Ways to Work on Prepositions at Home
Prepositions (ex. in, on, out, under, etc.) are frequently targeted in speech therapy for children with both language and phonological disorders. There are plenty of fun ways you can incorporate working on these goals into your daily routine. Here are some ideas:
- Storybook reading: While reading books, highlight where objects and characters are in the pictures such as “the girl is hiding behind the tree” or “the teddy bear is in the toy box.” When your child is ready to use prepositions, ask them a question after each page, such as “Where is the boy hiding?” When they respond, correct their preposition use by modeling the accurate production and ask again!
- Pretend Play: Playing with dolls, action figures, or other toys provides a perfect opportunity to use prepositions within play. Model phrases like “He is on top of the building!” or “She is coming out of the house.” You can also play hide and go seek with toys at home and model prepositions while hiding, looking, or giving directions to your child to help find the hidden toy. Once they find all of their toys, its their turn to hide them and give directions!
- Coloring and Crafts: While coloring or making crafts talk about where colors are or where things are being glued on. You can make a picture out of shapes and put the circle ON TOP of the square, or put the triangle NEXT TO the circle, and so on. Let your child draw their own picture and tell you about what they drew while encouraging them to use prepositions. For example, “where did you draw the tree?” or “where is mommy standing in your picture?” If they need a little extra help you can ask “Is mommy standing next to the house or under the house?”
- Movies and TV shows: Turning screen time into shared conversations is the best way to add learning opportunities to your child’s favorite shows. Pause the show periodically and ask them questions, such as “Where is Oscar the Grouch?” (i.e. IN the trash can) or “Do you see where Catboy is?” Make sure to model the responses; as your child is more familiar with common prepositions allow them to independently respond and correct their responses as needed.
If you have concerns about your child’s speech and language development, call T.E.A.M. 4 Kids to schedule an evaluation at our Surprise or Peoria location.
