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April, 2006
Speech Tip of the Month
Eggcellent
Ideas!!!
This speech tip is dedicated to pushing you to be
creative. This tip is all about the “egg”, but not
just any egg…no, it’s the plastic egg. These cute
little playthings can be found just about anywhere
this time of year (and they will soon be on sale
after Easter). You might have thought that they were
strictly for Easter Basket use, but you were wrong.
These small wonders can be used in numerous
therapeutic ways. Here are a few “eggcellent” ideas
to help you get started:
Basic Concepts
Open/Closed – Put a special treat (M&Ms, Skittles,
Jelly Beans) inside your
egg to motivate your child to say “open”
In/Out – Put small toys in and out of your little
egg. Pet your eggs in and
out of a basket or bag
Colors Receptive/Expressive – Receptive: picking a
certain color egg out
of a basket or bag
Expressive: naming the color of the egg
when taken out of a grab bag
More – Put a special treat inside several eggs and
have your child say
“more” to get more treats
Little/Big – Eggs come in many sizes. Purchase
different sizes of eggs and
talk about how some are big and some are little.
Object Permanence
Have an egg hunt and help your child find the eggs.
For this goal, don’t hide them “too well” at first.
Some ideas are to put them under a blanket that is
easily visible to the child or inside a drawer that
is also easily visible. It might also help to hide a
motivating treat inside the egg for a reward.
Articulation
Have an egg hunt with pictures of your child’s
target sound inside the eggs. Once the child finds
the egg they open it and practice their target
sound.
Problem Solving
Open some eggs, lay them out and have you child put
them back together. Guide them in figuring out which
ones go together.
Reading
Put words or sentences (depending on your child’s
reading level) inside the eggs. Have a hunt and have
your child read their words or sentences.
Family Identification
Hide pictures of family members inside the eggs.
When your child opens the egg and sees the picture,
identify the person or have the child find the
person.
Increasing Phrase Length
“I found it!” - Hide eggs, once your child finds it,
have them say “I found
it!” or “I found blue.” or “I found blue egg.” or “I
found the blue
egg.” depending on your child’s level.
“I did it!” – Once your child puts eggs together,
have them say “I did it!” or
“Yeah, I did it!”
This list could go on and on. Basically, the message
is be creative! Many of your child’s speech goals
can be targeted in many different environments.
Don’t be strapped down to only one method of
teaching; learning happens everywhere and everyday.
Have fun and be creative!!!
Sincerely,
Meredith B. Sorokwasz M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
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