Every speech-language pathologist yearns to grab a bag of goodies that will amuse, entice and teach their preschoolers the foundation of language, building the basics for communication and literacy.

“Come Learn With Me” is my goody bag of choice! Use it yourself and share it with parents. Save the precious time of collecting props and pictures and unzip this set of books, objects and pictures to begin assessing and teaching receptive and expressive language and cognitive skills. Clearly the authors’ 30 years of combined early childhood experience is evident in this well organized, complete, simple to use tool with step-by-step lessons.  They have anticipated developmental stages and what would be most useful to stimulate them.

Each area of development—receptive and expressive language and cognitive development—is broken down into 5-6 skills, progressing from the easiest to the hardest, with complete instructions on how to teach that skill beginning with ages that it is developing, prerequisite skills, sample objectives, baseline data, how to increase that skill and prompts, including modifications for children with visual or physical limitations. With each skill so clearly defined and broken down into activities, parents can easily utilize this manual and kit too. Parents often ask me, “What should my child be doing now?” I could easily refer to the developmental milestones and show what tasks were appropriate for their child’s age.

Therapists, teachers and parents have unlimited options with the bags of vehicles, food, farm animals, and function objects. Everything is kid-sized so they love to play with the objects, while the five books provide simple, colorful, cartoon drawings within the categories of things to ride, on the farm, in your house and moving out and about. With increased emphasis on data collection, therapists can easily record responses in the front cover of each book, using dry erase pens. The illustrations in the books as well as the 66 individual pictures of objects, animals and people by category, are a strength of this teaching tool. Clear enough to keep it simple, but just enough detail to identify the picture; these punchy drawings attract the child. The thick laminated, interchangeable pictures are the right size for a child’s hands while the thrill of ripping off the Velcro and sticking the picture on to the page is just the interaction needed to keep kids engaged.

The simple backdrop of book pages provides the flexibility we want in teaching preschoolers language skills. Kids can identify vocabulary, follow directions, answer questions, and create their own stories as they place their picture discs on each page of the books, interchanging the drawings to create unlimited stories as the groundwork for understanding and using vocabulary, grammar, and concepts. The inherent adaptability of this teaching tool is evident in the fact that I use it with children on the autism spectrum as well as with language and articulation delays or disorders.

Although parts are offered separately, my recommendation would be to buy the whole kit, ultimately saving money by giving you more flexibility and options for language learning.

Do you know someone expecting a Little Boy and need the perfect  gift? Here it is–the best preparation for Mom and Dad to get ready for a blue bundle of energy. Through simple rhymes–”Little boy, so much depends on…a puddle to jump, sand to dump”–the author captures the charm and curiosity of a little boy who gets stopped by the intrigue of stomping in a puddle, examining a bug, dumping sand or creating a toy tower. The author cleverly introduces the boy’s cardboard box throughout the story, as the child transforms it from a vehicle on wheels, stepladder, pirate ship. parking garage and robot costume. Finally, the little boy and his dog take refuge in this homey box and fall asleep after a busy, creative day. A refreshing peek into a little boy’s day where the only play opportunities are nature and simple toys, this story celebrates a day of imaginative play without technology, reminding us how fun things are when kept simple!

Eight charming, little farm animals–simply illustrated using just three colors–are hanging out in a field. Players roll the three dice to see what colors they need to match to an animal. Spot the animal whose colors correspond to the dice, be the first to yell out a “moo”,  “oink” or a “woof” and win a scoring coin. If you line up four coins on your numbered scoring board, you are the winner! Although it appears simple, this game actually requires the player to remember three colors as they move from one animal to the other hoping for a match, identify the animal and then process what sounds it makes. Memory, observation, counting and association skills are all in use. And, don’t we all appreciate a game that comes with it’s own container? Cleverly packaged in a solid wooden box, Quack Quack gathers its pieces in a drawstring bag.

Waddle on down to the South Pole and start gathering these adorable penguins for a hot game of Pengoloo. Kids love the element of surprise as they roll the two-colored dice and peek under two penguins per turn to reveal their brightly colored eggs. Get a match and declare they’re yours, placing them in order, 1-6, on your patch of ice. Keep it simple for a 4 year-old or step up the strategy and “steal” a penguin from your opponent’s iceberg to make your match. Blue Orange’s signature bright, bold graphics and tactiley pleasing wooden pieces attract kids and adults immediately. A full iceberg declares a winner who has reinforced color and number concepts and built visual memory skills.

Being grumpy is a lot of work. Mr. Fish can’t seem to be cheered up by his convincing pals, Ms Clam, Mr. Jelly (Fish), Mrs. Squid or Mr. Eight (legged octopus). In spite of the efforts by his best-intended buddies, this dreary, sulking fish is convinced he is doomed to a life of mope. An unexpected visitor appears to plant a kiss on our prince to get this grump out of his slump. This charming tale, The Pout-Pout Fish, is filled with strong vocabulary, rhythm and rhyme with stanzas to be sung with your little one.

Tips to Build Language and Literacy:

Model putting words to your emotions throughout your daily experiences. “I’m frustrated, I can’t get this lid open” or “I’m tired and grumpy. I need a nap.” “Please be patient, I can’t help you right now.” Identify and name emotions in stories that you read aloud to your child. “The little girl is selfish—always wanting her own way” or “Grandma is disappointed in her behavior.” Brainstorm words that describe the main character and see how many you can list. After reading a story to a first grade class, I collected fourteen words to describe the “bossy, impolite, ungrateful” little girl. Our little pout pout fish is “glum,” “mopey,” “dreary,” with an “unattractive trait.”

Point out repeated words that are isolated in the text, “Blub, Bluuuub, and Bluuuuub!” Your child will begin to associate the sound with the letter as you stretch out the word and even “read” the word next time you encounter that page.

Take the time to name the pictures, describe them, “the three swimming ducklings,” and talk about how they all belong to a group–things we use on a rainy day, animals in the sea, food in the kitchen, or objects for bath time. Naming the category builds your child’s language as she learns to group words by their use or function. Talk about what we do with the items–”We dry off with a towel,” or “we wash with soap,” or “we float the duck.” Talking about the function of objects, helps your child link concepts and builds language skills.

Every now and then a toy comes along that I get really excited about. This is one. Maybe because I had an older brother and he was always making forts out of our couch cushions and planting me inside with the bowl of popcorn!

This colorful set of foam sections, invites your child to make a house and climb in. Every day they can make a new creation and peek out at the family though the curtained window. See my full review at the Parents’ Choice website.

Kids beg to play Animal Soup again and again. It’s a game of match as players race to find their animal dressed in different garb—a lei, scarf, baseball hat or tiara—on the game board. The winner collects an animal disc from the soup bowl! See my full review at Parents’ Choice website.

Clothespins!, This game of strategy requires the player to collect items of clothing by pattern—polka dots, stripes or wiggly lines, or by type—pants, tops or shorts. Finish three laundry lines with three matching articles of clothing and you win. But don’t let the bird steal your laundry! See my full review at Parents’ Choice website.

Taggies! First Touch Ball, this newest member of the taggie ball family, is a soft, cuddly soccer ball, covered with the smooth tags that attract kids. Great for rolling and retrieving, the ball inspires a new crawler to take off. For my full review see Parents’ Choice website.