Sights and Sounds of the Season

‘Tis the season where your child will experience so many new sights, sounds and even smells! Here are ways to use these new experiences to develop their language and listening skills:

What do you SEE?

Activity: Take down a strand of colored holiday lights and show your child how they light up. Look at the different colors, label the colors, and then turn them off. Encourage your child to request to turn the lights on (e.g., “lights on please”)

Activity: Tape wrapping paper to the bottom of a table and sit under the table with your child. Bring a flashlight with you and describe what you see as you shine the flashlight on the different images. (Adaptation: Tape plain, white paper under the table and draw pictures of snowmen, trains, or anything else that might interest your child. Describe what you are drawing and give your child a chance to draw his/her picture)

What do you HEAR?

Activity: Encourage your child to listen to the presence and absence of sound by placing a bell or some other object inside a brightly decorated box. Provide your child with a second empty box and take turns shaking them. Indicate when you do or don’t hear a sound. Take time to explore the object making the sound.

Activity: Gather up scraps of wrapping paper and explore them with your child. Tear the paper together and listen for the sound it makes. “Listen. Rriiip. I hear the paper ripping”.

What do you SMELL?

Activity: Take old empty spice containers and fill them with different holiday smells. You can put in spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, pine needles from your Christmas tree or soak a cotton ball with a few drops of peppermint or vanilla extract. Practice smelling the scents and describing what you smell. “Mmmm. That smells sweet!”

Winter Songs & Finger Plays

Five Little Snowmen

Five little snowmen standing in a row (hold up one hand and point to each finger)

Each had two eyes and a carrot nose (point to eyes, point to nose)

Along came the sun and shone all day (make sun with hands, wipe sweat from brow)

Then one little snowman melted away (hold up one finger, slowly “melt to the ground”)

Four little snowmen…

Three little snowmen…

Two little snowmen…

One little snowman…

Falling Snowflakes

(to the tune of “Are You Sleeping”)

Falling snowflakes

Falling snowflakes

To the ground

To the ground

Whirling twirling snowflakes

Whirling twirling snowflakes

All around

All around