DIY Mystery Monster

337e1b2e-3759-41c2-8d0c-d7a08a226f82-1You don’t need Halloween to do the Monster Mash! Try creating your own mystery monster with items you have at home. This activity requires 3 people, 1 piece of blank paper, and crayons/markers/colored pencils.

First, hold the paper vertically, fold the paper in thirds to make 3 creases, and then unfold. Next, write “head” in the top section, “body” in the middle section, and “feet” in the bottom section. The first person will take a turn creating the creature’s head. Once the head is completed, the paper will then be passed onto the next person who will complete the creature’s body. Finally, have the last person complete the feet. Make sure all of the body parts connect. When your mystery monster is completed, make up a story about what its’ name is, where it’s from, what it likes to eat, etc. You can also identify body parts and come up with what the monster might say. Feel free to add on other craft items to your monster (e.g. googly eyes; pom poms).

Ask an Expert: Add Therapy Tasks in Daily Routines

How do I implement therapy techniques during daily routines at home? It is hard to find time for one-on-one work, and there are so many suggestions. Where do I start?

It is definitely hard to find time to sit down one-on-one with your little one, especially with siblings and the various activities that fill their busy schedules. It is important to know that even if you are not spending as much one-on-one time with your kiddos as you’d like, that they are still gaining valuable input from each and every conversation you have with them! Implementing therapy techniques does not need to be limited to individual practice; while one-on-one time is beneficial, it is also important for your child to learn how to use language in everyday routines and when interacting with family and friends. You can easily implement techniques that support language development into tasks you already do every day:

Use self-talk to describe what you are doing while preparing snacks/lunch – “Cut apple, eat banana, drink milk.” Label items while on walks or in the grocery store to target vocabulary. Give your child options to encourage independent language use – “Do you want your boots or your shoes?” “Would you like water or milk?”

If you find yourself overwhelmed with the number of suggestions or goals established with your therapist, try to choose one or two to work on each day. Reserve one reoccurring routine for the morning or afternoon as your language practice time – that way you can be consistent with their practice without feeling like you need to constantly be in “therapist mode.”

Use your Imagination with Simple Household Items

Playing With Just Your Imagination

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Imaginative play is a key factor in cognitive development and play skills. And luckily, there are many fun ways for parents to work on this skill with random household items.

Collect a few child-safe and child-proof items in your house (nothing breakable!). Such items could be a straw, hair tie, tissue, etc. Then work with your child to create different ways that the item can be used. For instance, two straws might turn into bug antennae. A hair tie could become a queen’s ring. A ripped up tissue might act as falling snow. The possibilities are endless!

Does the item make a sound? Can it bend or does it have moving pieces? Where else might you find this item? Have fun and be creative! There are no wrong answers when it comes to using your imagination.

Incorporate Therapy Activities into Everyday Life!

There are many ways to incorporate therapy activities into everyday life; even with little or no supplies! There are a many benefits to embedding developmental strategies into your family’s daily routine. They include:

  1. Your child will feel involved and empowered to help with activities around the house.
  2. Your child will learn to use language not only during playtime, but during daily routines, as well.
  3. Allows your child to acquire and learn language in real life contexts. This increases generalization of language skills that are learned in therapy into everyday life.

Activity #1: Laundry

  • Sort laundry items into categories such as socks, shirts, hats, etc. Have your child imitate these words as you sort!
  • Ask your child to verbally identify items by function. For example “Show me something you wear on your feet!” if you are looking for your child to show you the socks. If your child needs support, offer choices! For example “Do you wear a sock or shirt on your feet?”
  • This helps your child increase awareness of their body parts and the function of each!
  • Make the activity silly by wearing the wrong item on your feet and have your child imitate “No!”.
  • Ask your child to verbally identify if the clothes are “cold” or “hot” coming out of the dryer! Make it silly by having your child imitate or exclaim “ouch!” as you pretend to ‘burn’ your finger on the hot clothes from the dryer!

Activity #2: Reading before bed

  • As you read a story to your child before bed, pause before turning the page and ask your child to point to the characters on the page.
  • Have your child imitate animal noises (“Moo!” or “Baa”) or car/train noises (“Beep Beep” or “Choo-Choo”) if they are found within the book. 

Activity #3: Morning Routines/Breakfast

  • Give choices on clothing items to wear. “Would you like to wear the red shirt or the blue shirt?” This helps increase independence as they learn to help dress themselves.
  • Ask your child to request what he or she needs from you to brush their teeth or comb their hair, etc. “What do we need to brush our teeth? We need ourtoothbrush! Your turn! Try toothbrush
  • Have your child make choices on what to drink at breakfast. “Would you like to drink milk or juice?”
  • Have your child imitate simple words or phrases related to breakfast. These could include “eat more”, “drink milk”, “yum”, or “juice”!
  • In addition, this helps your child work on gaining independence with feeding and using sippy cups.

Featured Learning Toy: Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks

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Melissa & Doug Deluxe Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks

These nesting blocks help young children work on early problem solving skills. They also grow with kids and provide countless opportunities for language development. You can take turns stacking them up to practice social skills, work on imitating early play sounds using the animals pictured on the sides, or use the largest cubes to sort like objects (all cars in one, all trains in another). You can even turn the boxes on their sides to create “garages” for a child’s transportation vehicles to build pretend play skills!