Children’s Speech Therapy Clinic

05/11/2025

Ms Rachel ❤️a

04/11/2025

Pretend play ❤️ Don’t stop engaging in pretend play with your child!

Why??

…. Several studies report that self-regulation skills are often learned through high-quality pretend play (Berk and Meyers, 2013). Veraksa et al. (2022), point out that play is one of the child’s main forms of activity, where he or she masters new forms of behavior, learns to interact with others, and develops imagination and self-regulation skills.

Our children need to play. They need to be silly and creative. They need to move their bodies. They need to make choices.

02/11/2025

Dinosaur time!

- visual tracking- move the dinosaur slowly in different directions and watch as your baby follows the dinosaur!

- funny sounds - model sounds such as “roar!” , “ahhhh” or “mmmmmm” and use gestures if possible

- actions - make the dinosaur “stomp”; make him “jump”, make him “eat”

- touch- she loves to touch and mouth the dinosaur - allow your baby to explore through touch.

- peek a boo- she likes when we hide the dinosaur behind her and then make it jump out in front of her - “peek a boo! Hi dinosaur!”

31/10/2025

Verbal routines, repetition, modelling and vocalisations

She knows when I say “oooooo” that something will happen (bear will pop out).

I repeatedly modelled “ahhhhh” with my mouth wide open (exaggerate your facial expressions)…. After doing this MANY times, this time I just WAIT….. give her time and see what happens…. ❤️

22/10/2025

I’ve always loved playing Guess Who! It’s such a fun way to work on oral language skills in a fun and playful way!

For preschoolers, it’s great for them to practice asking a range of questions, practice appropriate sentence structure and also practice using adjectives! It’s wonderful for listening skills as well!

21/10/2025

The pain still continues….
Another child left without a father.
Another child traumatised.
Another broken child.

21/10/2025

Peek-a-hoot!

How cute is this game!

I love playing games like this with preschoolers!

Learning to….

- wait their turn
- understand and follow rules
- build their vocabulary
- increase their attention
- engage in play and social interaction

19/10/2025

Bubbles 🫧

Even my 4 month old loves bubbles! I honestly have not met a child who does not enjoy bubbles!

Remember, to model and work on language and communication skills, you don’t need expensive toys or resources - simple is best! Bubbles cost 50 cents, and you can buy them from anywhere! You can use bubbles to work on:

- waiting
- visual tracking
- anticipation “ready, set, go”
- language skills
- communication skills
- play skills
- regulation

And more!

Don’t feel the need to buy those expensive toys- you can work on all the above with simple and inexpensive toys/objects!

18/10/2025

Building self-awareness!

Time for some singing and talking in front of the mirror!

💫 seeing themselves in the mirror while you're singing can help babies start recognizing their own face. This is one of the first steps in building self-awareness, which is important for social and emotional development later on.

💫 great for stimulating visual development!

Watching you sing and seeing your facial expressions and mouth movements mirrored back can be fascinating for them. The contrast of your face and their reflection can boost their focus and visual attention.

Keep singing, talking or even dancing in the mirror! 💕

16/10/2025

Daily book reading as usual ❤️

Tip:

Model the phrase “uh-oh!!” when something goes wrong! I dropped a book (accidentally!) and used this opportunity to model “uh oh!!”. Phrases like these are easy to imitate, so keep modelling them in meaningful contexts! 💕

15/10/2025

Early intervention!! I have seen the progress my clients have made when they commence intervention at a really young age, with parents (or parent) who follow up on the strategies provided in our sessions on a daily basis. I have seen them grow, progress and make significant improvements over time, and I love it! 💕

Early diagnosis and intervention are critical in improving quality of life in autism spectrum disorder, though there are barriers to accessing resources.