Play IS Therapy!

Early Intervention and Playing: It's Effective!

I spend a lot of my therapy days simply playing.. playing games with my younger students that are filled with language enriched concepts. There are so many missed opportunities to encourage expressive and receptive language skills when we do not play with our children.  Some of my student's favorites throughout the years have been the following:

Hedbanz is a game I can pull out with any age student, Kindergarten-Fifth grade. It is a game that enhances vocabulary skills, category skills, and how to ask questions appropriately. Kids always struggle with this concept at first, but to see their faces light up when they learn how to figure out their card is wonderful! It broadens their mind to stop thinking and processing so narrow mindedly.

For Example: A student has the card "bird" on their forehead.The student must ask deeper questions; such as, "Am I a water animal?" "Am I a zoo animal?", "Am I a farm animal?". Even those simple questions require a lot of knowledge to know what animals go in what category.

 Pengoloo is a simple color matching game that reinforces memory skills, same/different concepts, turn taking, and vocabulary. Kids love hiding the eggs under the penguins.

Diggity Dog- is another favorite for preschool and Kindergarteners. These precious dogs are on a mission to find their bones that match their color doghouse. The papa dog barks either one, two or three times and the kids love hearing that. The barks indicate how many spaces the dog moves around the board. The bones are magnetic and easy to retrieve. This game is great for learning colors, following directions, basic concepts (left/right) when moving around the board, turn taking and expanding vocabulary.

Take the time to PLAY with your child!

The more experiences they have, the more knowledge they store in their brains....