EXPLORE SPEECH & LANGUAGE AT....
Dig and Draw Day
Saturday, June 6th from 9-11am at Ellsworth Park in Downtown Silver Spring
Practice speech and language skills while spending quality time outside at
TALKING
EXPLORE: Sensory Adjectives
ENRICH: Expressive Vocabulary
ENGAGE: Using the sense of touch to describe
PARENT PROMPT:
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While getting your hands messy planting the butterfly garden, talk with your child about using his/her sense of touch to describe what things feel like, such as temperature words, texture words, and descriptors of the level of softness. Have your child use touch to describe:
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The dirt (e.g. wet, squishy)
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The shovel (e.g. hard, cold)
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The leaves of the plant (e.g. soft, smooth)
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EXPLORE: Following Directions
ENRICH: Audiory Comprehension
ENGAGE: The ability to follow directions to draw a picture
PARENT PROMPT:
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Play the "Draw My Picture" game with the sidewalk chalk: sit with your back to your child and draw a picture using simple shapes and lines. Then, give your child directions on how to draw a copy of your picture.
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For example, if you drew a house, you could say, "Draw a big pink square in the middle of your paper. Draw a blue triangle on top of the square. Draw a tall orange rectangle inside the square, touching the bottom edge."
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See if your child can:
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Use the right color
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Draw shapes the correct size
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Put shapes in the correct place in the picture
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LISTENING
EXPLORE: Stop Consonant Sounds
ENRICH: Articulation of Individual Sounds for Clear Communication
ENGAGE: Production of the /d/ sound
PARENT PROMPT:
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In keeping with the theme of the day - Dig and Draw - make today all about the letter /d/. Talk to your child about how /d/ is a short sound that you make by tapping your tongue to the roof of your mouth right behind your front teeth. Then, make a list of words that have the /d/ sound in them. Can your child identify which words have the /d/ sound in the:
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Beginning of the word (e.g. Dig, Draw)
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Middle of the word (e.g. siDewalk, garDen)
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End of the word (e.g. buD, weeD)
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WORD PLAY
EXPLORE: Polite Requests
ENRICH: Pragmatic Language
ENGAGE: The ability to ask a peer for something
PARENT PROMPT:
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While planting the butterfly garden, have your child work on asking a peer for a turn with a garden tool. Practice a script that your child can use if needed, such as "Excuse me, can I please use the ____ when you're done with it?" Remind your child to:
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Initiate the conversation politely
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Use a complete sentence
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Maintain good eye contact
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