There are SO many great ways to incorporate speech and language skills into our daily routines. From riding in the car talking about our day or the weather, to baking (sequencing steps aloud) there are lots of fun activities, including many we already do, that can be a great way to practice our communication skills. During this time when we are at home, what better way to incorporate speech/language into your daily routine than to go outdoors. Backyard play or taking a walk in the neighborhood are great ways to practice skills while having fun (and social distancing). You can either play with common objects (i.e. bubbles, sidewalk chalk, bikes) or use nature to create your activities. In today’s post, we are talking all about ideas for using SIDEWALK CHALK!
Ideas for Articulation (Speech Sounds)
- Draw pictures of words that begin with your child’s target sounds. For example, if working on the /s/ and /s-blend/ sounds, draw a sun, spider and snake.
- Make a game out of it-draw circle targets out of chalk on the ground. Have your child throw a ball at the circles and whichever one they land on, have them say their target sound/words that number of times.
Ideas for Language Skills
- Work on turn taking, describing and categories. Take turns drawing pictures and then describing what the picture looks like (i.e. size, color, category, etc.). Tell your child an item from a specific category (i.e. food).
- To target following directions, tell your child steps to follow with the chalk (i.e. first draw a pink heart, then draw two blue circles).
- Use tape to make a pattern on the ground. Color the shapes in with chalk and then remove the chalk to see your masterpiece. Describe the shapes it made and name something it looks similar to.
What are your favorite activities to do with chalk?!
{I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Daily Cup of Speech is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.}
Get this free parent handout , includes ideas for ways to work on speech & language skills outdoors.
