The world is our playground! Play is critical to language development and presents children with an extraordinary amount of learning opportunities.
Not only does play allow children to navigate and interact with their environment, but it also provides opportunities for engagement in social interactions and development of problem solving skills. A child learns best when they are immersed in an environment where they can be curious and creative. Whether your child loves the swings, the slides, or just digging in the dirt, there are so many opportunities to target speech and language skills at the park!
Check out some ideas below…
Prepositions
Up/Down as they are swinging
Top/Bottom in relation to their location on the slide
Over/Under if they traverse over a bridge
In/Out if there is a sandbox or defined fence area
Counting
Hide and Seek, “1, 2, 3” before going down the slide or on the swings
Labeling/Describing
Name items outside (both in nature and at the park itself) while describing color, shape, and texture of playground equipment or items they find
Pragmatics
Engage in conversation/play with children of all ages to navigate social relationships
Early Literacy
Play “I Spy” and have the child search for objects that start with a specific sound and/or letter in the alphabet
Write letters on sticky notes and have a letter scavenger hunt
Parks in Northern Virginia
Arlington
Lubber Run Park
Benjamin Banneker Park
Alexandria
Windmill Hill Park
Fort Ward Park
Springfield
Kings Park
Brookfield Park
Fairfax
Carney Park
Poplar Tree Park
Parks in Main Line Philadelphia
Rosemont
Ashbridge Memorial Park
Haverford
Haverford Freedom Playground
Bryn Mawr
Bishop Richard Allen Park
Contact us for a free phone consultation:
Northern Virginia: info@owlstherapy.com
(703) 470-6957
Philadelphia’s Main Line: philadelphia@owlstherapy.com
(610) 579-0914
About the Author
Janene Besch
Director/Speech-Language Pathologist
Janene Besch, née Martin, holds a Master's degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego. Janene is a member of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology
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Welcome back to our last post in the series “Milestones: Navigating the Numbers”! This series was inspired by the updated American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) Developmental Milestones. Read more on the expected speech, language, social-pragmatic, and feeding milestones expected by age 1, age 2, age 3 and age 4.