and am a new mother by approximately 5.5 months of “training” if you will.  And in all honesty I am surprised I hadn’t “Rossettied” my daughter sooner than this. No. Really. I am shocked. 

If anyone has “hung out” or is friends with a pediatrician SLP, they will testify that we SLP’s tend to be organized people who are obsessively concerned with “developmental” norms. We are constantly assessing children’s speech, language, and play skills. I’m sorry, but it’s true. If you and your children are hanging around me, I have begun to assess them and could give you an informal assessment of their speech and language skills. (Who am I kidding? I’ve probably assessed your speech and language skills as well).

So there I sat, in front of my daughter, trying to objectively assess her using a copy of The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale .  I was trying to assess her “pre-verbal” language skills … to make sure she is well on her way to speaking at an appropriate age - months from now. Of course the key word is objectively.  And here is the catch. Just when I am about to get panicky and worried that she isn’t necessarily demonstrating ALL the play skills we would like to see for her age. She gives me a gummy, drooly smile that only a mother can kiss and think, “But she’s just a baby still”. 

I then set the Rossetti assessment down and went back to making raspberries on her tummy. It’s part of my job as a mom. I am suppose to love her, cuddle her, play with her, and be there to show her she is in a safe environment that is hers to explore and learn in.

However, I can't ignore my training and I genuinely do get excited when she reaches a milestone I know should be coming. So the question is, what should you look for in your 6-month-old baby? Here are some skills we would expect to see with a six month old;

Maintaining eye contact

Imitating facial expressions

Smiling at self in a mirror

Reaching for objects

Turning his or head towards a voice

Recognizing their own name

Anticipating feeding

Taking turns in vocalizing

Babbling and laughing

Stops crying when spoken to

Side note; Lets hope that the talented Dr. Louis M. Rossetti never reads my blog and is offended by the fact I have turned his name into a verb.

http://www.asha.org/SLP/assessment/Rossetti-Infant-Toddler-Language-Scale.htm