During this time in our world, it is important to help each child develop and adapt to all the social-emotional challenges. Every opportunity and situation can be driven to a teachable moment or a developmental movement. This information can help your child at any stage of development to increase speech and language skills.
One key factor to language development that is often overlooked is “Play.” Many times we are so busy trying to force sounds, words, phrase and sentences that we forget that the child may progress naturally during the child’s play time. “Play is the eager engagement in pleasurable physical or mental effort to obtain emotional satisfaction.”- Sheridan, 1977. This is a time when they are relaxed, not having to perform for anyone and often more open to learning without realizing it. For example, you see your child playing with blocks, he/she stacks a few and knocks them down, you get in there and begin to play with them, you start building, counting and then knock them down by saying “ready set go, boom!” Next thing you know, your child is imitating you, then they want more, you say, “more?” they might reply, “more, go, boom or yes”, depending where they are with their development. Being silly, singing nursery rhymes, playing and having fun are fundamentals that help develop children’s cognitive, emotional and speech development. “Scientists have recently determined that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain- unless it is done with play, in which case, it takes between 10-20 repetitions.”- Dr. Karyn Purvis.
The benefits of play: it’s free, fun, and a great way to spend time with those you love. Play should always be child driven. Often times children prefer to be in control of their environment and we as parents should come alongside them and join in on their fun and learning. Child-driven play gives the child an opportunity to express (using language) their thought process, encourages them to give commands using their gestures, sounds and words while in return the parent/caregiver is modeling expected behaviors as the communication partner. When play is parent-prompted, the child then will imitate the newly learned expected behavior as a communication listener. When we are focused on statistics and meeting therapy goals, it’s so easy to miss the importance of simple things such as play.
The next time you are feeling anxious because your child is not imitating, expressing, or engaging in social awareness, remember to get down to their level and “PLAY” with them. Let the child’s environment naturally encourage engagement and play. Through the occupation of play, parents are able observe children spontaneously expressing, listening, and socializing without any pressure.
Tips to Encourage Play at Home
- Get on the child’s level (sit on the floor with them, eye to eye)
- Open-ended toys are best (play doh, blocks, dolls, pretend food, sensory bins, etc)
- Avoid toys that talk; the more the toys talk, the less the child needs to
- Follow your child’s lead on how they want to engage with the toy
- Add 1 more word than your child is using (i.e. “ball” to “more ball”)
- Give sufficient time for processing for them to process
- Strike a balance between asking questions and making comments
