Play is an important part of a child’s development. It helps them learn about the world around them and develop essential skills. While there are many benefits to play, did you know that you can also use play to help your child learn? Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) programs, such as Project ImPACT*, offer some easy, effective and evidence-based strategies that parents can use to do just that! For example, here are 5 simple ways to maximize teaching opportunities and language development with your children during play:
- Follow Your Child’s Lead During Play: One of the best ways to maximize learning during play is to follow your child’s lead. Try letting your child choose the play activity and excitedly join in! Following your child’s lead also includes staying face-to-face with your child during play and remaining on their “same level”. You want to avoid asking your child questions or giving them directions, such as asking them to “put that block on top”. You also want to stay near your child and respond to all your child’s actions in a logical way. For example, if your child looks at you, respond by saying “Hi”, smiling, or giving them the object you are holding. Children will be more likely to engage, interact, initiate play, and play longer with you if they get to choose what and how they play. By following your child’s lead, you will also learn more about how and what your child wants to communicate with you.
- Imitate What Your Child is Doing During Play: Another great way to maximize learning during play is to imitate what your child is doing. Try copying your child’s gestures, facial expressions, body movements, vocalizations, and play actions. For example, if your child rolls a car down a ramp, you could roll another car down the ramp. This helps them to understand that you are interested in what they are doing and it can also increase your child’s language skills and vocalizations, the length of time they engage with you during play, and the number of different play actions your child performs during play.
- Use Animation: Using animation is a great way to get your child’s attention and keep them engaged. Try adding more enthusiasm and energy to your vocalizations, body movements, and facial expressions! Some specific examples of this include getting overly excited about the chosen play activity, exaggerating your play gestures and vocal quality (such as whispering or speaking very loud), using attention-getting words (say “oh no!”, “wow”, “uh-oh!”), and waiting with anticipation for your child to respond. Using animation during play can increase your child’s desire to initiate play with you, allow your child to share more enjoyment with you during play, and help your child understand the meaning of different gestures, body postures, and facial expressions.
- Model Communication: Modeling communication is a great way to help your child learn how to communicate. To do this, try talking about and labeling the things your child does during play. For example, if your child is bouncing a ball you can say “you’re bouncing a ball!” When modeling your child’s communication, you want to use simple language that is just above what your child is able to use on their own, use gestures and visual cues with your words (such as pointing to a ball), speak and gesture slowly to ensure your child will learn all the new information you are sharing, emphasize the important words you use (say “you’re bouncing the BALL”), and model the gestures and phrases you want your child to learn multiple times per day to provide additional learning opportunities.
- Expand Communication: Expanding communication is a great way to help your child learn new words and concepts. This means that you repeat what your child says during play and add new words or correct grammar. For example, if your child says “train”, you can say “push train” or “push the red train” or “push the red train down the tracks”. If your child isn’t making vocalizations yet, you can also focus on expanding your child’s gestures and modeling vocal communication. By focusing on modeling and expanding your child’s communication, you can help your child learn new gestures, words, and sentences as well as expand the reasons that your child will communicate with you and others in their environment.
In summary, there are five great ways to maximize learning during play for your child: following your child’s lead, imitating what your child is doing, using animation, modeling communication, and expanding communication. All these strategies help children learn new information about the world around them, increase their communication skills, and extend the length of time they spend in play. Try incorporating one or more of these strategies into your next play session with your child and see how it goes!
To learn more about Project ImPACT, click here.
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*Ingersoll, B., & Christina, W. (2009). Increasing generalizations through the use of parent-mediated interventions. Real Life, Real Progress: A Practical Guide for Parents and Professional on Generalization for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Company, 173-194.