The holiday season isn't just about the decorations and gifts; it's a perfect time to cozy up with your little ones and watch them unlock their creativity. For parents and guardians with language-delayed children, it is also the perfect time to practice speech therapy at home by nurturing your child's expressive abilities festively and engagingly.
When it comes to speech therapy for kids, the holidays present an ideal opportunity to engage children in interactive and enriching experiences. Holidays come with their own set of activities, traditions, and vocabulary, which can be exciting and engaging for children to learn and talk about. Additionally, the holidays offer a multitude of visual and sensory experiences that can be used in speech therapy for kids. For example, decorations, holiday foods, and music provide sensory inputs that can be incorporated into therapy to make it more multisensory and engaging. Holiday-themed activities, such as singing carols, reading holiday books, or playing themed games, can make speech therapy exercises more engaging as well. Holidays evoke a range of emotions, providing a natural context for children to learn about and express feelings, an important aspect of social communication. As experts in speech therapy for kids, which includes our extensive experience in working closely with families, PenguinSmart has crafted three enriching activities designed to foster expressive language in children, particularly those with language delays, while having a blast during the holidays (or any season of the year for that matter)! Read on to learn more about these activities and how to best incorporate them into your everyday routine.
Activity 1: Sound Stories
Do you remember how your child’s eyes twinkle when you first read them their favorite story? Story time isn't just about bonding; it's a language adventure for your child. As you both dive into a colorful picture book, instead of just reading, spice the story telling up a bit! Use different voices for the characters, make sound effects for the actions, and add funny faces for the characters' expressions. Midway through the story, you may pause and ask your child questions about the characters or what might happen next, encouraging them to engage and interact with the narrative. Your kid also needs to learn nonverbal cues and recognize everyday sounds. Research has shown that interactive reading sessions significantly benefit children with language delays, providing them with a platform to enhance language understanding and expression.
Books are like workout for your child's brain, helping with problem-solving, stimulating imagination, and boosting brainy skills. Consider exploring a variety of picture books that not only entertain but also engage your child's senses and imagination. Check out these 5 Read-Aloud Books that offer diverse themes and vibrant illustrations perfect for interactive storytelling sessions.
Activity 2: Monkey See, Monkey Do
"Monkey see, monkey do" highlights the significance of facial expressions in speech development. Expressions play a vital role as they convey emotions, constituting around 60 to 65% of communication as research suggests. To boost emotional expression through facial cues, engage with your child by mirroring their facial expressions. During a play session with your child, you notice them making a delighted expression. You mirror that expression back, smiling widely. Seeing your response, your child giggles and tries a new expression. Take it up a notch by making silly faces or sticking out your tongue, inviting your child to imitate these expressions. This back-and-forth exchange of facial expressions becomes a fun game, strengthening their ability to recognize and mimic emotions, an essential skill for language development.
Activity 3: Go Outside
Take a stroll outside to admire the bright lights, festive tunes, and colorful decorations. Picture yourself with your child walking around the neighborhood, all decorated for the holidays. Encourage conversation with your child using full sentences like "Look at that big Christmas tree!" or "Wow, those lights are so colorful!" Your child looks to where you're pointing at, and you both discuss the colors and the twinkling lights. As you stroll further, you notice festive decorations and encourage your child to describe what they see too.
This simple activity not only exposes your child to new vocabulary but also encourages them to express themselves, contributing to their language development.
So, why PenguinSmart?
Incorporating these activities into your daily routines is a fantastic way not only to nurture your child's language skills, but improve their social skills, emotional wellbeing, and overall quality of life. Moreover, these activities provide an avenue for PenguinSmart's expertise to seamlessly integrate into your child's development journey. As experts in speech therapy for kids, PenguinSmart offers not only a top-notch program but additional unique benefits. Instead of having to take your child to a different location for speech therapy, our training comes to your home, saving time and money. We keep everything 100% safe and private on our platforms, so you can just focus on your child's progress. And here's the best part: our programs are not just child-centric but parent-centric, meaning we empower you to take the lead in bringing these interventions into daily life, making learning fun during those family moments you love.
Just recently, PenguinSmart proudly achieved a significant milestone where we delivered over 9,000 personalized speech therapy plans to families around the world. This achievement highlights our ongoing commitment to supporting parents and children, especially those navigating language delays. We're humbled by the trust placed in us and excited about the opportunity to extend our expertise to even more families seeking supportive guidance. With 90% of PenguinSmart families reporting significant improvements in their child's speech and language development after undergoing PenguinSmart’s speech therapy for kids, our dedication to measurable progress is evident.This holiday season, let's go beyond traditions and really encourage our kids' creativity and self-expression to bloom. When we join in these activities and tap into PenguinSmart's expertise, we provide our children with a canvas for expression and growth during this festive time, especially for those on their unique language development journey. Visit our website to get a free consultation and learn more about the experts in speech therapy for kids.
About PenguinSmart
Digital solutions for parent-centered speech and language intervention.
Founded by Harvard & MIT alumni, PenguinSmart combines the latest data sciences with expert insights to empower parents to become a key part of their children's development journey. By helping families effectively integrate communication techniques into daily life, we see children show faster improvement compared to relying on weekly clinical sessions alone (in some cases 2-3x faster). We have already served English & Mandarin-speaking families from over 35 cities around the world. PenguinSmart is an Alchemist Accelerator-backed company and was nominated for the IFAH global "Top 100 Healthcare Visionaries" award.
Our Core Service
Customized Parent Coaching - a comprehensive 12-15 weeks family coaching program that involves customized training plans for how parents engage the child at home to stimulate communication development; caregiver training, 1:1 consultations with SLP and coaching team, on-demand online assistant support and personal progress tracking platform