Summer Ideas

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Summer Programs and Daycares in Montgomery County Maryland

Here are some ideas of things that parents can do with their children over the summer. They are grouped into categories that might be useful in choosing which activities would be most helpful for a particular child. This list was compiled from ideas provided by PEP staff members. Contributors are: Susan Emery, SLP; Joan Sugrue, SLP; Linda Bastiani, Special Educator; Laurie Benjamin, OT; Eithne and Molly, OT's at Strawberry Knoll PEP.

[Oral Motor] [Functional Language] [Language Activities] [Language Games] [General Language Stimulation] [Articulation] [Gross Motor] [Paper Pencil] [Fine Motor] [Sensory]

General Activities (these are always good things to do with any young child)

cook together (try some of the ideas that Giant and Safeway have on their flyers for kids)
make playdough (see the best recipe here)
read LOTS of books - go to the library - take advantage of the storytelling programs at the public libraries and big book stores
do puzzles
go on a picnic
catch lightning bugs
take a walk and collect things
visit a pet store
go swimming
go to the special functions at stores like Zany Brainy (Congressional Plaza in Rockville) If you play your cards right, your child might never figure out that it is actually a store where you can buy things.
go to museums:

National Zoo - DC

Baltimore Zoo

Baltimore Aquarium

B and O Railroad museum in Baltimore

Air and Space Museum

Museum of Natural History

Children's Museum - DC

Children's Science Museum in Baltimore

plant a garden
send a letter to grandma

Oral Motor Activities

(eating)

chew gum
lick a popsicle
bite pretzel rods using one side of the mouth at a time
drink juice with a straw
eat applesauce through a straw
eat licorice, starburst or other chewy candy
play tug of war with fruit rollups or licorice strings
dip pretzles in honey and lick off
bite through string cheese using molars
present a variety of textures: chewy, crunchy, soft, etc.
while sitting on his hands, have your child pull in licorice or pretzel stick using lips and teeth only.
have your child lick peanut butter, whipped cream, etc. from around, above and below the lips.
lick jelly off a rice cake

(play)

blow bubbles, paper, cotton balls, pinwheels, ping pong balls
play a Simon Says-type imitation game: touch parts of your face and have your child do the same.
have your child wash her face before a mirror, following directions at the same time (now wash your chin, etc.)
use cotton balls to put powder on face
rub hands, arms, and face with lotion
vigorous tooth brushing (preferably before eating for stimulation)
blow various "fun" whistles and pinwheels
blow out candles
blow bubbles in water or milk through a straw
make funny faces in the mirror
use chapstick or lipstick on lips and kiss paper to make lip prints

Functional Language Skills

Look at this website for practical ways to engineer the environment to elicit speech.
If your child is not spontaneously requesting at mealtime, present a choice visually using 2 foods and encourage your child to "pick one." Use other family members to model what is expected.
Use the picture symbol placemat (ask your teacher for an example) to guide your child to indicate needs at mealtime.
Eat a desired food item in front of your child. Try to elicit some type of response, even if imitative, instead of "grabbing."
Initiate a simple play activity such as rolling a ball or blowing bubbles. Require a gestural, verbal or imitative response in order for your child to take a turn.

Language Activities

Make a "book" using a picture album with pictures of familiar people to encourage labeling, and/or pictures of people doing things to encourage responses to questions, descriptions of activities.
Read, read, read! Try and choose books with vocabulary and text appropriate to their level, but don't discourage their own choices--you can always make up your own words to go with the pictures. If your child appears not to like or sit still for reading, try it when they are a "captive audience"--at bedtime (when they're tucked in and the only other choice is sleep), in the tub, or in the car (when you are not the driver!).
Cooking: Talk about what goes in, what comes next (sequencing), hot/cold...

Language Games

Lotto
Peanut Butter and Jelly (sequencing)
Memory (finding the same)
Twister (our version: color identification, following directions, e.g., "Stand on the red circle")
Colorforms (vocabulary concepts)
Candyland (colors, turn-taking)
Guess Who? (answering questions: who, descriptions)
Mr. Potato Head (body parts)
playdough, for hiding vocabulary items, for making snakes (sss), for making bigger, smaller; longer, etc.
cars and trucks, for concepts in/under/fast/slow, etc.
dolls, for identifying body parts, articles of clothing, etc.

General Language Stimulation

Talk about all the colors, categories (fruit, vegetables, etc.) in the grocery store. Have your child follow directions (e.g., "Get one lemon and two apples, please.", etc.)
Go on an outside walk and see "how many" (birds, trees, houses, etc.) you can find.
Have your child choose his own clothing by following directions involving places (in the closet), colors, and weather ("It's hot--do you need shorts or long pants?").
Go to and talk about--the Park, zoo, fire house., train station, airport, etc.

Articulation

If your child is working on a particular sounds or sounds:

Mount the sound's letter, using magnetic letters, on the refrigerator for practice
Make a poster of magazine pictures beginning with that sound for practice
Trace the sound's letter in shaving cream while practicing the sound
Cut a hole in the top of a closed box and hide items inside that begin with the target sound. Have your child label them as you pull them out.
Find as many things as you can find with the beginning sound in the kitchen, bedroom, etc.

Gross Motor

paint the outside of the house, fences, tables with water (this is great for upper body strength)
go to different and interesting playgrounds
if you can get together with a small group of children, play games like duck, duck goose, red light, green light, simon says, hokey pokey
walk on balance beams
make an obstacle course with tables and chairs. Go over, under, through and around.
roll down hills, roll up in blankets
pretend to be a frog and jump from "lily pad" to "lily pad"
try a three legged walk - tie one leg on each of two children together
lay a ladder on the floor and step in the rungs
play ball - rolling, kicking, catching, throwing, bouncing

Paper/Pencil Activities

copy straight lines - vertical and horizontal
copy circles or circular scribbles
copy diagonal lines
draw lines within a path (example)
copy squares
copy triangles
combine shapes to make pictures (square and a triangle to make a house)

(a good progression is to start with hand over hand, then copy, then trace a shape using tracing paper)

Fine Motor Activities

block designs - use one inch cubes or other blocks you might have in your house - talk about colors, shapes, sizes

you make one and then have your child try to make the same thing. Take turns. Start with three pieces, then four, then five. Keep it challenging, but not frustrating.

hide little things in various containers: zip lock bags, pockets, playdough containers, boxes with lids, spice containers with screw tops, etc.
cut with scissors
glue paper scraps on paper, toilet paper rolls, paper bags, etc.
string beads and make necklaces. Talk about colors, make patterns, copy sequences.
put pennies, beans, or small items into little contiainers
put pennies in a slot
do any craft
press buttons on the TV remote
do puzzles