Speech therapy exercises for toddlers, are necessary for your child to develop their speech and language skills. Playing different speech therapy activities, helps children with delayed speech. Below are different speech therapy exercises for toddlers.
Benefits of Speech Therapy Exercises for Toddlers
A speech pathologist will help your child with:
- Articulation Skills/Speech Intelligibility
- Expressing Language Skills
- Receptive Language/Listening Skills
- Speech Fluency/Stuttering
- Voice and Resonance
- Social/Pragmatic Language
- Cognitive-Communication Skills
- Augmentative and Alternative Communication
- Swallowing/Feeding Issue
- Educating and Empowering you on how to best help your child (Better quality of life, greater self-esteem)
Role Of A Speech Pathologist
A speech pathologist, also referred to as, a Speech-Language Pathologist or a Speech Teacher plays an important role in speech and language therapy in children.
They, generally, work with children, to deal a variety of speech delays and disorder. These disorders, range from formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech delays to more complex disorders such as autism, Down syndrome, hearing impairment, motor speech disorders, and other developmental delays. A speech pathologist, helps your child, with speech, talking and communication.
Best Speech Therapy Exercises For Toddlers are:
The main goal of speech therapy is to improve communication. Few of the best exercises for speech delay are:
1.Flash Cards
One of the best speech therapy exercises for toddlers. Using these flash cards, can help kids, to concentrate on the sounds that they have difficulty with, in speech therapy. Prepare an activity for kids, to do along with them, and remember to give them a reward, when done correctly.
2. Mirror Exercises
Most of the kids, face articulation problems, that is, they do not have the ability to understand the formation of clear and distinct sounds, and how to move their mouths to make the sounds correctly. You can help your child, by speaking in front of a mirror, and see how his/her mouth moves when they makes particular sounds. Show demonstrations of the differences in the mirror; and articulate every sound slowly, and correctly.
3. Frog Hop
One of the most simple game, in speech therapy exercises for toddlers. In this game, let your child, repeat the same word six times. Choose any six words, that you want to practice. On a clear plastic, paper protector, such as lily pads, slide each word. Place the plastic lily pads, all over the room. Make your child, hop on to each lily pad, by saying the word every time. Give him a reward, after he/she hops, to all of the six lily pads, and says the word correctly.
4.Guess Who?
This fun game, helps children, to identify everyday items such as cars, animals, foods and sea creatures. This speech therapy, exercise, helps children with, problem-solving skills, proper character identification and socialization skills.
Speech Therapy Activities For Toddlers
There are certain speech therapy activities, to encourage speech and language development, in children from birth to toddlers.
Children from birth to until 2 years:
- Encourage your baby to make vowel-like and consonant-vowel sounds such as ‘ma,’ ‘da,’ and ‘ba.’
- Make him/her Identify colors, and count items.
- Strengthen your attempts by maintaining eye contact, imitating vocalizations using different patterns and emphasis, and responding with speech. You can even raise your voice pitch to point out to a question.
- Teach your baby to imitate your actions. Actions may include, clapping your hands; playing finger games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and the itsy-bitsy-spider; and giving kisses.
- You can even Imitate your baby’s laughter and facial expressions.
- When you bathe, feed, and dress your baby, talk about a few things such as, what you are doing, where you are going, what you will do when you arrive, and who and what you will see.
- Gestures such as a waving goodbye, can help convey meaning.
- Acknowledge the attempt to communicate.
- Reading, sometimes, is a much better option, than describing the pictures in a book. Choose books for your child, that have large, colorful pictures, and which are not too much in written. Encourage your child, by asking him, what the picture is, and pointing to familiar objects in the book.
Children from ages 2 to 4 Years:
The speech therapy activities, for children aged 2 to 4 years include:
- Use a good and a clear speech, which is simple for your child to understand.
- You can cut out pictures, and make a scrapbook, of favorite or familiar things. Divide them into categories, such as things to ride on; things for dessert, fruits; things to eat; and things to play with. Another fun idea, would be to create silly pictures, by mixing and matching pictures. Stick a dog picture behind a car wheel. Teach him, what is wrong with the picture, and how to paste it correctly.
- Repeat words whatever your child says. Indicate him/her that you have understood, and expand in short sentences what was said by them.
- Help your child understand and ask questions. Encourage them, to ask questions, and try to fool you.
- Expand your child’s vocabulary. Name body parts, or any objects, and identify what you do with them.
- Show the rhythm and pattern of speech, by singing simple songs and recite nursery rhymes.
- In a container, place familiar objects. Allow your child, to remove each object from the container, and tell you what it is called and how to use it.
- Use pictures, of familiar people and places, and retell what happened or make up a new story.
Children from ages 4 to 6 Years:
The speech therapy activities, for children aged 4 to 6 years include:
- The best speech therapy activity, is to give full attention to your child, when he/she starts a conversation, and make sure you have your child’s attention, whenever, you speak.
- Pause after speaking. This gives your child a chance to continue the conversation.
- Develop ways to build vocabulary for your child. Introduce them to a new word, with its definition, or you can use in a context, that is easily understood by them.
- Talk about spatial relationships and opposites.
- Teach your child, by working on forming and explaining categories. Help them to identify the thing that does not belong in a group of similar objects.
- Acknowledge, encourage, and praise all attempts to speak. Show that you understand the word or phrase.
By Supraja
