I use playdough all the time with young kids to support communication development.  It's a great activity to get communication happening and there's lots kids can learn through playdough!

Having a set of good cookie or playdough cutters is great for modelling lots of different vocabulary targets (e.g. house, butterfly, plane) and working on early categorisation skills (e.g. Lets put all the vehicles over here and all the animals over here).  Playdough play is also great for encouraging use of action words (e.g. cutting, pushing, rolling) and early concept words (e.g. big/little, long/short - "I've rolled a big ball.  Your ball is li____?", "My snake is long, your snake is sh____.").  You can use playdough for making many different shapes and objects to talk about such as making a persons body or face out of playdough (e.g. model the names of different body parts as you talk about what you are making, such as "To make a person we need a body, head, legs, and arms. What else do we need?").  Try making different animals such as a snake for modelling different animal noises and early sound play (e.g. "Snake says SSSsssss"). 

​Playdough is a great sensory activity and can also be used to encourage development of early social skills such as turn taking, joint attention, sharing, making a choice, requesting, asking for help.  It's a great activity to keep young kids occupied on a play date too.  They love to get in and help make it and see the colours go through the dough.  I like to make my own playdough for peace of mind that if they decide to taste it (lets face it, most kids give it a taste test at some stage) there aren't any hidden nasties.

First, get your child's attention -  get face to face,​ say his/her name, show him/her the bubble jar and suggest you blow some bubbles together ("Let's blow bubbles"). Start blowing bubbles.  Have fun blowing the bubbles.  You can help your child pop the bubbles to gain their interest.  Pop them with your fingers, between your hands or stomp on them with your feet once they land on the ground.  Comment "pop" each time you pop a bubble.  ​

Next, give your child a 'reason to ask you for more bubbles'.  Once your child is really getting into the bubble fun, put the lid back on the bubbles.  Wait for your child to ask for more bubbles.  Your child might ask for more bubbles by:

• ​looking at you and smiling
• pushing the bubble container towards you and making a sound
•  reaching for the container or wand
• pointing to the container or wand and using jargon like talk
• using a sign, sound, word or sentence

Thirdly, give your child a reason to make comments about the bubbles.  If your child is starting to use words or starting to talk in short sentences, you can help him/her to make comments while playing with bubbles.  You can do this by occasionally commenting about the bubbles yourself while you play, saying something like:

• "wow, big bubble"
• ​"pop"
• "That bubbles up high"
• "That one popped on my nose."
• "You popped it!"
• "Lots of bubbles"

​After you have made a few comments, give your child a reason to make a comment by blowing the bubbles, pointing to one of the bubbles, looking expectantly at your child and waiting.  Ensure you point at something interesting, like a really big bubble, one that's landed in a funny spot or the very last bubble and wait expectantly.  If your child doesn't make a comment, you can give a hint like, "Look! That bubble ...... ", then pause and wait to see if your child finishes your comment.

Examples of words and sentences that you can encourage:

Have fun with your bubbles!  If you'd like more ideas on how you can maximise your child's development, sign up to my newsletter.

Written By Sarah Creagh
Speech Pathologist
​Speech Smart Therapy

​'Dear Zoo' is fantastic for engaging little ones with it's interactive flaps and repetitive text that allows children to begin to engage and 'read' the story themselves.  Have fun making each animal noise together as your child opens each flap to teach early sound production. Great for teaching animal vocabulary too!

​'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' has become a classic that all children love.  Great for teaching early story sequencing skills, food vocabulary, counting skills and concepts. 

If you missed my recent blog on the benefits of reading to children daily you can see it below: http://www.speechsmart.com.au/blog/number-1-on-my-play-chat-learn-activity-list-read-together-daily
​

Babies learn about talking and listening through play, so it's important to set aside time to play with your baby each day.

Imitate your babies sounds.  Watch your baby and copy their actions and sounds.  Do this immediately after your baby has made a sound.  Make this into a fun game you play everyday.  Reward your baby if he/she imitates the sound back by showing them you're excited they copied you (e.g. smile, cuddle, comment "clever talking").

Take turns making sounds and playing. Pause to listen and speak just like you would in an adult conversation.  Copy their actions and sounds and then wait for them to try to copy you or make a different noise or action.

Talk to your baby often, get face to face with them speaking slowly, clearly and simply.  Babies love to watch their parents faces and this is great for encouraging sound play, language development and early social interaction skills.

Lots and lots of sound play.  Play games and activities that encourages lots of sounds.  Watch and listen to your baby to see what activities he/she likes to make sounds during. What sounds does he/she like to make?  Are there certain times of the day he/she likes to make sounds (e.g. bathtime, mealtimes, waking up time)?  Use these times to join in making sounds and modelling how to make different sounds. 

Use exciting toys, books and games to encourage making sounds.  Toys that have a 'surprise' or books that are colourful with tags, flaps and crinkley fabric they can play with are most likely to make your child vocalise (e.g. Jack in the Box, Pop Up Farm Toy).  You can choose key words to model repeatedly that your baby will enjoy listening to, learning and might try to copy (e.g. open, pop, peek-a-boo Jack).

Mirror time is great! Babies often love making sounds in front of a mirror with mum or dad.  Sit in front of a mirror together and make silly faces and noises together.

Sing songs and nursery rhymes together everyday.  Singing the same words over and over again will help your baby learn language and rhythm.  Try singing to your baby in babble sounds and nonsense sounds (e.g. la la la, da da da, na na na, MMmmm) and see what he/she does.  Encourage your baby to join in by smiling, clapping or praising any of his/her attempts.

Introduce new sounds once your baby is able to take turns producing a single sound (e.g. baba). You can encourage your baby to copy a new sound (e.g. mama). You might focus on a sound your think they might be starting to try to make (e.g. Mmm) or introduce a sound they aren't making yet (e.g. gaga)

'Use lots of sounds during play.  These don't have to be real words, they can be made up sounds or easy words like an animal noise.  'Play sounds' catch a baby's attention, are easier to understand and are often easier to imitate than real words.  Examples you could try are:
     wee - when pushing on a swing.
     pop - when popping bubbles
     moo, baa, neigh, woof - animal noises when playing with toy animals
     Brrrmm brrmm - when pushing a toy car to each other
     ha ha ha - when patting panting dog
     Grrr - when pretending to be a lion
     Mmmm - when eating something nice
     raspberry blowing - when pretending to be a horse or playing with toy horse
     wee - when lifting up high
     eeow - when flying toy plane or pretending to be a plane
    oh oh - when drop something
    toot toot - when playing with toy truck or watching real truck go past 

Speech and Language Developmental Milestones - NIDCD
www.nidcd.nih.gov
Child Development Milestones - 6 months - Queensland Government
www.health.qld.gov.au
'Early Communication Skills' Handout, Speech Pathology Department, Priness Margaret Hospital
Helping Your Baby To Talk, Speech Pathology Australia
www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au