I love doing fun, art activities with my toddlers that I see for speech therapy. It's something different for them and for me. It also makes their toddler speech therapy session even more fun! One of my most favorite websites that I use is http://www.first-school.ws Preschool Activities & Crafts. This website has a lot of fun, printer friendly arts and crafts ideas.
Since it's almost St. Patrick's Day, here is a fun leprechaun craft you can do with your toddler. I'll also list ways that you can stimulate your toddler's speech and language skills while completing the craft.
First, decide if you would like to print out a color copy of the leprechaun or a black and white copy. If you choose the black and white copy, your toddler can color it however he would like! Let your toddler cut out the leprechaun pieces and put them to the side. You may need to help your toddler if your child is still trying to improve his cutting skills. To assemble the leprechaun, look in the top left hand corner of the page and you'll see a guide that shows how the pieces should be glued. Next, glue the pieces of the leprechaun together. Allow your toddler to glue the pieces together on his own, with a little guidance of course! I love using colored glue sticks with toddlers because they are much easier for their little hands, and they are more fun than using clear glue sticks.
Now that your toddler has glued the leprechaun together, it's time to learn how you can stimulate his speech and language skills with this craft.
Teach body parts while cutting out the pieces. Target eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and head. This craft has a variety of shapes that you can talk about with your toddler while assembling the leprechaun. Talk about circle, oval, rectangle, and crescent (moon). To work on counting skills you can help your toddler count the pieces of the craft. You can also help your toddler identify colors such as green, red, or any color that he decides to use when coloring the leprechaun. Also, talk about leprechauns, St. Patrick's Day, rainbows, and pots of gold. Remember to break it down to your toddler's level because he may not always understand complex speech and concepts. What other speech and language skills can you focus on with this activity?
If you would like more fun speech and language tips and activities, be sure to check out my book on Amazon Kindle, Talking With Todders - 52 Tips to Boost Speech and Language Skills.
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