https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n Fun and functional activities en-us 2020-03-25 16:15:36 UTC 2025-09-24 15:32:07 UTC hello@padlet.com sylviamendoza https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n/wish/475036299 These are activities you can do when ever you do anything. Here are some ideas.  Don't stress about it, just talk you way through the day. The ideas is to use key words, establish routines and predictable behaviors. 
1.  If you live in an apartment, on an upper floor.; count the stairs on  a daily basis. The number of doors you pass to get to your door.
2.  As you are getting ready to go out the door. You can talk about the clothes you put on to go outside. Make a song about it. When you come back hang or take off an article talk about it. 
3. Talk about opening and closing the door. Establish a routine. Talk about I need to find my key, Look for it together. When you find you key, you could state, " now I have me key, we lock the door to go outside" Lock the door. Then talk about closing the door. As you come back, Talk about the key and open the door. 
When you are getting in the car car, you can break down and sequence the activity. Mom needs her key, her purse. We lock the door. Open the car door. Put you in your car seat, buckle up. Mom sits up front. and just keep going. 

As you are walking outside you can look for different things on each day. Trees, flowers, butterflies, cars. Count them point them out. Language you use could be:
I see a tall tree.
I see a little tree.
I see a tree with flowers.
I see a tree with green leaves.
Look, a pretty orange butterfly. 

Activities when walking:
Big step, little step walking, jumping step, stopping. lets go.
Make it fun for you too. Again if you have older children, this is a great activity to have them do.

You can look at the signs as you walk or drive. Point them out.
Red stop sign. 
Railroad crossing, look at the train. 
If you get to-go food talk about the food. Yummy hamburger, yucky pickle. Use lots of gestures.
Every day activities:
Folding laundry. Talk about the piece of clothing you have in your hand, I have one sock, left food, I have 2 socks, right foot. You wear socks on your feet. Right now we are folding socks. These socks are the same, the go together. ( if you have sock that don't match you could state, OH no I have a white sock and a black sock they are not the same, they are different. They don't go together. 

You can make any daily activity into a language activity. ]]> 2020-03-25 17:14:26 UTC https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n/wish/475036299 sylviamendoza https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n/wish/475060587 The best time to learn a word is in the moment the word is meaningful. I'm going to present 2 ways. 

1. Here are some examples:
You can put 2 items each very different from each other.
You can use common house hold items. Begin with 2 itmes
You could put a spoon and a ball.
State, show me the ball. If no response, hold the ball out let your child play with it. Take it back, have them show you again. Put it with a different item and repeat it. When they have identified the ball when paired with 5 different items, put out 3 items and have them identify again.  ( Provide several attempts at this task and then give them a break). Have them identify items that they use on a daily basis.

2. Use a highly preferred item and a non preferred item. Have them identify the preferred item when paired with 2 items. When they  have done this 5 times, then pair it with something else. 
The goal here is to increase object identification.  


]]> 2020-03-25 17:25:25 UTC https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n/wish/475060587 sylviamendoza https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n/wish/475075624 Get down on the floor and engage with you with child as they play. Use balls, animals, toys without batteries (toys that they have to move on their own) play can be 5-10  minutes and gradually extend the time. 
Ways to play:  Follow their lead. If they are running around the toys and they look happy. Comment on their state, ---is happy.  Big smile. Comment on what they are doing. Your running, Your running fast. Your stopping. Your looking at the toys. OH, you going to play .
1.  Stay in the moment with your child
2. Comment on what they are doing. (They may not provide any conversation/interaction) 3. 3.  Imitate/mirror what you child is doing. 
4.  If they have a toy animal and they are lining it up. Make that animal noise. Add to that movement, ( bark, walk, sit, rool over). 
5. The focus is playing next to each other, working towards playing together. 
Toys to play with could be: play phones,  trucks, cars, planes, music makers, dolls ( with clothes, food, diapers), play farm, play zoo, play car wash, blocks, stacking items. 
Talk about what you are doing. (My red car is going slow, now  my red car is going fast.) vs asking, What's that? What is your car doing?)

Play where is the ----? Let your child see you hide the toy, then search for it together. Walking around asking" Is it behind the door? Is it under the chair? Have fun be very animated. An older sibling can do this as well. 


Playing with what ever they find interesting:
A box, you can narrate open, lid is up in the air. Now you closed it. Wow, you opened again. You put the banana in the box? Banana, where is the banana?
Pots and Pans, making noise. You can bang as well, have them listen, play together
Bouncing a ball, hitting it against a wall. 
Putting together puzzles. My turn, your turn. Put this here. Oh, oh it doesn't fit. It goes here. Let's try.
Blocks: you can talk about the color,. You can match all the blue blocks together, put the red ones. You can count the block.  Don't stress about doing it right or wrong just talk. 
Match common things around the house: sock, towels ( anything that comes in pairs plus). 
Pretend to cook, have a party, feed the baby, feed the stuffed animals. 


]]> 2020-03-25 17:32:39 UTC https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n/wish/475075624 sylviamendoza https://padlet.com/sylviamendoza/niut18fpm87n/wish/475088338 Last week I posted some fun ideas and activities you could do at home.  This week I'm going to further explore song.
I use music, books, play in every session.  
Here are some song ideas if you are getting in a rut.
Old Favorites:
Twinkle Twinkle little star
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Wheels on the Bus
Bingo
Row Row Your Boat
Old Mc Donald
Down by the bay
Down in the jungle
Going on a Bear Hunt
Baby Bumble Bee
Farmer in the dell 

Body Part songs: 
Head shoulders knees and toes
Hokey Pokey 
1 Little Finger
Do your ears hang low?
Where is thumbkin?
This is the way we wash our...
 Counting Songs:
5 green speckled frongs
5 little ducks
5 little monkeys
The ants go marching.

Other fun songs: 
Pete the Cat
There was an old lady that swallowed a fly
What are you wearing
Shake your sillies out
Do you Like Lasagna Milk Shakes ( and the other do you like food songs). 
10 in the bed (super simple- you can talk about the animals that pop in the windows).

Other sites that also have good songs for speech are: The Singing Walrus ( Wash your hands song)
Sesame Street ( m for mouth, dee, dee, are some examples)
Laurie Berkner on You-Tube
( The Bumble Bee, The Goldfish)
Disney Songs such as: Bipity
Boppety  Boo, Under the Sea,
The Jungle Book.
Music Therapy Tunes: Monkey Song 
Jack Hartman

This is how we present song,
We either face each other so we can dance, and do the gestures together. We establish routine actions that we use each time. This allows for eye contact and engagement. I pause the song after a phrase and ask the child if they want more: What I look for is the following:  1.For those students that are non-verbal, (a tripod gaze) that is look at computer, me and then back at the computer. We then push the start button together and say push.  I am talking/singing and animated the entire time.
2. Pointing to item,  signing more and looking at item. Putting of lips together in imitation of more, physical guidance. 
There are times I do the following: use objects to select what we talk about, laminated pictures, pictures on my tablet or a quick draw on a piece of paper. I will draw 2 items, a bus/ a monkey, then I'll ask which one do you want to do, I wait for an eyegaze or a point, if not I'll begin to guide the hand toward a picture as see if they touch one.

When I do the songs without the music such as Wheels on the Bus, I present choices as well for a quick draw: a door/ baby and then ask then which one they want to sing about. I save my pictures. If you  have a copier you can also print up some pictures.  

When the music is playing we gesture, we dance, we do what the music suggest that we do. We sing,  make sounds, establish eye contact and interact. We says things such as: wow, oh, oh my, yeah,  
For those students that have more language I'll sing out or ask questions and have them  gesture, sing or say the answer .
( And let me tell you, I can't sing, but music is a means of stimulating both sides of the brain) 
For example: 5 little monkeys: Who called the doctor? 
Where were they jumping?
How many monkeys were jumping.
When there are 2 people one on each side or one in front to establish eye contact and engage and the one in back to help guide the hands for the gestures.

HAVE FUN-LANGUAGE IS ABOUT INTERACTING AND CONNECTING TO EACH OTHER BOTH VERBALLY AND NON VERBALLY

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