Therapy Tip of the Week 5.25.12

Here’s this week’s video:

 
Introducing Pretend Play to Toddlers with Delays - Part 2

Watch for ideas and objects to use in beginning pretend play activities with dolls & other “characters” a child already loves.

The focus of this kind of play is to help a child begin to combine familiar objects and use 2 toys together during play.

Children MUST begin to use objects functionally and concretely BEFORE they begin to play symbolically. Don’t forget to target receptive language during this kind of play. More than anything else, keep it simple and FUN!!

For ideas and “how to” instructions for teaching a child to imitate actions with objects, check out my new book Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers.

For step by step assistance in helping a child learn to understand language, take a look at Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual.

My DVD Teach Me To Talk is a GREAT tool for helping parents who are just beginning to work with toddlers who are late talkers.