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Communication activities
COMMUNICATION - Home Practice
Verbal communication skills are very important. Activities that could prove to be beneficial include those that encourage your child to label objects, to identify the function of common objects, to increase his/her working vocabulary, to develop expressive (speaking) and receptive (hearing) language skills, and to demonstrate knowledge of concepts (i.e., size, shape, quantity).
Suggested Activities to Improve Verbal Communication Skills (Verbal Processing)
* When describing objects to your child, use terms that associate the concepts of size, shape, color, and function with the objects.
* Have your child create a theme collage. He/She will need to choose a theme, search for appropriate pictures, and integrate those pictures categorically (i.e., by shape, by texture, by size, etc.). Discuss the creation.
* Have your child demonstrate knowledge of concepts, directions, and function by verbally labeling objects and using those labels in sentences.
* Play games such as "Show me something that is big (size), that is red (color), that looks like a triangle (shape)."
* Demonstrate to your child similarities and differences by using pairs of objects. Give examples of how two objects are alike and/or different. Ask your child to repeat what you said and then identify any similarities and/or differences that he/she has noticed.
* Give your child opportunities to match opposites (e.g., big/small, dark/light, cold/hot, light/heavy, etc.).
* After naming a general category, have the child give examples of as many items as he/she can think of that belong in that category (e.g., people, places, zoo animals, pets, toys, etc.).
* Play "Twenty Questions" (i.e., have your child guess what object you are thinking of by asking questions related to its
physical properties and functions).
* Play a word game in which you say a simple word. After hearing the word, your child will repeat the word, use it in a sentence, give its opposite (if possible), and draw it (if possible).
* Read a short story and have your child come up with possible titles for it.
* Ask your child to retell a story in his/her own words.
* Encourage verbal expression by showing a picture and have your child create his/her own story about it.
* Give your child a simple shape (cylinder, ball, box, etc.) and ask the child to imagine all the things it could be (a bracelet, the sun,a house, etc.).
* Read a story to your child. Have your child answer questions about the story using complete sentences.
