Andi Putt is a mommy, pediatric Speech Language Pathologist, and chocolate lover. She specializes in language development and autism, and has deep love for children with disabilities. Andi is passionate about teaching parents how to support speech and language development at home, and does this on her blog at www.mrsspeechiep.com. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram for quick tips to improve your child’s communication skills.
When many people think of supporting speech and language development, they automatically think: letters, colors, flashcards, or ipad apps. Ask any speech language pathologist, and they will tell you the best way to build communication skills is through play! Children learn when they are motivated and engaged, and there’s no better way to achieve this than to use open ended toys that can be used in a variety of ways. When parents use flashcards, electronics, or many battery operated toys, kids are often learning to memorize- when what we really want to see is learning and understanding language in a flexible, novel, and creative way.
This list is intended for children 1-5 or older children with significant language or intellectual disabilities. I would also encourage you to have at least one book that goes with each toy’s theme (you probably have some already at home!) to read and include in your play!
1) Toy Kitchen
Melissa and Doug have an awesome kitchen (pictured above), but there are tons of options out there! My son’s kitchen is from Ikea and is super cute! When playing with this, model the vocabulary for your child by describing what you -or your child- are doing. “Oh, I’m going to cook some eggs on the stove! Let’s put them on. Ouch!! That’s hot!”. This will expose your child to so many words, and will also encourage them to play creatively! Learn the words for the parts of the kitchen, and the food that you have. You can say things like, “I need some bread… Where did the bread go?”or “I really need a round fruit that’s orange, I wonder where that could be?”- to work on receptive language, but your child will think you are just playing! You can talk about categories while you cook: fruits, vegetables, grains, meat- and sort them. Prepositions – “put in”, “take out”, “put on”, “on the stove”, or “under the microwave”. Verbs- giving, opening, closing, cooking, frying, and waiting are good ones to practice. Adjectives- color, temperature, texture, size, and shape. Following directions- make a recipe and grocery list and “buy” the items with your child, and then follow the recipe to make something (This would also be fun to do in real life- go to the grocery story and make a meal together!). The opportunities are endless with kitchens and I love that there is so much you can target- you can use this to help children when they are first learning words and also when they are learning more difficult language concepts. For children who are not yet verbal, I would recommend starting with a routine that you do each day you play. You can say something like “I’m hungry, let’s eat. Oh, cookies! Put in! Take out! Eat! Yum yum yum!” When you are first modeling, emphasize the main words, and use exaggerated intonation. As your child begins to talk, increase the complexity of your language. Once you move on from your ‘go to routine’ use more language as well- even if your child isn’t saying many words.
2) Little People Sets
There are so many options, but the farm sets are always a big hit with both boys and girls! My son has this Little People Caring For Animals Farm and it is awesome- and affordable! You can learn the words for the parts of barn, as well as the the farmer and animals. Ask about and model animal sounds. This set does have an electronic component (we took the batteries out of ours), but it gives ideas for play: put the cow to sleep, brush the horse,etc. Model these actions for your child and give them words to describe what you are doing. “Let’s feed the cow, he’s so hungry, moooooo. Cow wants corn! nom nom nom, yummy!” With the bell you can say “Bell! Ding Ding! That’s loud! Stop, let’s be quiet, shhhhh… DING DING DING! Oh no it’s loud!” In the middle of this set, there’s a door you can put the animals in and then they come out at the bottom- “Put in, it came out!”, “open door”, “shut door”, “on the nest”, and “in the pin” are great phrases to use repeatedly in your play. Ask questions- “What is the cow doing?”, “Who is sitting in the nest?”, “Where is the corn?”, or just model the answers to the questions you ask “the cow is sleeping”, “the horse is in the nest. Wait, what?!?”, etc. You can move the animals around and work on prepositions (where is the chicken?). Other farm options are: this Melissa and Doug Wooden Farm Set, and if you need a smaller version, I like this one. Sing Old MacDonald, and use the animals to sing. Be creative in your play and encourage make believe: The farmer is riding on an invisible tractor or pretend a wolf is stealing eggs and the animals need to protect them.
3) Baby Doll Playset
I love using babies in play because most little kids love babies and it reinforces everyday language and word routines! This bath set doll is great! You could also buy different play sets to use with the same baby like this Melissa and Doug Bath, or this time to eat set. I bought this one for my son because it was a little more boyish, and we just use it with real items (like his crib, the bathtub, etc). For the bath set: reinforce vocabulary for the objects, “wash the baby”, “soap soap soap” or “scrub scrub scrub”, “put in”, and “brush hair” are good verbal routines. Ask “Where is baby?”, “What’s next?”, “Who is getting a bath?” For the food set: “feed the baby”, “yum yum”, “drink milk”, “oh no! We spilled!”, “more food”, “all done”, “baby hungry/thirsty”, “big bite”, and “bib on” are great phrases to repeat. Start by modeling the bath or dinner routine and see if your child will add too it. If your child plays, give them words to narrate their actions in play. You can do a whole nighttime routine- feed the baby, burp her, give her a bath, then get her ready for bed. You can pretend to change her diaper, rock her, read her a story, sing her a song, and then tuck her (or him!) into bed. Baby dolls are also great ways to work on body parts (wash hair, tickle feet), or learning words for clothes and getting dressed.
4) Legos or Blocks
Legos or blocks are ALWAYS a great toy. Foam or wood blocks are awesome and the large Legos are always a hit with the kids. Have your child ask for blocks/Legos, you can talk about colors and shapes too! Build a “tower”, “more blocks”, “blocks please”, go “up up up”, “bottom/top”, “put on”, “fall down”, “OH NO!”, “oops!”, “it’s okay”, and “try again!” are all a good vocabulary routine for this. Learn prepositions on, under, and next to with blocks. You can practice colors and following directions, “Give daddy the blue Lego”, “Put the green block on the yellow block”. You can practice simple turn taking by taking turns putting blocks on top of each other to build your tower and saying “my turn”, and “your turn”. You can build things to look like animals or vehicles or anything really- you can model by saying “Wow! This looks like a giraffe!” or if your child is able to speak, ask “What do you think this looks like?” If your child is non-speaking, you can model sign language or use picture support for words such as “open” or “help” to access these toys. I do lots of wait time and act confused and like I don’t know what they need-if I know they are able to ask for help!
5) Doctor Play Sets
I love this adorable vet set because it’s so cute but also it has a lot of items which increases noun and verb vocabulary for play. Words and phrases to model are “puppy in”, “dog out”, “open door”, “close door”, “brush hair”, “eat puppy”, “doggie hurt”, “owie”, “oh no!”, “give shot”, “ouch”, “it’s okay doggie”, “are you ok?”, “feel better!”, “listen”, and “cut”. Your child can learn a lot about going to the doctor and hopefully be more comfortable if they have been fearful in the past. This regular doctor set is also great and could be used for humans (your baby doll!) or stuffed animals. Body parts are a great language skill to target when working with doctor kits! “Head hurts”, “sick belly”, and “hurt finger” will help your child learn to communicate when they are hurt. Pretend you are the doctor and your child is the patient and vice versa. Or your child is the doctor and a stuffed animal or baby are hurt.