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Supporting Language Development Through Play

Using bubbles, Play-Doh, Crayons and More To Develop Language

There are many different ways you can support language including with different games and toys. Our Outpatient Services team wanted to share these ideas with you.

Support Language with Bubbles

Materials: Bottle of bubbles with wand

1. Show your child the bottle of bubbles. Say or sign “open” and “bubbles.” Try to motivate your child to imitate your words.
2. Once you open the bubbles, dip the stick into the bubble juice and get ready to blow. Say “Ready, Set, Go!” After a few times of practice, pause before “go” and motivate your child to say “go!”
3. Blow bubbles. Say “wow” or “look” as they fall.
4. As the bubbles land on the floor say “pop!” or pop bubbles with your fingers and say “pop!”
5. Ask “more?” before you blow more bubbles and motivate your child to say or sign “more.”
6. Repeat steps 2-5

Support Language with Play-Doh

Materials: Play-Doh, Play-Doh cutting tools, cookie cutters

1. Show your child the tub of Play-Doh and name the color. If you have multiple color tubs of Play-Doh, name each color. Ask your child which color they want. Motivate them to request by signing or saying “more” or “please.”
2. Get the Play-Doh out, practice acting out/modeling rolling, pushing, smashing, cutting, pulling, etc. the Play-Doh.
3. Motivate your child to imitate your actions.
4. If you are using tools or cookie cutters, you can make different animals, objects, or people, and name each item you make.
5. To work on requesting, give your child a little bit of Play-Doh at a time to motivate them to say or sign “more.”
6. When using cookie cutters, you say and practice putting the cookie cutter on and off the Play-Doh.

Support Language with Crayons

Materials: Coloring books or printed-off coloring pages from the internet, crayons

1. Let your child look through the coloring book and choose what page they want to color.
2. Show your child the crayons and name each color as you take the crayons out. Motivate your child to name or identify the colors by asking “What color is that?” or asking, “Where is __?”
3. Hand your child one crayon at a time as they color. Motivate them to ask for “more” each time they want a new crayon. Model how you would like them to ask. If you are working on two-word phrases, have your child request certain color. For example, “more blue” or “blue please.”
4. As you color, identify and name the pictures you are coloring.

Support Language with a Ball

Materials: ball, table, box

1. Start by taking turns throwing, kicking, or rolling the ball back and forth. Observe how long your child is engaged in the routine.
2. See if your child can follow positional directions by having them put the ball on/off/under/over a table or in/out/in front of/behind a box.
3. If possible, try playing with three or more people. Have them follow directions of who to throw/roll/kick the ball to. For example, “Throw the ball to mommy!”, “Throw the ball to daddy!”
4. Try using different verbs: go, stop, throw, roll, kick, run.
5. See if your child can describe the ball. What color is it? What does it feel like? What can it do?