How to teach your toddler to imitate you

When children are learning language, they learn by copying YOU. Children are typically able to copy really simple actions like clapping their hands by the time they are a year old. By the time a child is 2, he or she should be able to copy what you are doing while you play, like pushing a toy car behind you or popping bubbles with you. If your child is already waving bye-bye or using hand gestures when you sing, then he or she is already imitating you!

When a child isn’t imitating your actions very well, there are some things that we can work on to help them improve.  I’m going to teach you 3 different ways to help your child learn to imitate you.

1. I like to begin by first copying what the child is doing. If the child is banging his hands on the floor, I will get down on the floor and do the same thing. The important part here is that after I copy the action, I wait and look at the child. When he does the action again, so do I. You can repeat this activity with almost anything your child does throughout the day. You do not have to do this activity for very long, a few turns of back and forth action several times throughout the day will be very helpful!

2. Before beginning this step, I always try to make sure that the child is in a good mood, so that he or she is more willing to interact. I like to have the child in a high chair or toddler desk so that they’re secure and I’m able to be eye level with them.

In this method, I teach the child to imitate clapping their hands, or banging their hands on the table. Here’s how I do it:

I begin by saying the child’s name with a big smile on may face, then I say the action we’re going to be doing, in this case “CLAP”. While I say “CLAP”, I clap my own hands. Then I repeat the child’s name, say “clap”, and gently use my hands to help the child clap too. Once this short routine is complete, have a big party! I reward the child with hugs, say, “you did it!”, or give the child a goldfish cracker.  I continue this routine several more times as long as the child is tolerating the game. I like to aim for 10, but if the child is getting fussy we move on and come back to it later.

This little technique is pretty quick, so instead of trying to do it ten times all at once, you could do it 2-3 times in a row and repeat it throughout the day instead. The idea here is for the child to enjoy the game as well as face to face time. I try not to focus so much on pushing the child to imitate, if he or she is having fun, the imitation start happening naturally.

3. I’m going to share one more tip with you to help your child imitate. This is one of my all-time favorite games and it’s great for getting a child’s attention! The game that I LOVE to play is the “Achoo” game. The one where you place an object on your head and then pretend to sneeze so hard that it falls off… remember that one? It’s perfect for working on grabbing your child’s attention and making them laugh. We like to get really silly with this in therapy. You can place just about any soft toy on your head and very dramatically say, “ah, ah, ah, CHOO!” while you let the toy fall forward off of your head. If your child is really interested in watching you, after a few times you can place the toy on his or her head and say “ah, ah, ah…” Wait to see if your child attempts to make the toy fall off. If he or she doesn’t, you can always help by knocking the toy off for them on the “CHOO”. This game is usually filled with lots of laughter. You can add another element to this game by playing with stuffed animals. When the animal falls down, they get a big “uh-oh!” and a kiss from you. Then, you can hold the animal out to your child and say, “give it a kiss!” You can then lightly touch the animal to your child’s face to help them give the kiss.

With all of these techniques, the expectation is that your child will start to imitate you without you having to help them. It’s important to focus on only 1 or 2 of the tips and practice them frequently throughout each day. At first, some children only participate for under one minute. That’s okay! It’s best to only work on these skills while your child is enjoying it. It shouldn’t feel like a huge task that you have to sit down and force your child to work on when they’re not interested. Keeping it short and fun is key! 

Teaching Concepts - Rough/Smooth Sensory Box

There's a system that I use when teaching concepts. I usually want a child to master each level of the system before moving on, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Here's the system that I use when I'm teaching "rough/smooth" with my sensory box from the previous post:

1. When teaching concepts, I find that it is best to start by choosing one concept. When using the box, I usually teach "rough" first because it seems to be an easier texture to identify than "smooth". Just my opinion.

2. I begin by choosing one item and pairing it with a picture symbol for "rough". I show the item to the child and begin describe the texture aloud as I use my hands to dramatically feel the "roughness" of the item. "Feel the rock. It's so ROUGH. It's a rock. It's very rough." My words are simple and direct.

3a. Next, I take the child's hand and move it gently over the object so that they can feel the word "rough". I continue this for each "rough" item that I have.

3b. At this point, the child may begin using the word "rough" to describe the items while you help them to explore. If they are, great! Move on. If they're not using the word yet, I hold up each item and say "Here's a ____. It feels ___." pausing to let the child fill in the blank. It may also be a good idea to pair this part of the activity with sentence strips (this also supports literacy- bonus!). I haven't done this yet because most of my kids pick up on the concept very quickly.

I consider steps 1-3 to be mastered when the child can pick up an item from the box and tell me that it feels rough. This may take one session, it sometimes takes more.

4. Next, we explore our environment searing for textures that feel rough. This one is so much fun! The kids love leaving the therapy room to explore! Once we've explored our space, I've got a pretty solid idea of how well the concept has generalized from the box to "real life". Parents usually tell me by now that their children have been using the new word at home.

5. It's now time to repeat steps 1-4 to teach the concept "smooth".

After we've learned "rough" and "smooth" as separate concepts, I present them as opposites. This step is soo important, especially for our children with Autism! It can be simple to learn one descriptor at a time. When choosing between 2 descriptors, things can be pretty difficult. I think it has a lot to do with each child's language flexibility and word finding skills.

6. I combine all of the items together and randomly choose one. I may say, "I have an egg. It feels (or it's texture) is very ____". I let the child select the next item. I say, "You have a stone. It feels ___". The key is to make sure that both smooth and rough items are being chosen at random. This step can be tricky for so many! Here are more tips for when it gets tricky:

-Continue to combine each item with it's "texture" picture symbol.
-Present a rough item and THEN a smooth item each time.
-Model each time using the word "but".  Ex. "The rock is rough BUT the egg is smooth."
-Make sentence strips for each item.
-Have the child sort each item into categories of "rough" and "smooth"


That's it! I hope to be making more sensory concept boxes in the future... Maybe...
-sweet/sour
-fast/slow
-heavy/light

Comment below with any ideas that you can think of or would like to try!

Kayla Fontenot M.S. CCC-SLP

Concepts - Rough/Smooth Box

Many children benefit from learning by physical touch - we call this tactile learning. By giving our lessons the extra dimension of touch, we help our children to really solidify new concepts.

I created a sensory box to teach the concepts "rough" and "smooth" and I want to share with you how EASY and fun it was to put together.

Here's the box.....

I picked up the box and all of the items in it from the DollarTree. The total cost was around $12. I didn't know exactly what I would find when I first got started.  I basically just walked up and down each aisle at DollarTree touching every single thing that looked like it might work. Here's what I ended up with:

-"velcro" style hair rollers
-smooth hair rollers
-glass pebbles
-sand paper
-hair brush
-compact mirror (my friends with Autism especially love this one)
-styrofoam balls
-shower sponge
-pot scrubber
-shells
-lint brush
-a very VERY dull cheese grater (Don't worry... I actually tried to see if it would scratch me.. it wasn't sharp enough. True dollar store quality, folks. I only use these items 1 on 1 with clients so the activity is already highly supervised.)

I also added my own piece of poster board, another piece of poster board with pebbles glued on, and a plastic comb. Voila! That's the box.

 I'm going to share with you how I use this box to teach concepts. Don't miss my next post!

Kayla Fontenot, M.S. CCC-SLP

Visual Schedules - Choiceworks app

Let me just start with this- visual schedules are AWESOME! They ease transitions, increase productivity, and increase a child’s feelings of security. But…visual schedules require countless hours to make, and the more time they take to make, the less likely I am to use one.  I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way, right? Well.. I’ve got good news.

I HAVE FOUND A SOLUTION!  It's an app! It's called ...

 Choiceworks.

I've been using Choiceworks for over a year now and it is pure awesomeness. This app allows me to set up visual schedules for my kids in under 2 minutes from start to finish!  Because this system is so quick and easy to set up, it’s enabled me to use it on a consistent basis, and many of us already realize that kids rely on consistency.  The ease of set up is the most important aspect, but I’m going to break down some features that makes this app pure gold. 

1. It saves money (bye- bye, laminated pages and printer ink)
2. It comes with a library of picture symbols BUT you can add your own pictures the exact moment you need them. (No prep time required, no thinking ahead of what you MIGHT need to use)
3. It has built in timers for each activity that you may choose to use. Only want to offer a reward for 30 seconds? 1 minute? Let the app control be in control – a kid can’t really negotiate with an app ;) )
4. You can create and save schedules for multiple users (no need to re-create the wheel with each use)
5. IT WORKS

I've used this app in homes, private practice, and schools…with individuals and in groups. It’s versatile unbelievably versatile.

Choiceworks has done wonders for my therapy sessions and parents have raved about the success they’ve had using it at home. I’ve noticed an increase in my client’s ability to focus during activities that may not be so fun…and increased focus means that we are going to complete the activity faster which gives us more time to get to the good stuff. Choiceworks is a WIN! 

Kayla Fontenot, M.S. CCC-SLP

Building Language with Books

       

Children LOVE storybooks. I hear parents say things all the time like, “We read to our child every night”, "She loves books!", and “My son loves reading”. We've all heard how important it is to read to our children. For children with language delay, sometimes being read to just isn't enough. 

When I use storybooks with my language delayed kiddos, there are certain techniques that I use that have been proven to be help improve a child's language. With these techniques we're able to work on improving 

• the understanding of concepts like "in", "off", "hot", "cold"
• comprehension
• vocabulary
• sentence structure
• grammar  
• and vocabulary!

 Many therapists refer this technique as "scaffolding". I personally enjoy using it with my preschoolers but it works for all ages. 

What is scaffolding?

Let me give you an analogy. In construction work, scaffolding wraps around the outside of a building to give it temporary support. Language scaffolding involves an adult building onto a child's language as a way to guide them into using longer sentences with a bigger vocabulary. 

Where do I begin? 

You begin by choosing a storybook.You can scaffold with just about any picture book. I recommend choosing a story that your child already knows and has clear, interesting pictures on each page. If you're looking for book suggestions, books written as a collection or a series are fantastic. I think I probably own the entire Clifford series! You could also go with stories featuring a character that your child likes. (Dora the Explorer, anyone?) "Clifford" and most "Dora" books are great because they have a beginning, middle, and end. 

Once you or your child has picked out a book, you're ready to begin! I like to start by drawing attention to the cover picture by pointing and saying, "Look..." That's it. Just "Look", or maybe "Look! there's ...". The goal is to lead the child into talking about or pointing to the picture on their own. Once your child starts talking about the book (or pointing to it), it's time to scaffold.

The next step is to interpret what you child meant when they pointed to a picture or made a comment because you're going to respond to them in 1 of 3 ways... 

Notice that scaffolding does not mean that we are asking tons of questions while we read. It’s important to ask questions sometimes, but simply asking questions does not build language. You should be asking your child questions in order to gauge their understanding. 

The 3 words to remember when building language are…. 
PAUSE
EXPAND
MODEL

Clear as mud? Here are a few examples to show you what scaffolding looks like.

Child: meow
Adult: the cat meowed and said I’m going to…
Child: eat that cupcake

Adult: The boy said…
Child: Let’s go
Adult: to the…
Child: toy store.

Adult: The girl wants to give the cat...
Child: *points*
Adult: a…
Child: cupcake
Adults: because the cat ….
Child: is hungry.
Adult: The cat is hungry.

You Can Do This!

Scaffolding is easy once you’ve practiced a few times. You may want to choose a book and practice by yourself a few times. Anticipate what you think your child may comment on and what your response will sound like. Practice a few times with your child. I encourage you to use the same storybook for this activity more than once. Your scaffolding will improve, and your child will have the opportunity to build on they already know!

That's it! Just remember: PAUSE, EXPAND, MODEL 

Oh, and HAVE FUN!!!


Kayla Fontenot, M.S. CCC-SLP