Summertime Speech Activities for Toddlers

Its summertime, the days are longer, the kids are out of school, and everyone wants to be outside.  Although your toddler may or may not be getting speech therapy over the summer, there are still many things you can do as a parent to continue stimulating his or her speech and language skills until school and therapy begin again in the fall.  The number one way to do this is through play.  Why play?  Because children learn through play.  Play is fun and is a natural part of a child’s development.  Not only is play entertaining for your child, it can also be fun for you.  What better time to help your toddler and let out your inner child than the dog days of summer?   

Here are some fun things you can do that will develop and build upon your toddler’s current speech and language skills: 

• Take a walk with your toddler through your neighborhood, downtown, or local park.  Talk about everything you see such as cars, trees, birds, etc. while using simple language.  For example you can say, “Look at the little red car.  It’s going fast.”  You can also have your toddler identify common objects you name by gesturing or pointing toward that object.

• Blow bubbles outside.  Have your toddler request “more” or “bubble” to get you to blow more bubbles.  If he/she is beginning to put words together have him/her say, “more bubble” or “want more bubble.”  He/she can also repeat “pop” or “pop bubble” when popping the bubbles.  If pronunciation is an issue, have him/her say “buh” or “buh-buh” for bubbles or “pah” for pop until he can say the word correctly.

• Swim with your toddler at your community pool.  Work on receptive language skills (what your child understands) by having him/her perform simple actions on command in the pool such as jump, kick, and run.  Target expressive language skills (what your child says) when jumping in and out from the side of the pool by having your toddler repeat words such as “go”, “in”, and “out”.  Pool time is also a great opportunity to work on identifying basic body parts such as eyes, nose, mouth, feet, and hands.      

• Finger paint in the backyard.  Name the colors as your toddler is painting them.  Have him or her recognize colors by asking him or her to show you specific colors as he/she is painting (for example say, “Show me blue” and he/she can paint with the blue color).  Have your toddler verbally name the colors if he/she is able.  Draw basic shapes such as circle, square, and triangle as you’re painting with your child.  Again, have him/her recognize the shapes by pointing and verbally say their names if he can.        

What other activities and games does your toddler like?  Follow the same process of identifying and requesting by incorporating it into your toddler’s favorite activity.  Be creative, and take it outside this summer! 

To learn more speech and language tips to help your toddler talk and communicate faster, 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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