3 ways to use play-doh to help your child communicate
I am often asked how to use different toys to support communication skills. So I thought I would share my top tips for using everyone's favourite messy play toy... play-doh!
Whether you have the brightly-coloured shop-bought or home-made stuff these tips work just as well!
Support play skills through modelling!
Not the type of modelling we usually associate with play-doh, but simply acting out the play scene for your little one and then pausing allowing them time to imitate should they wish to.
This strategy works well if your little one has difficulty generating new ideas within play, and gets stuck on the same play routines over and over again.
Make a play-doh monster!
Make play-doh cookies/ cakes/ salad!
Make a play-doh road and drive/ walk your little one’s favourite toys across it making different tracks.
Develop vocabulary through commenting!
While your little one is playing, comment/ label what they are doing using short phrases (long sentences are too overwhelming!). Try to model a variety to different words…
Adjectives (e.g. size, shape and colour vocabulary)
Positional language (e.g. in, on, under, next to)
Actions (e.g. roll, squeeze, push, open, cut, bake)
Expand your little one’s language and recall skills!
Expand your little one's language by recapping what you did whilst playing with the play-doh. Take photos while you play, and talk about them later.
If your little one says 1-2 word phrases: Repeat the language you modelled during play, while looking at the photos together (e.g. point to the picture and say "roll play doh")
If your little one is saying sentences: Show them the photos and talk about what happened using sentences (e.g. "you rolled the play-doh, you made a cookie").
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