Finding Language with Easter Eggs
With the start of Spring, many kids begin to look forward to the arrival of the Easter Bunny. For parents who are looking for ways to help their children improve their language skills, here is a great language builder that can be done with a basket of Easter eggs. This can be a fun way to spend quality time with your child, and your child will be excited and engaged while learning core words and concepts. This idea is also useful for AAC users. Using a basket of Easter eggs, you can demonstrate the following basic concepts, core word vocabulary, directional words, quantitative concepts, and academics skills:
some / all / rest of / just one
in / out / inside / outside / beside / in front / behind
over / under / on top / up / down / right / left
colors / shiny / dull / bright / dark
different / same / similar
close / near / far
open / closed / full / empty
many / few / a lot / a little
more / less / most / fewest / least
size / big / large / little / small
larger / bigger / smaller / smallest / largest / biggest
light / heavy / lighter / heavier / lightest / heaviest
not / none / yes / no
counting / a lot / a little / sight words / directions
Another possibility is to give instructions to your child to improve their ability to follow directions, such as, "Place the blue egg under the chair" or "Put all the pink eggs in the basket." After you do this, have them direct you to reinforce the concepts they are being taught. Get creative by putting strips of paper containing sight words, letters, numbers, or simple math problems inside plastic eggs to improve academic skills. Use your imagination and adapt to your situation, as there are countless ways to introduce and improve your child's language using a simple basket of Easter eggs. Just make sure you meet your child at their level, then model and support to progress them to the next level. Have FUN!