It’s exciting watching kids assemble their new school supplies, get their backpacks together and compare who is in what class. Some of my friends are teary as they launch their college kids and prepare to drop them off and return to a slightly empty house.
Speech therapists and teachers have been busy preparing their rooms, lists, and making schedules. When I was working in the schools for 20 years, the first two weeks were crazy–finding kids, making a schedule and changing it multiple times. I feel for all of you who are in the throws of that right now. It’s funny, even in private practice, I have to make a whole new schedule at the beginning of each summer and each school year, so I don’t even escape that. At least I don’t have schedule around gym, art and music classes!
As a private therapist I have a unique opportunity to coordinate with classroom teachers and therapists at a child’s schoool. I have several children whom I see every few weeks at their nursery school to communicate goals and progress with teachers. This fall I am waiting a few weeks for kids to get adjusted and then will go into their preschool classes and assess whether their language skills are carrying over into the classroom. Often with preschool children, they might offer more language and seem more advanced in an individual session than when they are in a group setting of peers and adults. I worked with one child from 2-3 years of age and as his language improved, he still didn’t apply his skills in talking with peers. I ended up working with him in his preschool setting to prompt his interactions with peers. For some reason he was very comfortable engaging with the adults, “Sherry, your orange purse is on the table.” By the end of summer camp, he was starting to initiate dialogue with peers and I was able to dismiss him.
Back to school means many things, but for me it means I have another venue in which to watch and assess a child where he is comfortable and among familiar peers and adults. I just have to wait a little while until he is adjusted and it feels like home.
Most parents think of bubbles as a summer activity–kids chasing down the clear, multi-sized spheres to pop in delight. Certainly they are a great source of outside entertainment, but speech therapists use bubbles all year round and bubbles are one of the first things we bring out of our bags to engage a toddler or preschooler. There is something magical to a little one when a liquid becomes three dimensional. Bubbles can be used to gain attention, reward vocalizations, or for modeling certain sounds like “p” or “b” in “pop” and “bubble.” I can get a lot of language out of a child, just by holding back an action like opening the top of the bubble container. Kids just learning to talk, often vocalize something just to get me to continue my routine of getting ready to blow bubbles. For older kids, blowing bubbles strengthens oral motor muscles for speech, and encourages lip rounding.
When I attended “Time To Play’s Spring Showcase of Toys,” Their no-stain, no-dye, nontoxic bubbles really do work better and last longer in the air, which leads to more fun time and language expression. Here are some of the products that I liked for therapy and just plain fun:
“No-Spill Bubble Tumbler:” This is perfect for portable therapy and play since it really doesn’t spill, I like the one that has multiple wands so three kids can play at once.
“Jelly Belly Scented Bubbles:” Only a few inches long, this portable bubble toy holds scented bubbles for a child to blow.
“Big Bubble Friends” produce their own bubbles, so the child doesn’t benefit from the oral motor action of blowing their own bubbles, but my big cow was a load of fun. Tip back the head of the cow and as he lets out a “Mooooo,” a stream of bubbles is emitted and kids are mesmerized. Use the toy as a motivator, modeling sounds or words for them to repeat and rewarding them with a stream to chase. Toddlers and preschoolers loved this toy and played independently for up to 20 minutes.
Have a few of these portable bubble entertainers ready to delight kids summer or winter.
The opinions expressed in this review are soley those of the author. The above products were provided for review by “Little Kids’”
Wow, Toy Story 3 has only been out a few weeks and I am seeing products everywhere. I even went to the grocery store and saw Toy Story cookies and cakes. How do parents sift through all the offerings and get toys that will have staying power and encourage an afternoon of play? What toys can children with special needs use to encourage language development? Here are some of my recommendations to start your child telling their own story:
Buzz, Woody and other poseable figures: Probably the most flexible toy for play are the figures. After seeing the movie, I have watched my little friends clutch the figures and take them everywhere they went–the beach, grocery store, park and of course, nap. Buzz and Woody saved the day, rode in cars, went to a Play-doh beach, and camping. The figures represent a persona that the kids can activate, using dialogue and building their language skills.
“Toy Story Ultra Blast Gauntlet:” Little Buzzes strap on their wrist blaster, press the red laser button and surprise–a triple shooter with side weapons pops up, ready for action. Equipped with 5 darts with suction tips, a sight scope, and laser blasting sound effects, this space weapon will scare any alien. Pull on the purple ring and your weapon snaps back in place, ready for the next battle. The darts project far, so take care in setting up rules for use.
I kept being surprised by kids rounding the corner and setting off the laser zapping noise. Intended for kids 5 years and up, this toy can be adapted to the younger three and four-year old if you remove the darts. There was plenty of fun for preschoolers, just pushing the red button and acting out Buzz’s amazing feats. Again, pretend play builds creative thinking, story telling and language. (Age 5 and up)
“Toy Story 3 Action Link Stunt Sets”: At first I wondered if these “links” of action that can be mixed and matched were open-ended enough for repeated play, but kids convinced me otherwise. I tried out “Jessie to the Rescue,” “Buzz Saves The Train,” and “Junkyard Escape.” Set Jessie loose on her scooter and she hits the railroad sign, which flips open the sides of the train car. Attach the 
next set and as the runaway train falls into the canyon, and Buzz flies to the rescue. The garbage set lets Woody ride the conveyor belt and tosses Lotso from the the garbage tower to set off the stunts in this set. Kids quickly learned that the stunts can be connected in a different order before activating the chain reaction. After completing our first run through, a five-year-old boy said to me, “Do you mix it up? I wanna mix the whole thing up!” He even realized that some reactions were quicker and some slower (the conveyor belt) and designed the order so things didn’t happen too fast at the start. Note: the garbage set does not include all the characters to complete the stunts. Adding extra Buddy Pack Figures will enrich play as children have more opportunities to animate characters and expand their story.The trick is getting the links set up and pieces cocked before someone accidentally pushes a blue button and starts the action! (Age 5 and up)
“Toy Story the Great Train Chase” by Lego Duplo:All aboard for some fun with Duplo’s chunky figures–Buzz, Woody and Jessie–as they save the day. With movable and interchangeable parts, this set continues to offer new play options. The tops of the train cars swing open so Woody and gang can peer out or sit down. Combine this theme with more Lego blocks and make the houses, a train station or deli for a snack. There is unlimited fun and opportunity to be creative and build language skills. (Age 2-5 years)
Buzz Lightyear Costume: Children feel empowered when they put on a costume an assume the role of a hero, like Buzz. This costume designed for toddlers, lets the little siblings get right into the act, re-
living the story and becoming fearless as they save the day. Buzz’s costume was slipped on first thing in the morning over pajamas! When I saw my little friend breeze by, I pressed his red button and Will’s arms shot up, ready for takeoff “to infinity and beyond!” Comfortable for takeoffs and landings, this costume took a little boy through rescues and adventures, tumbles and flights.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “The figures, Ultra Blast Gauntlet, and Action Links” were provided for review by Mattel. “Buzz Lightyear costume” was provided by Jakks Pacific.
Pretend play begins after a child’s first year as they offer an empty cup to a teddy bear or cover him up with a washcloth to stay warm. Little kids love to act out their everyday experiences, copy Mom and Dad and enter a land of pretend.
The next step is taking on a characters and dressing up. Usually, that has been left for the preschool set as they transform into pirates, fairies, firemen, or princesses. They love to act out characters seen in movies, books or in their everyday experience of going to the doctor, buying groceries or playing in the park. At three years of age, children are capable of more abstract thought and can generate elaborate stories to act out as they rule a kingdom, chase the monster, or live in fairy land. Kids practice dialogue, bravely enter new worlds and learn to negotiate with other children as they decide on the story line, costumes, props, and solve problems.
Younger siblings want to get into the act, watching big brother and sister. When it is time to try on the costumes, toddlers trip over the longer costumes and can’t keep up. The newest costumes from Jakks Pacific are designed for the 2 year-old and up so younger brothers and sisters can join the dress-up play and not be dragging the costume behind them.
Buzz Lightyear is timely as “Toy Story 3″ was just released and little boys want to blast off to save the toys of the world. Sized for the smaller set, the soft top has enough padding to puff out Buzz’s chest for extra strength, a red button to activate his wings (kids’ arms), and a shiny purple hood for fast blasting. Silver trim on the pants streamline the flight,
Buzz’s constume was slipped on first thing in the morning over pajamas! When I saw my little friend breeze by, I pressed his red button and Will’s arms shot up, ready for takeoff “to infinity and beyond!” Comfortable for takeoffs and landings, this costume took a little boy through rescues and adventures, tumbles and flights.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Buzz Lightyear costume” was provided for review by Jakks Pacific .
Once again, I saw the advantages of having a ittle Play-doh on hand.
One of my more creative players, Duncan, was setting up his Playmobil boat, van and trailer, As he was requesting the Mom figure and then the Dad to be seated in the front of the van, he started to ask for a CD. I looked at his mom since this was totally out of context. No one had been talking about a CD, but Duncan listens to them in the car so he wanted one in his pretend sequence.
His mom who is a wonderful “producer” of his play disappeared and returned with a can of Play-Doh, a large piece of paper and some crayons. She said, “Duncan, would you like to make your CD out of paper or Play-Doh? He chose the Play-Doh and went ahead and took a little square of it and mashed it against the dashboard! He had inserted his CD for playing:)
Later the Play-Doh was used to make a lake and a pile of rocks when the family disembarked from the boat to collect rocks.
Once again, my favorite toy added to the story line and allowed expansion to new themes for play.
This is part two of my blog about the advantages of having a typical peer join your speech therapy session. Yesterday I talked about the impact a typical peer can have on a child with autism in play. In my speech therapy sessions, I always try to include a time of reading books, as soon as a child will tolerate it and displays joint attention so they can follow the story.
I find that my kids that I work with who have autism, tend to show more interest, stay with the book longer and get more engaged with a typical peer in on the lesson. Last week we were reading, When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Lise Broach. In the story, to the little boy’s delight, everywhere he goes on errands with his mom-to the bakery, the doctor, the barber–he gets a dinosaur as a reward. Mom is terrified and the boy is thrilled. The story gets more complicated as he brings his new pets home. At first they are unintentionally destructive, but then mom sees a more useful tact as she deploys them to “cut” the grass and clean the gutters. With lots of opportunity to predict, and infer, this story builds language concepts. My little client often becomes less attentive about half way through the story, but his typical peer kept answering my questions and helped keep him engaged. He seemed to catch her enthusiasm and want to take his turn in talking about the story.
It is well known that providing typical peers for play with children on the autism spectrum is helpful as they learn from models of appropriate play. Good programs for ASD children provide for “reverse mainstreaming” where typical peers enjoy the same classroom and activities for a good portion of the kids’ day. Language models are especially helpful.
I have seen the benefits of inviting a typical peer to a speech session with a child on the autism spectrum. I see a higher level of language, play, and attention when a peer is included. Last week, a little girl from preschool joined our session with a 5 year-old boy. We start out on the swing set when the weather allows. One of our activities has been dubbed “The Opposite Game” by the little boy with whom I work. I started out calling out “What is the opposite of tall? wet? fast? girl? etc” as he names the opposite. Then I pick one of the opposites and we “brainstorm” more words in that category, using the great outdoors for some of our answers. “What is the opposite of same?” “Different.” Tell me some things that are the same.” So we alternate giving answers from the backyard picture in front of us. “Those bushes are the same,” as he nods to the row of shrubs that are identical. “The chimneys are the same,” says the little girl. “The steps are the same,” and on we go. I get a lot more responses out of my little client as he is egged on by his typical peer.
Next, he went through his dialogue from Toy Story, ending with “Blast off, to Infinity and Beyond!!” So, I said, where can we blast off to? He said, “The beach.” She added, “To fairyland.” He said, “To a museum, Florida, the pool, and so on.”
I congratulated them at being so good at brainstorming. They seemed proud to be associated with such a big word! Really we were thinking abstractly, naming things by category that involved some higher level concepts.
I told mom, this little girl can come back to play with us any day!
When parents and therapists model conversation in pretend play, kids start to imitate them and learn to take turns in conversation with their little toy pets or people.
Caroline’s mom had asked me what things she could be doing with 2 year-old Caroline to build language during play time. I told her to take a toy figure and and talk to the figure that Caroline was holding to model a conversation. Caroline has learned the art of conversing. I gave her some cute dog characters, called Randy Candy and Coco Coconut from PetCakes, stuffed dogs with a cupcake home and frosting tops. Caroline immediately took to the characters, grabbed one, gave me the other and commanded, “Talk!” She wanted me to start the conversation. My dog, Randy, said, “Hi,” and hers responded. Then she said, “You have a cherry on top,” which indeed he did on the top of his frosted head. I asked Coco what she would 
like to do and she said, “Eat a tea party,” so we proceeded to the little doll table where Caroline offered sprinkle cookies.
Kids learn to take turns conversationally but also expand the story telling as they request and comment to their pretend friends, whether they are a stuffed animal or Fisher Price little people character. When your child is carrying a favorite dinosaur, snake or Barbie, start up a conversation with the friend and see how your child responds. At first, you might need to model both sides of the conversation to give them the idea of how it works.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Petcakes” were provided for review by Well Made Toy Manufacturing Corporation.”
When I was visiting 3 year-old Will, he requested that we have a “scavenger hunt.” Now I have been known for my “candy hunts” I conduct on family vacations where I send kids off with a set of clues to find the final tin can of candy. But, I wondered how Will knew what a scavenger hunt was. It turns out that he has been watching “Dinosaur Train,” a clever kids’ show that teaches about plants and animals from the dinosaur age through a set of interesting clues delivered in rhyme.
On the left are my clues. Next time I will give them in rhyme but I wanted Will to be able to “read” them. The final clue, “Go to the Rescue Center” is a little blurred because it was hidden in the bath tub! Will loved the adventure of going up and down floors and finding his clues to his prize. Try making up clues that rhyme, leave off the last word and let your child guess the rhyming word. Now it becomes a literacy activity too.
What stories do you have about kids bridging the information from a TV show to their experience? Share them below.
I have several parents who encourage me with their application of ideas that I have taught them. I am always trying to teach parents what to look for in a toy that builds language and how to set up great toys so a child can narrate stories and play creatively.
Yesterday I was with one of my favorite moms who shows me she “gets it!” She had bought two little vehicles from the “Cars” collection–the helicopter and mail truck. She and her son had been playing with them before I arrived. She mentioned that they didn’t come with people which is one of my first criteria for an effective language toy. Children need people, animals or figures that they an animate to get the conversation going. They practice dialogue, taking turns, formulating sentences and questions and narrate solving problems.
This mom stated that there weren’t any people that came with the truck so they made their own. I looked over at the truck and there was a stick man drawn on a little piece of paper, sitting int he driver’s seat! If only toys manufacturers were so ardent about providing people for kids to play with.
