Incorporating Language at Home- Mealtimes
Next up in our language at home series is mealtime! We practiced our language strategies while cooking, so let’s continue that and enjoy the food!
The strategy to focus on this time is called sabotage. This will target requesting. When we are working with kids, we want to set up opportunities to elicit that expressive language. Sabotage is just what are thinking- deliberately mess something up in the process and WAIT to see how your child responds. Watch the critical thinking happen and let your child work through the problem. I recommend starting at snack time, but this can be done at any meal.
Here are some things we may see… They may walk right up to you and stick out a hand or gesture. Give them an expectant or confused look and see what they say. Ask “what happened? What’s wrong?”. Give plenty of wait time and opportunity to for them to use verbal language, but acknowledge any communication attempts (eye contact, gesture, facial expressions, pulling your arm). Then MODEL. Sometimes we have the super independent kids that just solve the problem themselves. In that case, narrate and then think of something a little more difficult for next time ;) Here are some examples:
Let’s set the table! We put out 4 plates and 4 cups, but only give them 3 spoons. Then wait.
It’s snack time and your child wants some fruit snacks? Great. Hand them the whole package and don’t open it.
Fill their cup up with a minimal amount of their favorite drink.
A new special candy or treat is visible in a clear jar or hard to open container.
Give them only 3 goldfish crackers to start.
Remember, we want to give plenty of language opportunities but we cannot force words, so keep things fun and exciting! Observe your child’s attempts, incorporate wait time, but avoid pushing to frustration.
Adapt these strategies to your child’s needs. Maybe they are using AAC or sign language— model using those modes.
As always, here are many language skills we can target:
identifying/labeling vocabulary- “plate, chicken, broccoli”
sequencing and following directions- “first, next, last”
object/function- “what do we use to cut/mix/scoop?”
basic concepts- “hot, sticky, gooey, messy, wet, dry, yummy, soft, crunchy, full, empty, clean, dirty”
categories- “fruit, silverware”
requesting- “help, let’s open it, I need a spoon, more crackers”
action words- “eat, get, try, open, twist”
compare/contrast- “These are both desserts, but one has frosting and the other has sprinkles”
Happy eating!!