Table Time Activity: Match the Instrument
Skill Check
This week is to focus on strengthening visual perceptual skills by identifying the coordinating sounds (auditory discrimination and attention).
Growing My Skills
Have your child pick our their favorite instrument and look for more videos of that instrument playing together.
Floortime Play Activity: Going on A Bear Hunt
Skill Check
TThe goal of this activity is to spend time together in a playful, imaginative way. There should be limited structure and a lot of pretending.
Growing My Skills
Create a good amount of space between props (backpack, flashlight) and the path that leads to the “cave.”
Play the bear hunt song and act out each step using body movements/gestures; encourage your child to look through binoculars for the bear.
Follow the path until the bear pops out of the cave (parent or sibling); if possible have your child create their own “bear hunt.”
For younger kiddos or ones that have motor limitations, look for the “bear” through the binoculars or listen to the song while sitting in the cave (couch cushions, tent).
Relaxation Time Activity: I AM Meditation
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to utilize calming music as an everyday relaxation tool.
Growing My Skills
Looking at a kid-centric visual interpretation of a classical music rendition will expose your child to a different type of music.
Comment on “what the music sounds like” or ask your child to label one aspect they saw within this video.
Creative Time Activity: Family Dance Party
Skill Check
The goal of this activity is to spending time together in a playful, imaginative way. There should be limited structure so your child has a chance to explore their bodies and different dances from around the world.
Growing My Skills
Find wonderful YouTube videos of different dances from around the world!
Select a dance and get moving!
Movement Time Activity: Side-to-Side Twists (Trunk Rotation)
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to use our trunk and stomach muscles to twist the top half of our bodies from side to side while keeping our legs planted on the ground. Use a piece of tape to mark where their feet should stay.
Growing My Skills
You can try this while standing or while sitting.
Have your kiddo reach for something (preferred toy, ball, balloon) to their side to motivate them to turn.
Have your kiddo turn their trunk to the right and then their legs to the left like their own dance move. We are working on moving the upper and lower body in different directions at the same time!
Play a game like Twister that requires moving your body in all different directions.
Mealtime Activity: Tongue Lateralization
Skill Check
The goal of this activity is to increase your child’s lingual lateralization. Lingual lateralization, or the ability to move the tongue to the sides of the mouth, is a crucial oral motor skill that is needed to achieve a safe, effective, and mature chewing pattern. The tongue’s ability to manipulate and move the food in the mouth to the sides of the mouth is a crucial skill in order to create a cohesive bolus, or mound of food, in the mouth while chewing with the strong back molar teeth.
Growing My Skills
Watch and listen to the “Broccoli Ice Cream” song with your child.
After, use ice cream (or an alternative puree such as yogurt, apple sauce, pudding, etc. to target tongue lateralization by putting on the corners of lips.
Have your child use their tongue to “clean their lip” by moving the tongue to the side of the mouth to lick off food.
Your child may need you to model this first visually for them, and it may be very helpful to have a mirror placed in front of them so they are able to watch themselves lick the food for visual feedback.
You can expand this activity to put the food on their lips like “chapstick” and have them use only their tongue to wipe their lips clean.
This activity allows for feeding targets of lingual lateralization and improved mobility and range of motion to promote effective, efficient, safe, and mature feeding patterns.
Language Time Activity: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to increase your child’s understanding of letters and letter sounds, as well as use, expand, and improve understanding of language through play.
Growing My Skills
Watch the “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” interactive story with your child.
After, describe the components of the story (e.g., coconut tree, letters, letters moving up, letters crashing down.
After, create your own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree with crafting materials!
While creating the tree, you can draw (and cut out) different letters that your child can help identify letter names and/or sound.
Allow the opportunity for your child to participate in the craft-making, asking for help, sharing ideas, identifying colors, and letters.
Once the craft is created, you can reenact the song together (with our without the video).
This activity allows for language targets including letter identification and sound, answering and asking wh- questions, following directions, turn-taking.
