8 Ways to Promote Learning through Play

Play time with your little one can be a tremendous learning opportunity if done the right way.  Some of the big name psychologists like Piaget and Vygotsky were the first to observe the relationship between cognition and play. Cognitive skills can predict play skills, play skills predict language skills, and vice versa.

Learning happens through interacting with the environment. In infancy and early childhood, play is the activity through which children learn to manipulate their environment, recognize and respond to people and other tangibles, and truly learn the very building blocks of reality.

8 ways to Promote Learning Through Play:

what makes babies smarter
Lise Eliot, Ph.D.
  1. Talk to your child every chance you get during playtime. In the words of Lise Eliot, “The only thing we know that makes babies smarter, is talking to them.”
  2. Play WITH your child. Playing together is far more enriching than playing alone. Young children are drawn to adults because they have much to learn and gain from interacting with us.
  3. Work on imitation. Model a play activity, such as banging blocks, throwing a ball, feeding a baby, and wait for your child to imitate the same activity.
  4. New experiences help with cognitive development... consider Toy Rotation, or expose your child to new places (like a coffee shop, a park, the library, etc.) and a variety of different people frequently
  5. Say goodbye to iThings, and choose toys that foster language development that require more manipulation for play
  6. Cause and effect is the simplest form of learning. For every action, there is a reaction and learning this simple relationship means brain growth. For instance, “if I shake this rattle, then it makes it noise,” is teaching your child how they can volitionally manipulate the environment. Create more cause and effect opportunities every chance you get.
  7. Create challenges for your little one to foster early critical thinking and problem solving skills. Make reaching for an object just a tad more difficult, or try playing with puzzles or shape sorters. Modeling a solution is also a great way to promote learning.
  8. Make it fun! If you’re enjoying playtime with your little one, chances are they are too. So channel your inner child, get down on the floor with them, and PLAY!

Speech-language pathologists are always evaluating play skills, and how children are able to use symbolic and dramatic play with language, since these two skills are so closely correlated.

So get playing with your child, to help with cognitive and language development.

How Ball Play Enhances Language Development

One of your top 10 favorite toys should be one of the simplest of them all... a ball. Along with some of the other no batteries required toys, a ball is a great way to promote word learning and sound development in the pre-talker, and other gross motor benefits for the older kiddo.

A ball facilitates early social skills, like turn-taking and eye contact. It’s great for word exposure to verbs (throw, roll, pass, bounce), and opposites (up/down, inside/out). Hide the ball behind your back or under a blanket and see if your baby can locate it when it’s out of sight. This theory of “object permanence” is an early cognitive skill, usually developed around 9 months.

Some Target Words & Phrases to use during ball play for Word Learning

Work the verbs:

  • throw, roll, pass, bounce, toss, squeeze, shake, chasebaby reaching for ball

Try out Spatial concepts:

  • up, down, on, inside, under, behind

As your baby grows, have them imitate and repeat simple phrases.

Actions:

  • Roll it, Throw it
  • Mama gets it, Baby gets it
  • Teddy Bear can throw too

Locations:

  • Ball up
  • Where is it?
  • It's inside the bag, on the table, under the couch

Teach Possession and Pronouns:

  • Who has it? Mama has it, it's my ball.
  • Your turn, who has it? Baby has it, it's your ball!

Pragmatics:

  • My turn, Your turn
  • Please, Thank You

Low-tech toys are fantastic for developing play and language skills because they must be manipulated to make them interesting. Remember that its our responsibility as the adult, to make the toy more visually appealing and to engage our child to keep their attention for longer periods of time.

What Every Parent Must Know about Toy Rotation

The evidence on play and language skills being directly related is astounding. Many researchers have found that these two skills go hand and hand. As an expert in language development and play, toy rotation is highly recommended.

Toy rotation actually helps your child to increase their attention span with just a few toys per week. It gives your child the opportunity to fully engage with a few toys without being overstimulating by so many.

Using blocks in toy rotation

It allows for toy mastery, more creativity, and critical thinking with your little one.  If a child is exposed to too many toys, it can lead to “scattered play,” rather than strong schematic play, which has stronger developmental benefits.

Maria Montessori, known for her philosophy in education, which is used globally now with typically developing children ages 2 to 6, found that children show deeper attention and concentration with repetitions of an activity, and moreover preferred a structured and orderly environment. She also found that children in this age bracket learn best in practical settings, such as a living room or a kitchen, so the idea of a “playroom,” may not be the most developmentally appropriate.

The idea is selecting just a few toys, and swapping them out every 5 to 7 days.

A few guidelines for Toy Rotation:

  1. Toy rotation is most effective for children in infancy, through age 5
  2. Choose less than 10 toys to have “out” and easily available to your little one during play.
  3. Book sharing is a great way to continue word learning. Allow your child to explore the world of literacy and be exposed to an unlimited amount of great books. If you feel like the books are even too much, rotate those too!
  4. Remember during play with your child, to make those toys visually appealing, to better keep their attention. Longer attention spans means smarter kids.
  5. The rotation part is important! As your child learns one concept, and masters that concept, challenge them with new experiences, that they can learn from.
  6. For the older child (ages 3+), consider rotating toys by category (e.g. art, building, dramatic play, logic, etc.)

Not sure which toys to choose for your tot? Check out Disney Baby for some recommendations. Or, find out more at The Speechies list of recommended toys for your child’s age.

Are you rotating your child’s toys? Why or why not? Tell us more about it.

When to Start Solids & Other Feeding Milestones

Wondering when to start solids with your little one? It seems that the months go by so fast and that time is here before you know it.

Parents should know that feeding skills are directly correlated with very important motor skills. So check out the chart below to make sure your little one is ready for the next texture.

Age Motor Skills Textures
Birth to 6 months -Roots for nipple, suckles Liquids only (e.g. breast milk)
5 to 7 months -Begins sitting unsupported
-Follows food with eyes
-Opens mouth for spoon
-Lips close over spoon
Smooth purees
6 to 8 months -Tongue moves side to side
-Controls position of food in mouth
-Vertical munching/chewing (up and down motion)
-Begins putting hand to mouth for finger food
Purees with grains + lumps
7 to 10 months -Chew patterns turns to rotary chew
-Moves food from side to side
-Curves lips around cup
-Palmer grasp develops (folds fingers over palm)
Mashed/chunky table foods

Dissolvable solids (puffs)

8 to 12 months -Interest in solids increases
-Cup drinking improves
-Pincher grasp develops (thumb and fingers work together)
More mashed table foods, soft foods (like breads,  pasta, and cheese) and other finger foods
12 to 18 months -Self feeding, grasps spoon
-Holds cup with two hands
-Uses straw
Chewing broad range of foods

You can create an adventurous eater in your baby or toddler, but the pressure is on us to offer options.cute baby eat apple

When you are introducing something new, like a new taste or a new texture, babies often feel more comfortable sitting on your lap. Let your baby look at the food or taste it using his own fingers (you wouldn’t eat something unfamiliar, would you?). Talk to him in an encouraging way, to make sure he knows its safe.

Wait for him to open his mouth as you give him his first bite, and continue to talk and smile so he feels safe and comfortable.

Also, remember the Rule of 10 (though some experts even argue 12): your baby needs to try something 10 times before he can develop an actual like/dislike for that food. And that means 10 different meals, not just 10 different spoonfuls in one sitting. So if you see him grimace at the first bite, keep a positive face and smile in reassurance, and just keep going at his pace.

Remember The Food Rules; and that to present food well to a child, you have to feel good about it yourself. Ellyn Satter, R.D., A.C.S.W says “Feeding is a metaphor for the parent/child relationship. Children learn from feeding what to expect from the world. It teaches them about themselves and about other people.”

So get eating 🙂

All about Pronouns: I said, you said, he said, she said

“Her did it.”

Sound familiar? Well your little one is using a pronoun, just the wrong one. Applaud your kiddo for giving it a try, because pronoun acquisition can be tricky, and its an ongoing language development skill until age 4!

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. There are different types of pronouns, but for purposes of early language development, we’ll stick to the basics.

Personal pronouns include: I, you, he, she, it, we, and they.

Possessive pronouns include: my, your, his, her, their, its

If your child is swapping personal pronouns for possessive pronouns, model the correct use: “You’re right, SHE did it.”

The use of pronouns start to emerge around 2-3 years, and I and me come first (its always about them, isn’t it?).

pronoun

But as the later developing pronouns come out, you may notice a few more errors. For instance, the he/she is frequently mixed up. They may use “she” when talking about big brother, Joey, or even Dad sometimes. Just know that this is typical as language skills emerge.

However, by 3 and a half, your child should be able to use the I, you, he, she, we, they and the my, yours, his, hers, their, theirs accurately.

Remember that modeling and repetition are one of the key ways children learn new words. Here are some great books that can reinforce the opportunity to hear and use pronouns accurately:

      

Approximate Age of Acquisition of Pronouns

  • 12-26 months - I, it
  • 27-30 months - My, me, mine, you
  • 31-34 months - Your, she, he, yours, we
  • 35-40 months - They, us, hers, his, them, her
  • 41-46 months - Its, our, him, myself, yourself, ours, their, theirs
  • 47+ months - Herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Sources: Adapted from Haas & Owens (1985); Huxley (1970); Morehead & Ingram (1973); Waterman & Schatz (1982); and Wells (1985).

What To Do About a Lisp

We all know someone who has a lisp, right?

There are actually four different types of lisps (see below), but the most common is an interdental lisp, when the tongue pushes through the front teeth and the /s/ sound is pronounced like a /th/. “See” sounds like “thee,” “bus” sounds like “buth...” you get the idea.

The research of what falls under “normal” development for sound acquisition varies across different researchers.

Caroline Bowen PhD, a well-known speech-language pathologist with a doctorate in clinical linguistics, believes that having a lisp is a normal developmental phase of speech/sound acquisition, until about 4 and a half years old. Others believe that its not something to address until after age 6.

Missing Teeth and that Lisp!

The /s/ sound is a sibilant, which means its a “hissing” sort of sound. It is produced when the airstream hits the back of the teeth or dental wall, and rebounds around until the air exits the mouth, creating a strident or friction sound.

When the front teeth are missing, especially when so many are missing, the airstream broadens. The air usually will come out wherever the teeth are missing. This gives it a slushy and imprecise sound. However, in the instance of only 1 or 2 teeth missing, it is still possible to produce an accurate /s/ sound.

A lisp is something that can be corrected in speech therapy. And as always, early intervention is the best intervention. If your child has a lisp, and is around 4 years old, then you may want to consult with your pediatrician and see if speech therapy is indicated.

There are four main types of lisps:

  • Interdental lisp—occurs when the tongue protrudes between the front teeth and the /s/ or /z/ is pronounced like /th/.
  • Dentalized lisp—occurs when the tongue pushes against the front teeth.
  • Lateral lisp—sounds wet or “slushy” because the air flows around the tongue.
  • Palatal lisp—the middle of the tongue touches the soft palate, or roof of the mouth, when trying to produce the /s/ sound.

For more information on speech development, check out our quick guide to sound acquisition or this articulation development chart.

Can You Hear Me Now? Ear Infections & Speech Development

Hearing is a crucial component to typical speech, language, and cognitive development, so children who have a history of frequent ear infections are at greater risk for language and articulation delays.

The first year of life is when your baby is really processing language. If fluid is present in the middle ear, then it can affect the acuity and sensitivity of hearing these sounds, syllables and words. Imagine walking around with cotton in your ears! Words and noises may be muffled, which does not provide an ideal model for typical speech and language. Thus, middle ear infections may increase the risk of delayed speech development.

The American Academy of Pediatrics provided a research study on 205 three-year old children. The study showed that children with prolonged periods of middle ear fluid, especially from 6 to 12 months, had lower scores on speech and language tests than those that did not.

Sometimes ear infections are unavoidable. However, in the early months, when hearing and language processing is most crucial, there are a few tips to reduce the risk of ear infections. Breastfed babies have a decreased chance of ear infections since their immune systems are generally stronger, and they are not lying flat when feeding (feeding in an elevated position is optimal due to the horizontal shape of the eustachian tube). If your baby is bottle-fed, be sure to hold him upright. A baby should not be given a bottle while lying on their back.

If your child has a history of ear infections and you are concerned there may be a delay in speech, consult with your pediatrician to determine if an evaluation is indicated or, check out our quick guide for sound acquisition. As always, early intervention (treatment before age 3) provides the best outcomes.

Speech Therapy in Ghana

On May 20th, I embarked on a two week expedition to Ghana, Africa, working as the Chief Clinical Supervisor for 13 graduate students in the speech-language pathology program at Columbia University. There is so much to share about this amazing trip. Being in a country so different than the United States, yet realizing how similar these people and patients are.

A mother with her twins at Korle Bu Hospital
A mother with her twins at Korle Bu Hospital

I just wanted to share one particular story that truly touched me (there really are so many!). As we were taking a day off from clinical work on a Saturday, we were seeing some tourist sites. I had a conversation with one of the park rangers at the National Park in Mole, Ghana. He asked what we were doing in Ghana and I shared our work with him. He took a particular interest in cleft lip/palate, probing and asking more questions. We soon found out that he knew of a child in a neighboring village with cleft lip and palate, and he asked if we could see the baby.

On Sunday, we arrived in the small remote village, and the mother of the baby was not expecting us. Though still, she welcomed us inside her one-room home as she heard of our purpose. Her baby, Faruk, was 3-months old with a complete unilateral cleft lip. There is a large stigma in place, and often parents and people reject children with disabilities, or children that are just different. The father of the baby left the mother and his son after seeing him, and the mother was left alone to care for her son.

Embarrassed and unknowing, she moved in with a friend, and kept her son inside for the entire 3 months of his life. She shared her story, becoming emotional and looking helpless- and a bit malnourished herself, since she couldn’t work (and take the baby to work to have the rest of the village see him). We treated the baby, observed how he fed, using a bottle and breast feeding. We educated mom about how much the baby should be eating to maintain a healthy weight, and provided some strategies for safe and efficient feeding, which nearly instantly improved. We informed her of the Operation Smile and Smile Train teams, which were to arrive in a hospital 2 hours away, and helped her financially to assist in payment for transportation to the hospital (which was equivalent to $6 US each way, money she just did not have). The surgeons provide free repairs for cleft lip and palate.

After about an hour of working with this mother, in her home, and getting to know baby Faruk, we knew we had made an impact. As we were leaving, the mother proudly brought baby Faruk outside of the house, in the light of the day, for the first time. She held him facing out, as the rest of the villagers watched. We gave hugs and said our goodbyes.

A little one trying to get into some trouble
A little one trying to get into some trouble

This trip reinforces how important communication is between parents and children, and caregivers and their loved ones, world wide. The children are just as playful and fun, the parents are eager to learn and apply new tricks and techniques, and the professionals are always ready to collaborate. It was humbling to see first hand, how happy people are with the such little resources they have. And of the 50+ patients we worked with, we were able to establish a sustainable treatment plan for bettering communication and/or feeding and swallowing.

Interested in more pictures? Check out our facebook page.

Columbia University has partnered with several hospitals and schools throughout Ghana, and this marked the seventh visit to the country, as master’s level students educated other professionals, treated patients, and taught parents about all things related to speech, language, and feeding.

Five “Puzzling” Ways to Enhance Language & Thinking

Like puzzles, language takes on a pattern. Identifying certain pieces and components of a big picture can be a highly challenging cognitive task. Early identification of patterns can also foster early critical thinking skills for improved foundation for reading and math.

By combining early language skills and cognitive development, puzzles are a unique method to establish good attention and concentration and help your child thrive.

Here’s how:

1. Spatial Concepts - Studies support that high quality parent interactions during puzzle play promote spatial thinking and later math skills. Create that for your child and teach words such as, Next to, above, below, between, edge, flat, straight, corner, curve, side, top, bottom, long, short, inside, outside, upside down, and flip.

2. Labeling - labeling parts and whole (e.g. the arm of the Giant, the Giant’s eyes) for fast word learning and expanding vocabulary. Providing a language-rich environment during play will always be the best way to learn more words.

3. Boost in cognitive skills such as Problem Solving & Reasoning - The old “guess and check” method is the simplest form of problem solving, which kids can learn during puzzle play. To further promote early critical thinking skills, ask your child same/different questions (e.g. How is this corner piece similar to this one, how is it different?). If your kiddo is even younger, try matching and sorting by colors as a first step to completing a puzzle.

4. Promotes “Self-Talk” - in those late toddler and early preschool years, “self-talk” can be a great way for children to advance and build confidence with conversation skills and sentence development. Encourage your child to talk through the logic of completing a puzzle.

5. Promotes Conversation - on the first go-around, likely your child will need some assistance with starting and finishing a puzzle. Use this opportunity to facilitate asking for help, or where questions (e.g. Where does this one go? and you respond using spatial concepts from #1). Puzzles can also be used as story starters, so start creating something new every time.

The Food Rules

10 Mealtime Practices for a Happy Eating Environment

By parent report, an average of one in every four children is said to have a “feeding difficulty.” That means that 25% of parents are dreading feeding times. Here are some good rules to work by to ensure that both you and your child are enjoying eating and meals:

  1. Meals AND snacks, should be given at regularly scheduled times (typically eating every 2-3 hours)
  2. Meals and snacks happen at the same place (e.g. in a high chair) while eating. Avoid “grazing,” or eating all over the house.
  3. Solids should be offered first, fluids last
  4. Meals should last no longer than 30 minutes
  5. Encourage your child to feed herself as much as possible (finger feed or using a spoon)
  6. Learning to eat without approval or disapproval is important. It should be a neutral environment, free of bribes or comments on “how much.”
  7. Refrain from using games or distractions during meals
  8. Food should be removed after 10-15 minutes if the child seems to play with food without eating
  9. Clean-up AFTER the meal, wipe the mouth and hands only when the meal is done
  10. Relax, and remember that its ok for a child to miss a meal once in a while*

Remember that you can get your child to come to the table, but you can’t make your child eat. Its our job as parents to be a good eating model. That means that parents should be eating meals WITH kids. The importance of participating in family mealtimes is crucial.

These are only guidelines for mealtime practices, and if you have a specific question about your child’s feeding or nutrition, consult with your pediatrician.

*adapted from Joan Arvedson and multiple sources

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