By: Amanda Cifuentes, M.S., CCC-SLP
Season changes are always fun and exciting. Fall is associated with many things, including apples! Here are a few ways to incorporate speech and language practice while enjoying a delicious and healthy snack:
Stamping with Apples: Time to get creative! Cut an apple in half, and dip the flat side into paint. Get a piece of paper and stamp away!
- Articulation: Help your child come up with words containing their target sound, and write them on a piece of paper. Stamp each word with the apple! You can also ask your child to say their target sound or word 3 times before each stamp.
- Language: This is a great time to talk about basic concepts, such as size (big, small, medium), shapes (round, square), and colors (red, orange, green, yellow). You can also encourage your child to use core vocabulary words, such as “more,” in order to request more apple stamps!
- Social Language: Use a few different paint colors for the craft, and put them on separate plates. Your child can practice asking for a desired color, as well as sharing and taking turns.
Baking with Apples: There are so many delicious treats and drinks to make with apples- cider, pie,
muffins, cobbler… pick your favorite recipe and dig in!
- Articulation: Read over the recipe with your child, and find the words that have their target sound. While you are baking, ask your child to say their target sound or a practice word for each apple in the recipe (or for each cup of sugar, each tablespoon of cinnamon…).
- Language: Baking and cooking offer great opportunities to practice verbs (pouring, mixing, scooping, baking, cutting). It is also a great time to practice following directions, such as “pour the sugar in the bowl” or “please get the spoon.”
- Social Language: If you have any treats leftover, help your child pick a few friends or family members to surprise with a snack! You can help your child write a note to include with the dessert. Talk about how it feels to share, and how the lucky recipient will feel receiving a yummy surprise.
Reading about Apples: Here are a few books all about apples!
- “Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple Picking Time” by Jody Frickes Shapiro
- “Autumn is for Apples” by Michelle Knudson
- “The Biggest Apple Ever” by Steven Kroll
- “The Apple Pie Tree” by Zoe Hall