2015-2016

    Holiday Season

 

The holidays are approaching! Are you looking for fun and educational gifts for your children? Speech Explorers has some great resources for you!

 

Gift Suggestions

 

This year when choosing gifts for your child, choose carefully! Want to facilitate communication and play with your child? The best gifts to get, believe it or not, do not involve batteries and talking dolls. Instead, Northwestern experts believe, the best toys for children depend on the learning stage they're in. Below are some gift ideas that can be easily bought at a local toy store such as, Barston's Child Play. 

 

BOARD GAMES

For older kids (ages 7-10), board games are a good choice because they promote turn-taking, following-directions, and literacy skills. Games like Battleship, Hop To It, Monopoly, and even Bananagrams are great choices. Our Board Games Quest will give you ideas about using these games to boost talking, listening, reading, and social skills at home.

 

IMAGINATIVE PLAY

For younger kids (ages 2-6), imaginative play items like puppets, dress-up clothes, play kitchens, farm/zoo sets and Sticker Scenes, are great ideas for this age group. Imaginative play encourages abstract thinking, problem solving, communication skills, and social skills development.

 

Want more information on toys and games that encourage communication, listening, and social skills? Follow our Daily Facebook Postings from 12/20-12/25 with our Game of the Day!

Also, learn more about great games that encourage speech and language skills by checking out these blogs by SLP Sherry Artemenko, Learning4Kids.