Just because your child was born with speech and language difficulties does not mean that it should be considered a lifelong disability. New research is being done every day, and you can help your child improve their speech and language skills with speech therapy during swimming lessons! Let your child have fun, while learning to interact with others and develop their language skills.
Spending time at the pool with other children can greatly help your child with toddler speech therapy. Start off with some simple exercises before swimming lessons at home:
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Teach your child to be more vocal. Ask them what they are excited about for their swimming lessons. What are the activities they want to do at the pool? This might seem insignificant, but it can have amazing benefits for child language development for your kid having speech or language difficulties.
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Another fun activity you can try with your kid is an interactive ‘sink or float’ game. Play this in a safe area at home, in a tub, or your sink. Fill the tub with water and bring everyday objects such as a block of playing wood, a rubber duck, an egg, or a toy and demonstrate which of these will sink and which ones will float. Have your child repeat these words after you. This only exercises their mind, but also helps developing toddler speech therapy.
When it’s finally time to hit the pool, encourage your child to interact with other kids. Talk about how they played the ‘sink or float’ game at home. Remind your child to be polite, and to respond to their other pool buddies during swimming lessons. Of course, be clear about talking to strangers and talking to other children at the pool and point out the difference between both activities.
Having speech and language difficulties is not a big deal, as many young toddlers face this issue. However, getting creative with your child’s speech therapy and finding new ways like poolside therapy is a great way to help them with child language development. Contact us to learn more about how swimming lessons can be put to work as creative therapy.
