Today’s post is about how you can use Mr/Mrs Potato Head to support your child’s communication skills. Continue reading to find out more!
Vocabulary
- Label all the body part pieces as you put them in and take them out of the body. Include concept words such as ‘in’, ‘out’, ‘on’, ‘off’ (e.g. “arm in!”)
- Discuss each body part with your child. This could be talking about the colour, size, how it might feel and many other things! (e.g. the moustache is blue and long)
Expressive (use of) language
- Allow your child to tell you how to build the Mr/Mrs Potato Head (e.g. “Mum put on the red hat”).
- Build the length of your child’s sentences by repeating their sentence and adding one extra word such as a describing word (e.g. big, small, long) or a verb (e.g. got, pulled).
- Repeat back what your child has said in a grammatically correct way.
Understanding language
- Develop your child’s understanding of body parts by having them point to their own or on yourself (e.g. I got a big nose, where is your nose?)
- Give instructions to your child in the order of putting the body parts. Start with short instructions (e.g. put on an ear) and increase as your child becomes more confident (e.g. after you put on a nose, put on the eyes).
Literacy
- Encourage your child to read the name of the item they are getting. Help them by breaking the word into its syllables and asking them the sounds in each syllable.
- Practise sounding out and writing down the name of each body part
Social skills
- Model appropriate play skills such as winning and losing statements (e.g. “good game!” “better luck next time!”) and turn taking (e.g. “my turn”; “whose turn is it?”)
- Discuss consequences of inappropriate play (e.g. how others may become upset and not want to play again if you scream).
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