Early Intervention Language-Based Games to Play at Home

In early intervention, helping children develop words, phrases, and sentences is an important part of building strong communication skills. At Watch Me Shine Child Care Facility, we understand that learning doesn’t stop when children leave the classroom. The home environment provides wonderful opportunities to continue developing language and communication skills through everyday play.

As a parent, you want to give your child the best chances to learn and grow, but you may not always know where to start. This month, we’re exploring a few simple, language-based games you can play together at home.

Imitation Games: Actions & Sounds

Simon Says is a classic game that helps children practice listening comprehension, follow directions, and understand action words.

Animal Copycat is another fun way to encourage imitation. Pretend to be different animals! Roar like a lion, hop like a bunny, or stomp like an elephant while encouraging your child to copy you.

This activity helps children practice foundational motor skills while also encouraging them to:

• Listen and pay attention to sounds and actions
• Learn new action words
• Identify animals and associate them with their sounds
• Develop body awareness through movement
• Recognize body language and social cues through you

You can also take turns being the leader and the follower. This gives children a chance to practice creativity, leadership, and sharing, while strengthening their relationship with you.

Receptive & Expressive Language

Children don’t always have the words to communicate what they want or need. Offering simple choices can make it easier for them to express themselves and make their own decisions.

For example, at snack time, hold up two options and ask, “Would you like crackers or apples?” Give your child the opportunity to answer verbally or gesture and point to their choice.

Continue using this approach throughout the day. Repetition helps children become familiar with new words and phrases and gives them opportunities to practice communicating their wants and needs.

It’s also important to be a constructive language role model. Children learn by listening to the people around them, so practice using choices in everyday conversations:

• “Do you want pasta or salad for dinner?”
• “Which color do you like—red or blue?”
• “Do you want to color or dance?”
• “Are you feeling sad or scared?”

Increase Vocabulary Through Play

Play-based learning is a great way to offer new vocabulary at home. Try games such as “I Spy” or a simple treasure hunt.

For a treasure hunt, hide an object somewhere in the room and give your child descriptive clues to help them find it. Try using words such as under, behind, next to, big, small, soft, or blue.

These activities help children learn new descriptive words and connect those words with objects, actions, and surroundings.

Early Intervention Can Start With You

As a parent, you are one of the most important people in your child’s learning journey. Participating in your child’s individualized learning plan and practicing language skills at home can help reinforce the skills they are developing in the classroom.

If you’re looking for quality care for your little one to learn, grow, and receive support, our trained team at Watch Me Shine Child Care Facility is here to help.

Schedule a tour with us now to discover whether our child care center is the right fit for your family. Together, we can create an individualized plan designed to support your child’s particular needs and development.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook for a peek into our daily activities and see what our children are learning with our team!