By Kristi Keele, teli Speech Language Pathologist
Sidewalk Chalk is a fun outdoor activity that can also help with child language development! Try drawing a simple obstacle course, showing your toddler how to walk through it. For example, drawing outlines of feet to hop on, a line to walk down and circles for spinning around. Use the obstacle course to:
Work on turn taking and inhibitory words (no, wait, stop) – Model language such as “my turn!” as you and your child take turns going through the obstacle course, “wait” as they wait their turn and “stop!” during various parts of the course. Pair these words with gestures (i.e. hand up and out for “stop”, hand patting chest for “my turn”) to help increase follow through and understanding of these words.
Follow directions and imitate actions/movements – Provide your child with simple directions such as “Hop like a bunny!” and “Walk on the line” showing them how to follow through by doing it alongside them!
Imitate simple sounds and words – Model silly sounds such as “whoa whoa whoa!” as you walk on a line pretending it’s a balance beam, “Ssssssss” while walking along a large “S” as you pretend to be a snake and “Weeeee!” as you spin around.