Today I am so excited to have the first speech-language pathologist stopping by to participate in the "In My Therapy Bag" series. Liz McMahon is the clinical director and speech-language pathologist for Brightsong, LLC. Brightsong is a private practice providing PT, OT, ST, and Developmental Therapy for children from birth to age 18 in the greater Memphis area. You can find out more at www.brightsong.net and on their blog, Milestones and Benchmarks.
What's in my therapy bag?
Balls! Playing ball is a lot of fun for both children and
adults. There are many important developmental skills targeted during
ball play. Throwing, catching and kicking may be the first ones that come to
mind, but balls are also great toys for speech therapy.
Your child’s
speech-language pathologist might use balls during therapeutic play
activities to work on the following skills:
Requesting: Encourage your
child to ask for the ball by vocalizing or signing "more" or
"ball." Encourage and praise any and all attempts to vocalize
and sign. You might need another adult to provide hand-over-hand
assistance to help your child sign or hand a picture card to the other person
to complete the request. As your child gets older, encourage them to
combine words and signs to produce "more ball, ball please" or
"I want ball."
Concepts & Following Directions: Gather a ball and a container large enough to hold the
ball. Encourage your child to place the ball "in, out, on top,
under, next to, behind, etc." You can also work on "up"
and "down" and "fast" and "slow" while playing
ball. Work on following directions by encouraging them to "put in,
give it to me, push the ball, give the ball to daddy, etc."
Speech Sounds: Playing ball
can target a variety of speech sounds.Work on the /b/ sounds for
"ball, bounce, bye-bye, bye ball, etc." You can work on /p/
with "pat, push," /m/ for "more, my ball, me, my
turn" and /k/ for "kick, catch."
Turn-Taking: Playing ball is
great when you have someone else to play with. This is a great toy to
work on turn-taking skills. Rolling, throwing, catching and kicking are
great ways to work on "my turn" and "your turn."
Identifying, Matching & Sorting Colors: Gather balls with different colors and different colored cups. Ask
your child to "get the red ball" and "put in red"
(place it in the red cup). Continue until all the balls are sorted into the
correct colored cups.
Understanding Sizes: Gather balls of
different sizes. Talk about "big" and "little" size
differences and which ones are "in the middle." Encourage your
child to place them in order from smallest to largest and then largest to
smallest.
Here are a few of my favorite types of balls to use:
Tinsel Pom-Poms and an empty cheese container. An occupational therapist
friend showed me how great an empty shredded cheese container can be. I
like to use the tinsel pom-poms and work on requesting, following
directions and identifying colors with this activity. Kids of all ages like
this activity. Older kids can work on
“poking” smaller balls into the small holes on the lid. Please monitor your
child and make sure they do not put these pom-poms in their mouth. They come
in different sizes and can be a choking hazard.
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The O-Ball is great because it's easy for kids to
catch, hold and throw. They make some with rattles built in - which are
fun to shake. The material is brightly colored and flexible. Your child may
like to chew on it as a teething toy - that's okay because it's very
easy to clean.
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Light-Up Balls have a fun cause-and-effect aspect. You have to hit or
bounce the ball to activate the light. Some kids do become too
mesmerized by the lights and may try to hold the ball in front of their eyes
for a long time. If you see your child doing this, redirect it and have
them roll or throw it to you.
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Textured Balls are fun because
they have rough or spiky texture your child may enjoy holding in their
palm. Some kids may be reluctant to hold the textured balls and may
need a few minutes to warm-up to this type of ball. Your child may
start to pull on the textured "strings." When they pull on
these textured strings, there is a cool "popping" sound, but
they can also break off. Check the balls to make sure there aren't any
loose strings before your child plays with it. These balls can be
difficult to clean, so watch your child and make sure they do not put it in
their mouth.
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It doesn't matter what type of ball you and your child are
playing with, all that matters is that you are spending time together. So, the next time your child wants to play ball, try working on some of the
above skills and see how well your child is requesting, following directions,
understanding concepts, identifying colors and taking turns. Have fun and
let's play ball!
Disclosure of Material
Connection: The recommendations are for informational purposes only.
Brightsong, LLC does not receive a commission on any of the products reviewed
or listed. The Brightsong team only recommends products or services we
personally use and believe will add value to the families we work with. We are
disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part
255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in
Advertising.”
Note from Editor: Amazon Affiliate links have been inserted for the reader's convenience. Please read full disclosure here.
Connect with Liz at Brightsong:
