5 Indoor activities to develop speech and language skills

5 Indoor activities to develop speech and language skills

By Harriet Tillbrook

As we move into the cooler months and begin spending more time indoors, you might be looking for some new and fun ways to entertain your child whilst staying warm and dry at home. We’ve put together 5 fun activities that don’t require any fancy games, tools, or equipment that will help develop your child’s speech and language skills all from the comfort of your home. Playing with your child provides an abundance of opportunities to support the development of their speech and language skills. A study from Stanford University found that parents can boost their child’s language skills and vocabulary growth simply by engaging in frequent vocal interactions with their child. So why not make the most of being stuck inside by using language that supports the development of your child’s communication skills through the following indoor activities:

Baking

In part due to lockdown, getting into the kitchen with our little ones has become a popular indoor hobby and it provides the perfect opportunity to target a range of language skills. Get your child to be your sous chef and model a range of verbs as you bake something yummy together. Possible verbs might include - stir, mix, pour, spill, cut, chop, slice, break, melt, spread, roll, peel, whisk, etc! Whilst you bake, you can also model different nouns by labelling utensils and ingredients, or model adjectives by describing the way something feels, looks or tastes (e.g., hot, wet, dry, lumpy, delicious, etc).

The most important part of any recipe is making sure you follow the instructions step by step. Baking is therefore perfect for developing your child’s receptive language skills in a fun and functional way. Give your child simple, multi-step, or sequential instructions such as “pour the flour in the bowl” or “first add the butter, then add the sugar”. Baking also offers a great way to develop your child’s ‘re-tell’ skills by discussing and recalling the steps in the recipe. 

As you prepare the ingredients, develop your child’s phonological awareness by asking what sound they each begin with e.g., “what’s the first sound you hear in butter?”.

Baking with your child also provides a fantastic opportunity to develop their social communication skills. Develop their turn-taking skills as you take turns stirring the mixture or rolling the dough. Encourage your child to ask for help when they have difficulty cracking an egg or opening a jar. Once you’ve finished baking, enjoy eating your yummy treats while you practice your conversation skills together. 

Building a blanket fort

Building a blanket fort that doesn’t collapse within the first 30 seconds is never easy, and makes for a perfect rainy-day activity that helps to build your child’s planning and problem-solving skills. Ask your child questions such as “how could we make this stay up?” or get them to predict what might happen next by questions such as “what do you think will happen if we move this pillow?”. You can develop your child’s understanding of prepositions by modelling “I’m behind the fort”, “we’re inside the fort”, or by giving directions such as “put the blanket on the floor” or “put the pillow under the chair”. Once you have built the fort, why not have a tea party inside to develop their pretend play skills or read a book together to develop their literacy skills. 

Obstacle course

Obstacle courses are always a favourite for kids and can be a great way to both encourage language development and get your child moving. Develop your child’s understanding of a range of verbs (e.g., ‘Jump’, ‘crawl’, ‘climb’, ‘hop’) and prepositions (e.g., “jump on the pillow”, “go under the table”) as you give your child different instructions to complete the course. Work on your child’s speech by having pictures with the target sound spread out across the course – invite your child to stop and say the word 5 times before they can continue.

Find it fast!

Develop your child’s phonological awareness skills by asking them to find something that rhymes with a particular word or begins with a certain letter e.g., “find something that begins with s”, “find something that begins with mmm”. Make it a race and see who can find something the quickest! Target basic concepts by getting your child to find something of a certain shape, size, or colour. Work on articulation by getting your child to find a range of different items beginning with the target sound, then get them to name all the objects they found. For those working at phrase level, get your child to tell you what they found using a short phrase such as “I found a____”, or get them to produce a sentence explaining what the item is and where they found it. Add a one-minute countdown and see how many items they can find with the target sound to turn into an exciting game!

Tea party

Whether it’s pretending to pour a drink, feed a toy, or cut a piece of cake, tea parties provide SO many ways to develop and extend your child’s pretend play skills. In doing so they provide endless opportunities for communication. Model action words as you stir your cup of tea or cut the cake. Develop your child’s understanding and use of pronouns e.g., “that’s my spoon” “she wants a cookie”, “he wants a drink”, “where’s your cup?”. Model past tense and irregular verbs as you narrate your play e.g., “the teddy drank all the tea”, “I ate the last sandwich”. Roleplay with your child to target specific speech sounds - for example, target /k/ by making a /k/ loaded order such as “Can I have cookies and a slice of cake?” then get your child to cut and cook your order. 

 So, get out the recipe books, pillows, blankets, and teapots, and make the most of cold and rainy days inside this winter with these fun activities to help develop your child’s speech and language skills.

References:

Weisleder, A., & Fernald, A. (2013). Talking to Children Matters: Early Language Experience Strengthens Processing and Builds Vocabulary. Psychological Science, 24(11), 2143–2152.

Author: Harriet Tillbrook