A Christmas Collage for You!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! During this holiday season, watch your child bring a smile to each of his loved one's faces with this Christmas activity! A Christmas collage is a fun gift idea; it is also a great way to work on fine-motor skills, higher level cognitive skills including brainstorming and making inferences/predictions, and Theory of Mind!

Materials:

·        Christmas magazines, family pictures, and wrapping paper

·        Scissors

·        Glue

·        Construction Paper or Cardstock

Steps:

Help your child identify which family member the collage will be for or about.

The collage can be a variety of themes:

·        Family Christmases

·        Special moments with _______

·        Things I love about ______

·        ______'s Favorite Things

·        And more!

Help your child brainstorm ideas of what pictures might be appropriate for the collage.

Allow your child to cut out pictures from old magazines, select appropriate family pictures, or cut out images from wrapping paper.

Have your child glue the pictures all over the construction paper. Instruct her to leave no "white" on the paper (Cover every inch)!

Create a collage for each family member and place them under the tree! What a fun surprise on Christmas morning!

Fun ways to use your Christmas collages:

·        Play I-spy! (as suggested on notimeforflashcards.com)

·        Laminate them and use them as placemats (as seen on icanteachmychild.com)

·        Share them in an old-fashioned Show and Tell activity

·        Combine them and create a Christmas mural

Enjoy!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

That’s right.  ‘Tis the season!  Let’s take full advantage of “the most wonderful time of the year” and teach our children, engage with our children and best of all, help our children establish new relationships with others and build on their current relationships with others.  What goal would you like to set for your child this holiday season?  To learn more about the concept of Christmas?  To learn more about their family?  To be more involved with your family’s Hanukkah traditions?  If your child does not quite understand the concepts of the holidays you celebrate and what that holidays entails, the more you expose your child to activities involving the holiday, the more they will understand what is going on in their world.  Whatever your goal may be, there are so many fun ways to teach your child.  Your child may have a long break from school and therapies.  If so, it’s even more important to keep your child engaged with others, learning and stimulated.  Remember though, it is your child’s break and they need to have fun!

Here are just a few holiday-related activities and ideas you can try with your child: 

Books, books, books! 

There are TONS of language-rich and fun holiday and seasonal books for children out there.  Check our Half Price Books®, Wal-Mart, your local library and used book stores. 

Preschoolers: Some preschoolers may not be ready for a true story book....it may be difficult for them to sit or attend to a book. So when reading the books, focus on describing the illustrations in the book rather than the story. If your child is ready for the story then make it very simple. Focus on one to three word-sentences when reading or taking about the book. The goal is to familiarize them with Christmas-related vocabulary such as: Santa, Christmas Tree, Candy Canes, Ornaments, Sleigh, Reindeer, and more. Here are a few good books to read:

Maisy’s Christmas by Lucy Cousins

Maisy’s Snowy Christmas Eve by Lucy Cousins

Maisy Makes Gingerbread by Lucy Cousins

Llama Llama Jingle Bells by Anna Dewdney

Biscuit’s Christmas by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Little Blue Truck’s Christmas by Alice Schertle

Kindergarten through second grade: For these kids you want to focus on the “socialness” of Christmas such as Christmas parties, gift giving, shopping and more. You want to look for books that describe a great sequencing of Christmas like: thinking of what they want to make/buy for someone, finding the perfect Christmas Tree, going to a party, feelings, etc. Here are a few good books to read:

Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

Bear Stays up for Christmas by Karma Wilson

The Berenstain Bears The Joy of Giving by Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain

Santa’s Stuck by Rhonda Growler Greene

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by James Dean

The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever by Steven Kroll

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Natasha Wing

How to Catch an Elf by Adam Wallace

Third Grade and Up: With this group of children you may want to focus on finding chapter books about Christmas. A great idea is to read a chapter a night. Then have your child do something with each chapter or at the end of the week with all the chapters they have read like: drawing a picture, writing a summary , creating their own story, creating their own chapter to what they think will happen next, etc. Here are a few good books to read:

Flat Stanley: Stanley’s Christmas Adventure by Jeff Brown

Junie B, First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells by Barbara Park

Judy Moody and Stink: The Holly Joliday by Megan McDonald

My Weird School: Ms. Holly is Jolly by Dan Gutman

My Weird School: Deck the Halls, We’re off the Walls by Dan Gutman

Second to books, art is our favorite! 

There are endless resources on the internet for art ideas and even printable materials.  Also, keep your eyes peeled at your kids’ schools and your friend’s houses.  The windows, walls, doors and halls may be covered in art….take some of their ideas and try them at home with your kids.  Art is full of language, sequencing skills and social language opportunities.  Using your child’s art to decorate around your house and your family members’ houses is one way for your child to contribute during the holidays.  Here are some of our favorite websites we use all the time to plan therapy art activities: 

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/
http://www.first-school.ws/THEME/h_wholidays.htm
http://www.preschoolcoloringbook.com/

MUSIC! 

Holiday songs are filled with language.  Music is an excellent way to help your child learn and to engage with your child.  Be sure to use as many visuals and props when you sing and do music time (cut out pictures you can physically manipulate while singing, bells, hats, stuffed animals or characters, figurines, etc.) with your child.  This will only help them understand the language within the songs, which is one of our main goals.

Have a Countdown Calendar.

 We build up the excitement of holidays all year.   Waiting for Santa or family to arrive is difficult for us all!  The temporal concepts involved with when exactly the holidays are occurring, how many days/months remain until the holidays, how long the holidays last, etc. are extremely difficult to understand.  Have a calendar of the month of December (or the month of whichever holiday you are celebrating) and label the day of the holiday on the calendar with words and a fun sticker or picture representing the holiday.  Then count backwards while writing the number or days on the spaces representing how many days are left.  Each day, you can cross off one day so your child can visually see how many more days until the exciting holiday or event.  You can use this method to also provide a visual for how long your child will be out of town, away from home, away from school and/or how long your holiday lasts.

Watch holiday movies. 

Videos and movies can be a great way for your child to learn about the fun concepts of holidays.  Remember to sit with your child and watch the movie with them while talking about the movie as you watch.  You can use the pause button to slow down the pace and take time to talk/comment.  One movie a week is a good rule of thumb.

Get in the kitchen! 

Check out our recent blog “Learn to Cook & Cook to Learn” for specific ways to work with your child when cooking as well as some online resources for special diet mixes, batters and doughs!  Making holiday-inspired cookies, cakes and other foods is an excellent way to help your child contribute to your family traditions and help your child learn about the holiday. 

https://www.kidspeakdallas.com/kidspeakblog/learn-to-cook-and-cook-to-learn

Make a Family Book!

Check out our previous blog “Making Learning about Family Fun” to learn how and why to make a Family Book to help your child learn about their family members and to help them interact with them.

https://www.kidspeakdallas.com/kidspeakblog/2017/10/18/making-learning-aabout-family-fun

Some holiday-specific activities where your child can “make their mark” and be an active participant within the special times:

-Make wrapping paper.  Get butcher paper or other plain paper and let your child go to town painting, using ink stamps, using stickers, finger paints, handprints, etc.  Once it is dry, use this paper to wrap presents in.  It will be custom-made by your child and they will have a blast doing it!
-Make place mats.  Take the same concept and paint, color, decorate pieces of construction paper.  Try having some pre-printed holiday shapes for your child to paint, decorate and color and then you and your child can glue them on the construction paper.  Then laminate and use as place mats for your holiday meals, snacks, parties and meals leading up to the big events.
-Make place cards.  Let your child write out your family members’ names and then decorate!    
-Make Christmas cards.  Using the same ideas as above, also cut out digital photos of the people faces that the cards will be given to in addition to writing their names.  This will help your child understand who they are making the card for and that they are giving the card to someone and not keeping it for themselves. 
-Make Christmas ribbons for hair with puff paint, paint canvas shoes, paint sweatshirts with sponge shapes for your kids to sport during the holidays.    
-Christmas shopping.  Having your child pick our gifts for other people (especially at a busy store) is hard.  Take photos of the people you want your child to pick gifts out for.  Place the photo near your child and then look through an appropriate catalog.  Let your child point to, circle, or tell you what they would like to get that person. Use language like, “Present for sister Katie.  Make choice.  Circle picture.”  If your child still has trouble, give them a choice.  “Present for Katie.  Princess, tea set or game” while pointing to the catalog pictures.  This is a great Theory of Mind skill….your child will be thinking of others’ thoughts and feelings and thinking about what that person like and does not like. 

Kids’ Corner! 

If you and your family are throwing a party or are attending any parties, have these activities and materials planned out for your child and your friends’ and family’s children.  This will enable your child to be around other children, interact with other children and be an active participant in the holiday event.

Don’t forget to take LOTS of pictures and videos.  Use these to talk about the past, help them learn about family, help them be more independent and to prep them for next year!

Have a wonderful time celebrating “the most wonderful time of the year”!  We can’t wait to hear all about it.  Happy holidays!

Tis the Season

Having your child involved with the gift shopping and present wrapping will provide an endless amount of language, cognitive, fine motor and creative learning opportunities this holiday season.  This is a huge Theory of Mind skill…..understanding that giving a gift to a person will make them feel loved and happy, which in turn will help your child create a meaningful relationship with the person.  My action affects how another person perceives me.  Also, understanding that other people may want different things as gifts (Daddy probably doesn’t want princesses for Christmas……what kinds of things might Daddy like?) is another important Theory of Mind skill…….different people like different things than I do and giving them those things as presents will make them happy…..thinking about what other people want and what other people like.  Here are a few fun ways to help your child make progress towards increasing their Theory of Mind skills over the holidays.

What do you want for Christmas?

First of all, your child needs the language to be able to ask their family members what they want for Christmas.  Try using a visual and practicing beforehand.  Below is an example question strip you can use.  Point to the pictures and model the language to help your child.  Your child can ask their family member or friend in person or you can help them call them on the phone.

Shopping List

Having a shopping list prepared before you go to the store will help your child know what the goal of the shopping trip is.  This will set them up to succeed as they will be aware of the expectations.  Make the list as visual as possible.  This might be in picture form or in a written/picture form combination.  When the person tells your child what they want for Christmas, help them write down the person’s name and then write down what they want.  Ideally add photos of the person to their name on the list to help with Theory of Mind comprehension even more.  You can also draw stick figures of the item they would like or print off photos from the internet.  Take this list with you when you go shopping so your child knows exactly what you are shopping for (not toys for your child, but things for others).  Make it fun when you are shopping so your child does not focus on only things they want.  Sing the “Where Song”…..“where is a watch for Daddy….where is a watch for Daddy….in the jewelry section…….in the jewelry section….gold watches, silver watches, lots of different watches!”  You can even treat the shopping trip like a scavenger hunt.  Your child can help you pick out the presents once you find them in the store.  Don’t forget to check the item off the list when you find it!

Make Wrapping Paper

Try having your child make their own wrapping paper!  You can use butcher paper or you can cut open a paper bag and let your child paint, color and decorate with your help.  Focus on choosing colors, designs and pictures that your child’s family members like.  Then help your child wrap the presents. 

Giving Presents

Your child needs the language to be able to give their gifts.  Below are some visual examples of language to work on.  Point to the pictures as you model the language.  Practice beforehand…..you can even practice with stuffed animals and dolls within pretend play…..this will be a fun pressure-free way to work on the language. 


When it is finally time to open your child’s gifts, be sure to focus on expressing to them how it makes you feel……one of the keys to Theory of Mind. 


~KidSpeak, LLC
www.kidspeakdallas.com

Home is Where the Progress Is

Therapists are dedicated, trained professionals that are here to help your child learn, grow and progress.  Therapists are NOT miracle workers.  Therapists can NOT fix or cure your child in the 1 to 3 hours a week  that they see your child.  But what therapists can do, is give you and your child the tools and the pathway to take so that YOU can make the progress at home.   

YOU, the parent, are the miracle worker.  YOU are going to help your child gain the skills they need to function in the real world.  YOU are going to help your child make friends and create relationships with others.  YOU know your child the best and YOU are person who your child loves the most.  YOU are their safe haven.

Your child may participate in a wide variety of therapies throughout each week.   The reality is, no matter what kind or how much therapy your child participates in each week, these hours of therapy are nothing compared to the hours your child spends with YOU at home, in the car, at school, in the community, with friends, with other family: THE REAL WORLD.

Let’s do the math.  Your child may be in an ABA program and spend 15 hours a week in therapy.  Your child may participate in 1 hour of speech and 2 hours of occupational therapy each week.  Your child may have 3 hours of play therapy, 2 hours of physical therapy and 2 hours of feeding therapy.  Out of the 168 hours there are in a whole week, these therapy hours are only a fraction of their time. 

Therapy in an office, a gym, a fun therapy room, a hospital room, a classroom is great.  Therapy within the REAL WORLD is even better.  Your child’s natural routines and activities are the BEST teaching tools he or she has.  We learn and grow through experiences, play, LIFE.   It is your therapist’s job to build on your child’s skills and to TEACH YOU how to work with your child in their everyday life.  Everyone’s “typical day” is different and as a therapist, it is our job to give YOU, the parent, the tools to help your child learn and grow in their “typical day”. Urge your therapist to give you the knowledge and training to help your child build their skills within their natural environments and experiences, where progress REALLY matters. 

We encourage you to use your real life situations to not only work on the skills that your child needs, but to ENJOY your time with your child.  Use that bath time routine to increase your child’s joint attention and understanding.  Use shooting hoops to increase your child’s turn taking, sportsmanship, teamwork and social expression.  Use cooking time to help your child learn safety rules and sequencing skills.  Use TV time and break time to learn about emotion words and emotional regulation needs.  Use carpooling time to practice securing attention, directing attention and commenting.   Taking what you learn from your therapists and applying it in your everyday life does so much more than work on language, fine motor skills, attention, behavior, etc…..but it also BUILDS A TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR CHILD!  The possibilities are not only endless, but crucial to your child’s progress. 

How your child does during therapy sessions is one thing.  How your child does in the real world is another. 

Laura and Amanda
KidSpeak, LLC
www.kidspeakdallas.com   

Learn to Cook and Cook to Learn

As the holidays are approaching, one of the most language-rich and socially stimulating activities you can do is cook with your child!  Things tend to get a little more hectic as we try to organize all our holiday events, so why not let your children help you with some of the holiday baking?  Not only will they love it, but they will be engaging in a hands-on learning activity.

Make it Easy

We are all about making baked goods from scratch but let’s face it, it can take all day, be difficult and make a complete mess.  Make it easier on yourself and your child by using some ready-made dough, batters and mixes.   Slice and bake cookie dough is the best along with ready-made frosting as well as pancake mix, muffin mix, pie filling mix, brownie mix and more.   They end result will be just as yummy as homemade and probably a lot less messy!

How to Help

Depending on your child’s level, you may need to help them through each step of the cooking process with hand-over-hand assistance, or you may let your child do the cooking independently while you supervise or occasionally coach them through it.  For all children, we want to use visual supports to help them understand, use the cooking language and to participate within the activity.  We all use recipes, cookbooks, and refer to illustrations when we are baking and cooking.  I typically won’t cook something new if I don’t have at least an illustration of what the final result should look like.  Let’s provide your child with similar supports.  Your child may need large picture symbols telling them each step of the cooking activity or your child may need a written out list of the steps for the cooking activity.  The more visuals you provide for your child, the more successful they will be.  Let’s set them up to succeed! 

Here are some skills you can work on as you cook with your child:

Increasing Their Receptive and Expressive Language:  Cooking is filled with language and your child will learn and use the language even faster since they will be watching you as well as engaging in a hands-on activity.   Some great vocabulary you can address may be: dishes, utensils, bake ware (bowl, spoon, knife, scissors, spatula, measuring cup, measuring spoon, baking sheet, pan, oven, microwave, stove, oven mitt, etc.); verbs (stir, pour, mix, spread, scoop, shake, cut, slice, cook, bake, open, close, etc.); what you are making (pancake, cookie, pie, muffin, bread, frosting, sprinkles, etc.); flavors (chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin, etc.); descriptors/prepositions (hot, cold, warm, wet, dry, in, out, on, off, messy, sticky, yummy, yucky, like, don’t like, sweet, sour, crunchy, soft, etc.).

Sequencing:  Most cooking typically includes more than one step.  Your child will be working on doing the correct steps in the correct order as well as understanding and using the sequencing language (i.e., first, second, third, last, then, next, etc.).  Again, a visual board representing the steps of the cooking activity would be very helpful for your child.

Waiting: Waiting can be very, very difficult for our children….especially when we are making cookies and don’t understand why they are taking so long to bake!  Have a “wait” picture card out and ready.  Sing the “Waiting Song” (“waiting for cookies, waiting for cookies…..”) and set a kitchen timer so your child can see how much time is left.  Verbally explain to them “5 more minutes for cookies.  Waiting for cookies!” while showing them the “wait” picture and kitchen timer.  This is a great skill for your child to work on since they have to wait in a variety of different contexts throughout their daily lives. 

Turn Taking: Work on taking turns with you, your child and other family members while you cook.  “Joey’s turn to pour….Evan’s turn to stir.”  “Mommy’s turn to spread frosting….Anna’s turn to sprinkle sprinkles!”  “Lauren’s turn to stir…..Meredith waiting.  Waiting fishing.  Meredith’s turn to stir.”

Safety: The kitchen can be dangerous and your child needs to learn how to stay safe when they are in the kitchen.  Working on “hot,” “no touch” is a great start.  Try making a “Kitchen Safety Rules” list (of course with visuals added) addressing what is “dangerous” and what not to do in the kitchen. 

Math: Cooking is filled with math (adding, subtracting, dividing, fractions and more).  Take what your child is learning in math class at school and incorporate it within the cooking activities!

Other Great Social Skills:

Showing: “Look Daddy, I made cookies!”

Sharing: “Share muffins.  One for Cindy.  One for Mom.  One for Grandma.  Share. 

Explaining How:  After you finish have your child talk about or draw out the steps of how they made their cookies, cake, pie, etc.

Giving: “Give pancake to dad.  Daddy’s pancake.”  You can also wrap up some of your cookies or muffins and take them to familiar neighbors for your child to give and share.  Also, don’t forget to talk about feelings (“Share cookie with Dad, make Dad happy.  No share with Grandma, make Grandma sad.”)

Learn and Cook with Photos

Don’t forget to take photos and video! You can take photos or video of you doing the cooking in advance and make your child a how-to sheet, book or movie.  Also, take photos of your child as they cook.  You can then make a “Cooking Book” or “Recipe Book” that your child can use to talk about the past or future as well as provide them with a visual supports to help them the next time they cook.  

You will also be working on increasing your child’s independence.  What a great skill to teach….helping your child cook for themselves and others!

So turn on some holiday music and get in the kitchen!   Not only will cooking help your child learn wonderful language, social skills, kitchen safety and independence, but cooking will also help your child build their relationships with you, family and friends.

  Bon appétit!   

There are some great resources for special diet foods, batters and mixes.  Here are just a couple websites that you may find some products that will fit in your child’s diet:

Gluten Free Cookie Dough
http://www.theglutenfreeshoppe.com/default/immaculate-gluten-free-chocolate-chunk-cookie-dough.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItpH45PzN3gIVzUsNCh2OagKREAkYASABEgLPOfD_BwE

Gluten Free Brownie Mix
http://www.theglutenfreeshoppe.com/default/products/gluten-free-cakes-cookies/cookie-dough/immaculate-gluten-free-fudge-brownie-cookie-dough.html

Gluten Free Pizza Dough

http://www.theglutenfreeshoppe.com/default/products/pizza-crus/wholly-wholesome-gluten-free-pizza-dough-new.html

Gluten Free Pie Crust

http://www.theglutenfreeshoppe.com/default/products/pies-2/kinnikinnick-pie-crust.html

Gluten Free Pancake Mix

http://www.theglutenfreeshoppe.com/default/kinnikinnick-pancake-waffle-mix.html

Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix

http://www.theglutenfreeshoppe.com/default/products/baking-ingredients-mixes/mixes/yellow-cake-mix.html

~Laura & Amanda
KidSpeak, LLC
www.kidspeakdallas.com