At home speech practice using daily routines for kids
Toddlers thrive on routines! Because routines offer a sense of predictability and safety, they raise toddlers’ capacity for learning new information from the world around them.
A routine is anything you do the same way every time, like taking off your shoes and putting them on a bench before you come inside the house.
That said, you don’t need to plan every minute of your day! We’ll show you how you can supercharge one of your daily routines to help grow your child’s communication skills at home.
Tips for using toddler’s routines for at home speech practice
Tip 1 - Choose a few routines
Start by selectively choosing a few routines you are committed to implementing. Be sure to choose something you KNOW you can do EVERY DAY; don’t try to schedule a whole day full of new activities to create routines. This is extra and unnecessary work.
Here are a few ideas of routines you might do everyday to help you pick a routine that’s fun for your family.
Put on your socks and shoes before you go outside
Wash your body and then wash your hair when you're in the tub
Wash your hands every time after you go to the bathroom
Eat breakfast, brush your teeth, and then get dressed every morning
Dump leftover food into the trash and then set your plate next to the sink every time after you eat
Get out of your car seat and wait next to the car while mom gets the baby out
Tip 2 - Be consistent
Your routines should be completed at roughly the same time every day, and in the same space. It also helps if each routine requires specific items — for example, a toothbrush for your morning routine.
Consistency is imperative when establishing your routines. If your child is staying with Grandma and Grandpa or another caregiver overnight, be sure to fill them in on these routines.
If your routines are inconsistent, they won’t provide the sense of predictability and safety that primes your child for learning new concepts. Once they’ve learned a routine, they will be able to move on to learning details, like the names of the things you use in that routine.
Tip 3 - Show your child what is going to happen next
When you’re teaching routines, it helps to SHOW your child what you’re going to do at the same time that you TELL them what you’re going to do. This helps your child understand what is going to happen, even if they don’t comprehend the words you’re saying.
For example, if your child’s routine is to brush their teeth before you read their bedtime story, you can say, “First brush your teeth, then we‘ll read a story” as you show them a toothbrush and their favorite book.
Download our free PDF guide for using daily routines to practice speech therapy at home ↓
At home activity - daily routines for toddlers
Materials:
Things you regularly use during a diaper change, such as a diaper, wipes, changing pad, diaper cream, etc.
Set-up:
You likely don’t need to set up anything for this activity, as you probably already are always set up for diaper changing.
Many toddlers are still wearing a diaper and changing the diaper is an important daily routine. If your child does not wear a diaper, you can adjust this activity for their current bathrooming routine.
What to do:
In this activity, you will be helping your child understand the steps to a familiar routine (changing their diaper.) For this routine and any other routine, you will start by saying where the routine happens. Next, label all the objects used in the routine while you show the objects to your child. Last, describe 1-2 steps in the routine.
For changing a diaper, you would say:
“time to change your diaper! Let’s go to your room. We need wipes and a diaper. First we will take off your diaper, then we will wipe, we’ll put on a new diaper, and last we will throw it away [/put it in the diaper hamper]. Okay, are you ready? First, we take the diaper off. Now, we wipe. Last, I put the new diaper on. All done, go throw this away for me!”
Even if there are actually more steps to this routine (such as laying down a changing mat, opening the wipes, picking up the diaper, etc), it is important that you only talk about a few events in the routine. If you narrated every single little thing you were doing, your child might become overwhelmed or tune out. So narrate only the important parts that your child is part of.
What to say:
Since each step of the routine takes a while to complete, you can keep saying the name of the action for each step so your child can keep track of what each step is called.
“I take your diaper off off, I take your diaper off. I take your diaper off off I take your diaper off!” [to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It]
“Wipe wipe wipe. Wipe wipe wipe. All wiped!”
“I put your diaper on on, I put your diaper on. I put your diaper on on I put your diaper on. I put your diaper on on, I put your big kid diaper on, I put your diaper on on I put your diaper on.” [to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It]
Download our free PDF guide for using daily routines to practice speech therapy at home - with this activity + 2 more! ↓
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Created In Collaboration By:
Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP
Stephanie Burgener-Vader, MA CCC-SLP
Melissa Sartori, MS CCC-SLP
Yvette Faire-Bostick, MS CCC-SLP
© 2020-2022. Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP. All Rights Reserved.
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