Matching and Posting Letters Game

 

This is a super simple game you can make up yourself using items you must likely already have that your children will LOVE!

 

Children love role playing and posting things and this game combines the two with a whole bunch of learning opportunities your child won't even notice because they are having too much FUN!

 

SUITABLE AGES

2-6 years 

YOU WILL NEED

• some envelopes
• some coloured card
• some images you have two of. I simply printing some off from the computer but you could use stickers or images from magazines. I specifically choose images or words that had our target sounds. For more advanced matching you could try mother and baby animals or similar items that are not identical like two boats, two cars, two buses etc.
• Glue and Scissors
• Laminator *optional but will make your game more durable

 

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE OUTCOMES

 

• Use pictures that will allow your child to practice target sounds.
• Introduce new vocabulary
• Joint Attention
• Concentration
• Turn taking
• Power Words: Same, In, Push, I did it

Other Learning

• Identifying same and different and being able to picture match.
• Role play writing, mark making for a purpose.
• Introduction to the postal service.
• Fine motor skills and using two hands together to complete a task.



HOW TO MAKE

1. To make this game cut out all your images.
2. Glue one of each pair onto an envelope where the stamp would go and the other onto a piece of card for the letter. Do this for all your images. I made six letters and envelopes for matching.
3. I then added text to the letters and envelopes by adding addressing and letter introduction.
4. Laminating the letters serves two purposes, a) it makes them more durable and easier to insert into the envelopes and b) means we can write on them with non permanent markers adding extra element to the game if you so wish.
5. Create a box for posting. We just used an old shoe box which my children have posted red. We use this box a lot for posting each other special messages and drawings. It's our family post box but it worked perfectly for this game.

 

HOW TO PLAY

I am going to let the pictures do the talking here.

 

This is a one on one game I created with a set focus however you could play with two children taking turns. I set out all the letters and presented Hman with one envelope at a time and asked him to "find the same". 

 

 

He selected the matching letter and we'd put the letter next to the envelope to see if it was a match, 'the same'.

 

 

Hman can't yet say 'same' but he can sign it!!

He can also sign different and enjoyed this aspect of the game.

 

 

Once he had established that he had found a matching letter for the envelope he slid the letter inside the envelope. This is quite a tricky task and perfect for practicing using those two hands together.

 

If you were wanting too you could get your child to write or draw on the letter before 'posting' it.

 Then to finish off the most exciting bit. The bit they all look forward to!! They can post the letter.

 

After doing this for all six letters, Hman had well and truly satisfied my expectations on his concentration and he was done. He did come back later in the day however, and open up the post box and pull all the letters out.

 

 

To Extend on This

 

If your child still was eager to participate or even at a later time you could then deliver the letters to soft toys that match the pictures. I know Hman would enjoy doing this and on another day I will do this with him.

 

Picture Books on Posting Letters

 

Click, Clack Moo: Cows That Type

 

The Jolly Postman

 

Dear Fairy Godmother

 

Dear Mother Goose

Other links you may also like

Sticker Matching

 

Wishing you all the power of communication

 

Enjoy

 

Katey

 

If you enjoyed this post please feel free to leave a comment and share with those you know will love it too!

 

 

 

 

 

Learning and using names of familiar people with fun & simple homemade toys!

 

 

 

Young children love seeing photos of themselves and other people they know. There is so much opportunity for using and developing language by looking at family photos, pointing out who is who and talking about them with your children.

 

This idea is a fun and interactive alternative or extension to the 'people I know' photo flip books families often create for their children. I do love those photo flip books however, these simple to make toys offer a whole new dimension to the learning and language opportunities.  

Suitable For

Roughly 12months through to 8years, although most effective for 3yrs plus.

Suitable for children with language delay, a motor speech disorder or typically developing children

Speech and Language Focus

1. 12months-2yrs: Identifying familiar people and learns the names of these people.                 May not be able to verbalise the names but can point to 'mum'.                                             May respond with a smile or nod or a shake of the head when shown a familiar person toy and asked is this 'Dad?'. Single words may appear.
2. 17months-2.5yrs: Matching a spoken name to a picture of that person.                           Attempts to verbalise and name familiar people through a variety of play.                           Child begins to combine 2 actions in play and two word combinations may appear. Child represents real life situations through play, such as bedtime routine.                                        
3. 2.5yrs + Role play interactions and conversations between these familiar people, practicing conversational skills such as turn taking, making requests, asking questions and answering questions. Able to respond to who, what, when and where questions.
4. 3yrs + Emergence of storytelling skills. Will act out simple familiar events with the toys.
5. 3.5yrs + Children use language, gesture and imagination to create scenes and invent scripts. Child acts as the author and director of the 'toy actors'.

Remember children's development varies greatly at this young age. It is common that they may progress through these skills at different rates.

At 34months Hman is working on two word combinations or 2 syllable words.

He can say Mum, but not mummy. He cannot yet say Dad or either of his siblings names. However, even though he is relatively non verbal due to his Apraxia he can act out a conversation and represents real life events through his play.  It appears, when I watch him play that he is creating stories or perhaps acting out things that have previously happened. I very much wish I could get inside his head as he has no voice for that internal dialogue and that breaks my heart. 

Other Learning

Social and Emotional- developing secure connections to key people in their life.

                                   - establishing routines and representing these through play.

You will need

All you need to make these is some photos of people who your child associates with regualarly. For example, people in their immediate family, Grandparents, Carers, Friends. You can easily print some off onto printer paper. If you can find photos or take a few with family members in interesting and varied poses the children really love them. I lamenated my photos for extra durability. I would highly recommend doing so if possible, especially as older babies and toddlers still like to explore with their mouths.
Once cut out and laminated I taped each figure to some old film canisters. If you don't have any of these you could use any small tub or block to hold them up.

Once cut out and laminated I taped each figure to some old film canisters. If you don't have any of these you could use any small tub or block to hold them up.

Ta Da!

How to Play

For younger children 12months- 3yrs

 

At this age the toys will more likely be used as chew toys or throw things unless direct adult interaction is provided. I would start by looking at them with your youngster and naming who they are. "look, there is Nana" model language for your child and include extra detail, such as "Nana is wearing glasses on her eyes, she is smiling, she must be happy" Other ideas include, "where is Daddy? pause oh, there he is, pause, what is Daddy doing? pause he is running!" and "I can see cat, cat is hungry. What does she say? pause (wait for an attempt) that's right she says meow!" "Where is cats ears, tail etc?"

As they get older you will be able to ask them to point to or grab certain toys "get Baby brother"

Once they have success with that you may be able to ask them to find people with certain characteristics, such as "who is wearing the hat? find the toy wearing the hat, who is it?"

Remember to also focus on 'joint attention' with your young toddler and make sure to make eye contact when asking questions, even if you don't expect a correct verbal response.

 

For older children 2.5yrs plus

 

There are so many ways. They should be able to play more independently, however if your child has a language delay or speech disorder playing together is still critically important so you are able to be a guide, a narrator and a model.

 

You could set up some invitations using various objects as props to perhaps stimulate play, such as;

 

Various Small Parts- here we took them outside on a beautiful sunny day

 

 

 

Blocks or Duplo -

 

 

Dollhouse - alternatively use a cardboard box to make a model doll house. This is brilliant for role playing routines such as bedtime. Daddy reads me a story then gives me a kiss and turns out the light. Then I go to sleep.

 

 

 

Other People Toys - Miss M likes to play with herself dressed as a Princess with her Princesses. She is able to use all her imagination and creativity and she comes up with the most elaborate stories.

 

 

Added Extras

Obviously real life interactions with familiar people are essential and these will happen in everyday situations.

 However, here are some games you could play with people in your immediate family, your children's friends or any willing familiar people.

 

1. Roll the ball - have everyone sit in a circle with legs stretched apart. The idea is to roll a ball to each other but first attempting the name of the person you are about to roll to. Play along to music for added fun.

 

2. Family hide and seek - my family like to play this in pairs with Miss M (Miss independent) on her own. I pair up with Hman or Bubba and my husband the other. One team counts while the others hide then goes on a hunt to find the rest of the family! "who shall we find?" "where is Daddy?" allows for lots of modelling and opportunity in a fun play based way. 

 

 

 

Click here to read another post I wrote exploring this idea

 

 

 

Wishing you all the Power of Communication

 

 

Katey



Knock Knock! A fun Language game for babies and toddlers

 

This little game just evolved from our play and it was so engaging and fun for both Bubba and Hman.

It was so engaging for them as it is repetitive and we all know how much children like repetition. Repetitive play is so important in building the pathways in the brain, skills need to be repeated in order to become automatic and with speech disorders such as Apraxia, creating those pathways can take a whole lot of repeating! With a catchy little song, that we made up,  and fun words it really inspired Hman to make many verbal attempts. During the game I was able to focus on many of our targets whilst also encouraging those attempts at speech. I'm sure this little game will be requested to play again.

Suitable For

All children, 6months - 4years of age.

 

Speech and language Focus

Words -    knock,    door,    open,    hello,   bye. (either watching you model them and hearing them, or attempting them) Depending on which toys you use either their names, eg. cat, teddy, dolly and what they say or the sounds they make. (knock was actually a good word for us as Hman has 'rock', although the front then back movement of the tongue is really advanced in knock we were started on a sound he could produce, we didn't get 'knock' but we did get 'ock' which I was extremely happy with. Any attempt is a huge success and deserves praise.

          

Joint Attention - making eye contact with you when making requests and interacting

 

Turn Taking - turn taking is an extremely important skill in the development of language as it is essential for conversations. Depending on the age of your children, they may be able to have some power over the turn taking by saying or signing 'my turn' 'your turn'.

Joining Two Words - If your child has some single words they may be ready to attempt two word combinations such as 'knock, knock' 'door open' 'hello ____'

 

Other learning

Social Skills - Greetings! acting out greetings. Turn Taking

 

What you will need

A door! Any door in your house will do. We just used the door to Bubba's bedroom but you could alter this game to use a cupboard or even a large box.

Some toys! Stuffed animals or teddies work well for this game. It's a good idea if your child has apraxia to pick some that have any of your focus sounds or that your child may be able to attempt to say and have some success at. Leave or alter any tricky ones. For example, we called the caterpillar 'Bug'...  'Big   Bug'! As  'b' is a focus sound and caterpillar is just too long complex for him to attempt just yet.

 

 



How to Play

This is how we played however it's good to follow your child's lead an play on their interest level.

 

1. First I choose one toy to 'hide' behind the door by quickly sneaking it their while Hman (pretended) to hide his eyes and Bubba sat waiting in anticipation. I shut the door

 

2. Then we knocked on the door and both boys LOVED this. We sang

knock, knock, knock. Knock on the door

knock, knock, knock. Who Is Hiding? 

 Using the sing song voice is excellent for little ones to pick up the rhythm of the words and join in.

 

3. Then I asked "who could it be, who is hiding?" Sometimes I would ask "do you think it is Bunny or Dog?" Making sure he is making eye contact with me when appropriate.

 

4. Then we'd open the door and oh wow, "who is it?" "it is Bunny"

 

5. I would model "hello Bunny" and encourage Hman to say Bunny. I changed this to just the 'b' sound as he couldn't get bunny and then I adjusted it to just getting his lips together giving him plenty opportunity to watch my lips and practice. Rewarding any attempt at this was very important in developing his confidence and his feelings of success. He just laps up any praise and gets so excited to know we think he is super clever. Remember to encourage and praise attempts.

 

6. Then we'd make Bunny hop and hop around with him and we made up different actions for each of the toys. After a minute or two when they had had enough we'd say "bye bye Bunny (dog, bug, frog etc)" and start over again. Our focus for Hman was on the 'bye bye' and Bubba enjoyed blowing kisses.

 

7. For the next round Hman picked a toy to hide behind the door. My focus was getting him to practice turn taking and understanding "my turn' and 'your turn'. The next go it was my turn to hide the toy again and so on. Bubba was just happy to be a part of it all!

 

 

This was just so much fun and great for both ages to participate in and I'm super sure you'll have lot's of laughs playing this one!

 

Wishing you all the power of communication!

 

Katey