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Share Your Story With Stones

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Stones. Rocks. Pebbles. Boulders.

I love them. I don’t know why but I do. And I always have.

I love to see kids proudly tuck them in pockets. It reminds me of my “lucky hopscotch rock” I kept for months in my pocket.

I love to create and craft with them. I especially love to paint on them (a favorite I used to do with my mom and later with my kids).

But one of my favorite’s is to create story stones.

Using (free) rocks and a simple black marker, you can create a variety of children’s favorite objects or people and let them line them up and then create a story based on the order they created.

I recently did this with my cousin’s son. He is just 3 years old but is creative, articulate, and thoughtful and was pretty fascinated by the “game.” He made me tell about 10 different stories based on the various arrangements of rocks he laid down. When I asked him to take a turn, he wasn’t quite ready, but a short while later, I found him creating his own story with his special rocks for his Papap (who just woke up and wasn’t sure what was going on!).

I love story stones because they are simple, cheap, build vocabulary, help focus attention to task, and are fun! As a child gets older or understands the process of the “game,” stones can easily be added to develop more complex plots and details. And you can search for the perfect stones on walks and hikes! This is a great activity to introduce around 15 months but may be especially meaningful as a child’s vocabulary increases rapidly between 2-3 years old.

 

This story went something like…..

Once Thomas the Train had a best friend, a little boy named Gabriel. Gabriel loved trucks and cars. He lived in a house with his mom and dad and baby brother and their dog named Ethan (he filled in this detail!).  One sunny day Gabriel and Ethan went on a walk and chased birds at the park.

Simple. Easy. Fun. and a purposeful way to play.

Try exploring new mileSTONES today with story stones — and send us your pictures. We’d love to hear from your little authors!

For more ideas of pairing milestones with with purposeful play, grab your copy of 1-2-3 Just Play With Me today! (As always FREE Shipping in the US).

 

Why Moo, Baa and La La La Matter (and crash, boom and bam too!)

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I commonly ask the following question when I enter a home for a new evaluation: “What animal sounds does Johnny make?” Or I might ask, “Does he make any car noises or crashing sounds?” Although I know why I ask those types of questions I recently put myself in the parents’ shoes. The parent who most likely doesn’t have a background in speech and language development and might wonder why on earth it matters if Johnny can say “moo” or “vroom”. After all, our goal is real words here, so what purpose does moo or baa (or la la la) have to do with his ability to talk?

 

Environmental sounds, as they are called in the child development world, matter. They are the first sounds that most children produce, long before true words. They are easier to say and offer children the opportunity for practice in producing sounds and combining them into syllables. Environmental sounds (animal sounds, car noises, crashing noises, etc.) are also how little ones let us know early on that they understand associations between objects/animals and the sounds they make. Also, environmental sounds are repetitive which make them easier for little ones to say. “Moo moo”, “neigh neigh”, “baa baa” are all single syllable, repetitive sounds.  Environmental sounds can be learned and practiced through PLAY; you model the sound for the child and they imitate it. Environmental sounds can also be learned and practiced through books.

 

Sometimes I work with kids who make no or very few environmental sounds. Because production of environmental sounds typically precludes word production I make the following suggestions to the family to encourage development of this skill:

 

  1. Work on the skill of imitation. Your child may not be quite ready for verbal imitation so work on imitating gestures instead. For example, if your child doesn’t imiate the “yuck” sound, stick out your tongue while you say it and they may stick their tongue out too. These gestures associated with sounds will bring about the verbal production sooner!
  2. Expose your child to a new experience related to environmental sounds. When a child can visit the cow on the farm or the lion at the zoo it allows them to make the connection between sound and animal more real and the boost in their receptive language results in more verbal expression. Or visit the construction site to hear the loud trucks and diggers, or take a walk outside and listen to the birds.
  3. Read books that have sounds in them that the child can imitate. When you read be silly, exaggerate the sounds, vary your pitch and volume to grab the child’s attention and make them feel more comfortable in attempting to imitate you.
  4. Reward your child’s attempts of saying any and all sounds. Praise, celebrate and recognize their attempts to make car, animal, and all environmental sounds. When they know they were heard and understood, kids feel more empowered to attempt more communication.

 

As I mentioned before, PLAY affords a child the best opportunity to learn what sounds animals, cars and other toys make. But books can also be an important tool in learning early communication skills. Here are some of my favorites for teaching imitative sounds:

 

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So now you know why those silly sounds are SO important.  Fun to say, even more fun to imitate, environmental sounds play a part in your child’s communication development!  Now that you know, you must feel empowered,  so go “moo, baa and la la la” with confidence! 🙂

 

 

 

Why Every Toddler’s a Genius!

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It’s like magic…all of a sudden something clicks inside their little minds and they are the smartest baby you know!  Almost overnight these adorable, chubby cheeked, gap-toothed angels are able to demonstrate they understand what you are saying by following a simple direction, answering a yes/no question or imitating your gestures.  They show you they understand associations and daily happenings by going to the bathroom when you say they need a bath or going to the back door when you say it’s time for daddy (or mommy) to get home from work.  And every (proud) parent begins to wonder if they are raising a toddler genius!

My third child is 15 months old and the other day I caught myself bragging to Nicole about how smart she is.  Lately she goes to the closet to get her shoes when she hears me say we are leaving and she answers yes/no questions pretty accurately.  But as I heard my proud parent boasting, I remembered I thought her brother and sister were “sooooo smart” at this age too!!!  So why was that?  I mean, I do believe my kids are smart, but no smarter than any one else’s children, especially at the tender age of 15 months.  And I can’t count how many times I have heard a parent bragging on the early emerging genius they call their toddler.  So why is it that we ALL think we are raising little Einsteins at this age???  What’s the explanation behind it?

The foundation or building block of communication is receptive language, or a child’s ability to understand spoken language.  Their whole (little) lives they have been absorbing every thing you say, every word on each page you read and observing your actions as you navigate their daily routines.  These multi-sensory experiences (seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and sometimes tasting) coupled with the repetition of your words and actions help them to understand what words mean.  Also when you speak to them and accompany your words with gestures (like pointing to what you want them to get or nodding your head yes and no), you increase their comprehension.  After many months of your tireless effort to keep their routines consistent and provide them with stimulation, all while keeping them happy and entertained, you are rewarded!  You finally realize the fruits of your labor!!!  They are now mobile enough to act upon what you have been teaching them for the past 12-18 months!  So relish in this stage, be PROUD of the tiny genius you have created!  And go ahead and brag…you deserve the accolades for raising baby Einstein!

If you would like to understand more about child development and get tips on how to help your child grow and develop during the toddler years check out 1-2-3 Just Play With Me.  It is jam packed with purposeful play ideas to engage your child and help you appreciate the magic of development during the first 3 years of your baby’s life.  Embrace the tiny miracle of your child!  Hug and kiss your baby(s) today 🙂