The Speech-Language MOMologist: We're Seeing GREEN for St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick’s Day is only a week away so that means it’s time for some more activities to celebrate! When we think St. Patty’s Day, we think GREEN! And that’s what we want our little ones thinking about too! Look around for things that are GREEN this week! If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve also been following my little boy’s speech and language progress as well! And yes, Michael is still convinced everything is blue! Hoping this week will put GREEN in his vocabulary! Here are some throwback activities (the pictures are of my son Anthony when he was only a year and a half old) that we’ll be repeating in our house this week.

A fun game to play is “I SPY.” Even if your little one is too young to say the phrase, they’ll still enjoy listening to you say it! So on your walks, driving in the car, or out at the store running errands this week, look around and say, “I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE… GREEN GRASS… A GREEN TRUCK… A GREEN SHIRT… GREEN BROCCOLI.” You may feel a little silly, but talking to your child and pointing things out to them in their environment can greatly impact their language development. Even if they’re not doing the talking, they’re doing the listening – and sometimes that’s just as good!

Next, let’s bring GREEN into the bath! My boys love the bath. They always have. I remember when I was working full time and would come home after a long day; I would just sit in the bathtub with Anthony and play with him. Early evening tends to be the witching hour for a lot of kids, and Anthony was no different. The bath always seemed to calm him and change any mood into a good one. So if you need a little extra time or extra fun in the bath this week, here’s what you’ll need:

Shaving cream

Green food coloring

Paint brush

Bowl

Simply mix a few drops of green food coloring in a bowl with some shaving cream. Arm your little one with a paint brush in the bathtub and go for it! RECALL all of those GREEN things that you saw today. Name some new things that are GREEN. You’ll be working on MEMORY, CATEGORIZING, and VOCABULARY all at the same time! Who knew bath time could be so productive! (Keep in mind food coloring can stain - so wash it off your tiles right after the fun is done.)

Feel like crafting GREEN? Here we go! You’ll need:

Shamrock cut out

Green dot marker

If you don’t own a set of dot markers, I highly recommend getting one. You can purchase them at any craft or teaching store. They are great for toddlers who are too little to color and at almost 3 ½ years old, Anthony still loves to use them. I first started using them with Anthony when he was less than 18 months old, so as long as your little one can hold the dot marker, it’s a great tool. Put your shamrock cut out on the table and let your little one dot away! You can COUNT as they make their dots or just chant, GREEN, GREEN, GREEN! Another way to teach your color is to show your little one two dot markers (one green and the other one another color) holding one in each hand. Ask, “WHERE’S GREEN?” If they answer correctly (by pointing or naming it), say, “You’re right! That’s GREEN!” If they don’t respond or answer incorrectly, then show them the GREEN dot marker and say, “Here’s GREEN. This one is GREEN.” You can repeat that sequence always keeping the green dot marker and changing the second color. Try to make it into a game so it is fun, not just drilling colors!

Just when you thought you’ve had enough GREEN, here’s one more activity! You’ll need:

Shamrock cut outs

Green finger paint

Paper

Lightly tape the shamrock cut outs on to a piece of paper. Give your little one some GREEN finger paint and let them paint over the entire piece of paper. When they’re all done, remove the shamrocks and you’ll be left with shamrock shapes outlined by your little one’s finger painting. If your little one isn’t big into finger painting, you could do it with a paintbrush as well. Just make sure that the paper around the shamrocks is covered in paint. GREEN hands, GREEN paper, GREEN shamrocks!!!! Talk GREEN with your little one!