Outdoor Fun!
As the weather warms up and the days get longer, you and your children might find yourselves enjoying the great outdoors a bit more. We wanted to share some helpful tips that we have learned along the way that involve outdoor fun.
SWINGS
Infants/Toddlers:
Ready, Set, Go!
A fun way to work on the pre-conversational skill of verbal turn-taking is having the child fill in/complete familiar phrases.
On the swings, we love “Ready, Set, Go!”.
When your child is sitting stationary on the swing and waiting for you to give them that first big push, say the words “Ready, Set….” while you build the anticipation with your facial expressions and arms reaching out to push them. Leave a few second’s pause to see if they will fill in “Go!”. If they do, then give them a big, excited push; if they don’t then YOU say “Go!” while you give them that big push. You can give them more chances to practice this skill if you periodically stop the swing and repeat this process. Make sure to keep it light and fun with a smile and enjoyment of being together.
You can practice pre-conversational turn taking skills with many other activities as well - “Ready, Set, Go!” works well in running races, on ride-on toys, or with their toy trains. You might also try this with familiar songs “Row, Row, Row your….” and see if they fill in “boat”, etc.
Preschoolers/Elementary Aged Children:
Push me, push me, push me!
Does your child love the swings but need you to push them the whole time? If you think they are getting ready to be more independent in this activity and you are looking for a stress free way to teach your child to swing, we’ve got you! To the child, it will just feel like a different way that you are pushing them on the swing, but this way has the benefit of teaching them how to do it so that you can eventually step back when they are ready and do it on their own.
Usually, adults stand behind the child when they push them on the swing, but for this method, you will need to stand to the side of the child.
While they are still stationary, put your arm out in front of the child so that your hand is 2-3 feet above your child’s feet. Now, ask them to stretch their bodies to reach and tap your hand with their feet. Once they do, push their feet back under them in a vigorous enough manner that it swings them gently (they won’t be going very high on this first push). This looks a little like a scooping motion. As they start to swing back to you, have them try to reach your hand again, but this time hold your hand a bit higher. When they reach your hand, push their feet under them again while you push them higher. Continue this as long as it is still fun for everyone.
After a while of practicing this, your child will start to get the feel of pumping their legs and “Push me! Push me!” will turn into “Watch me! Watch me!” as they show off their new skill.
Craft- Rock Painting and working on Language Missing Item
Rock painting is a great outdoor craft activity. With this craft we will be focusing on language development and how to increase language by asking for missing items. Requesting missing items is an important language skill for children to learn as it helps develop problem solving skills and learning to communicate with others for a desired outcome.
Materials Needed:
Rocks
Bowl of soapy water with sponges/old toothbrush/ scrubbers
Dish Towel
Acrylic Paints (outdoor acrylic paint is the best, but regular acrylic paints work)
Brushes of varying sizes
Cup of water
Newspaper & Paper Plates
Activities
Tell the child you are going to paint rocks. Go on a walk to search for the perfect rocks to paint. Brainstorm different ideas for your rocks and what shape rock they want. Work on language
Now you have your rocks it is time to clean them and get them ready to paint. Give your child their rock withholding the water and cleaning supplies and tell them “it is time to clean our rocks let's start.” If your child looks at you, give them a dry brush or sponge to help prompt them to ask for water. You might need to act it out with them saying something like this “my rock is so dirty i need to clean it, but how?”, “I wonder what I should use”, “huh, my brush is dry it isn’t really getting the dirt off.” See if your child can say “we need water!”Once they ask for water, give them the water and have them ask for a little bubbles or a lot of bubbles. Have fun playing with the water and cleaning the rocks.
Now the rocks are clean it is time to dry them. See if the child can ask for a towel.
While the rocks are drying it is time to get ready to paint. Gather up the painting supplies but don’t set them all out. Put the paint out with no brush, etc…
“Okay let’s paint” talk about what you are planning on painting and what color you plan on using. Have the child tell you what colors they need as you put the colors on the plate. Withhold the paint brush and wait for them to request the brush. Do they want a thin brush or a thick brush?
When it is time to clean their brush is your child able to ask for water?
Set the rocks out to dry
As the rocks are drying, talk about where they want to put their rock. Do they want to put it in their yard or somewhere for someone to find?
When working on requesting missing items it is important that you make it fun! Don’t make the child request all items, but target a couple to request. Be animated and have fun. When you are silly and having fun your child will too!
