Does your child have a delay in their speech? I'll show you the most helpful food board where you can help your toddler work on their speech and play a game at the same time.
This is a sponsored post from our friends at The Genius of Play. This post contains affiliate links and all opinions are my own.
Malakai was born at 24.5 weeks gestation. We knew when we got pregnant again, we were risking a 50/50 chance at whether he'd be premature. When my oldest son was born at 34 weeks, I feel he was preparing me for how to care for Leila, who was born at 30 weeks. And her the same for preparing me for Malakai.
I'm 34 and I've had 5 pregnancies, 4 births, and 3 of those were premature. While pregnancy is definitely not my strong suit, I feel like taking care of preemies just may be mine.
Freddie had zero intervention from state programs, Leila qualified for speech therapy and Malakai has had speech therapy, physical therapy, monthly EI visits and now he's off to the public school program to follow him along after he turns 3 this month.
I've had many speech therapists suggest a lot of things but the thing they seemed to push was just to do what you can to be able to communicate. Constantly repeating the words they're reaching for. Even if it doesn't sound correct, they're still trying to communicate so that is a positive thing. I'm going to show you this toddler speech therapy activity I came up with.
Supplies for your Toddler Speech Therapy Activity Board
- Food Printables – see below
- Scissors
- 65lb. White Cardstock
- Heat Laminator or Cold Laminator
- Velcro Tabs
Optional Materials
Begin by printing out my watercolor food printables on to some 65lb. cardstock. I gave you the options of the entire printable or the .svg files that you can use on your Cricut or Silhouette machine.
See my suggestions for cutting laminated paper with your Cricut below.
Instead of cutting them out individually, I upload the free food .svg file to Cricut Design Space. I printed them and cut them directly from the paper, then I run them through my Xyron laminate cartridge.
Cut each one out and then apply the stiffer side of the velcro to the back of the laminated cardstock. Place the softer side of the velcro to the cabinet or board. Then you can add 4 additional soft pieces of velcro to the cabinet so that they can pull what they want and place it there.
I cut a piece of vinyl to adhere above asking him “What Do I Want To Eat Today?”.
This toddler speech therapy activity is helpful to children with speech delay because it shows them common food choices and allows them to learn how to voice it on their own.
My experience with speech therapy for my toddler
The speech therapist always tells me why it's important that they hear words multiple times. They hear it and then realize that's what it's called and will eventually relay that same word to you when they're needing something.
He has a tendency just to make whimpers to us when he wants something, I've learned with this toddler speech therapy activity that helps with food and with drinks. Malakai no longer just whimpers, he's actually saying what he wants, when he wants it.
You start with simple sounds that they can learn and add more to in the future. Sounds like “ba”, “da”, “pa”, “guh”, and “huh”. Reach out to your local school district to see if they offer programs like this to you and also discuss with your pediatrician. You and your doctor can make an informed decision on what kind of therapy, if any, is necessary.
Malakai also had an issue when he needed tubes in his ears. If they seem to just make a wah noise or not really enunciating sounds, that could be a sign of your child's ears not draining correctly. I arranged with my ENT to have ear tubes put in Malakai's ears and I'd say within a month or two, he was got out some new sounds and words.
To learn a few techniques in how to work with your child and improving their communication skills, visit The Genius of Play now!
Can I cut laminated paper with my Cricut?
To cut laminated paper with your Cricut there a few things you need to know –
- You can only use colored cardstock with the Cricut Maker. The Cricut Explore can only read white cardstock.
- After you have used the Print Then Cut feature (You can learn how to use the Cricut Print and Cut feature here.), you want to run your entire printed sheet through the laminator.
- The laminated sheet will run through your Cricut machine exactly like it would if it wasn't laminated.
- You want to choose the Poster Board setting on your Cricut to make sure that it cuts completely through the laminated paper.
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