By Small Talk Speech Pathology

Saturday 28 April 2012

Mother's Day Cards, Gifts, Crafts and Printables

For more Mother's Day fun, have a look at some of the wonderful inspiration from all over the world, honoring our wonderful mums.
Enjoy x

Mother's Day Free Printables


Mother's Day DIY gift ideas




Mother's Day Craft for Kids




Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mums out there, and especially to our own.

Love,
Lauren and Vanessa 

Friday 27 April 2012

Mother's Day Breakfast + FREE Printable

At Small Talk Speech Pathology we are constantly working with parents - especially mums to enhance the speech, language and literacy development of their little ones.  Mother's Day is just around the corner and we hope to share with you all some beautiful ideas, activities and free printables to celebrate all the fabulous mums in the world.

Most countries, Australia included, celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, as declared by US President Woodrow Wilson on May 8, 1914. The tradition quickly spread around the world, though the traditions vary from nation to nation.  This year, Mother's Day falls on Sunday the 13th of May in Australia.

Here is a beautiful breakfast idea to spoil mum with ;) courtesy of Oh Happy Day








Materials: Printable PDF, toothpicks, glue and tape.
Step One: Print out pdf and cut out the shapes.
Step Two: Fill out the blank tags and glue or tape them to toothpicks to make little flags and signs.
Step Three: Surprise Mum with Breakfast in Bed!

Click here to print

Love,
V & L

Tuesday 17 April 2012

How to Develop Social Skills in Children With Hearing Loss & Speech Impairments


How to Develop Social Skills in Children With Hearing Loss & Speech Impairments
Photo Credit Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
Hearing loss and communication disorders in children are quite common; according to a statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cited on the website for the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, more than 12,000 babies with hearing loss are born in the United States every year. Children with speech, language and hearing impairments need not feel isolated because they are different. Adaptations and caregiver support can make a world of difference when helping a child with communication problems to develop socially.

Step 1

Teach your child the basic conventions of polite communication, including eye contact, turn-taking and listening. Although it may seem obvious to you that you should pause to let other people speak and look at them when you want to talk, these ideas may not be obvious to a child with a communication disorder. Explain the rationale behind the different practices to your child: "By looking at me, you show me that you're interested in what I have to say."

Step 2

Practice introductions and conversation skills with your child. Children with communication disorders get less practice talking with other children and sometimes need guidance about how to get a conversation going with a new friend. A child who is self-conscious about a speech problem might feel more comfortable in social settings if you give her a list of questions and conversational statements to practice beforehand, such "Hi, I'm Sarah. What's your name?" and "What's your favorite color?"

Step 3

Discuss facial expressions with your child. Whether your child is hearing-impaired or has problems processing more complex sentences, a person's face offers him helpful clues about what that individual is trying to say. Use flash cards to study different expressions. Show your child how looking at facial expressions can help him to pick up on subtle communication differences; for example, someone who makes serious-sounding statements while smiling is probably joking around.

Step 4

Provide lessons to your child's class about his specific communication disorder and how students around him can help. For example, if your child is hearing-impaired, explain that his voice might sound different sometimes. If your child uses a special method of communicating, such as sign language, gestures or picture cards, show other kids the basics of using those methods to make friends with your child.

Step 5

Organize social opportunities for your child. Because children with communication disorders have trouble initiating play dates on their own, take the initiative to create social experiences for your child. Ask your child with whom he wants to play and extend an invitation. Depending on your child's needs, you may need to schedule playtime with planned activities, such as an organized craft or cooking project, to keep conversation and interaction going.

Step 6

Encourage your child's participation in regular classroom activities. If other children are giving presentations, let the teacher know that you want your child to do one, too, but on a scaled-down level that is appropriate for your child's skill set. Meet regularly with your child's education team to discuss how to integrate him with the rest of the class as much as possible.

Step 7

Enroll your child for extracurricular groups. If your child has a strong interest in dance, signing her up for after-school lessons encourages development of friendships; children in the group can talk about their common interest.

Tips and Warnings

  • To get extra help with basic social skills, look for a social skills group run by a speech-language pathologist, social worker or psychologist in your community. A speech-language pathologist can provide more tips and materials to help your child understand the complexities of the social world.

References

Article reviewed by Joseph Coda Last updated on: Aug 18, 2011

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/516690-how-to-develop-social-skills-in-children-with-hearing-loss-speech-impairments/#ixzz1sMVNv6tW

Sunday 15 April 2012

FREE printables - The Royal Wedding - William & Kate

Prince William and Kate Middleton were married on 29th April 2011 in Westminster Abbey - and Activity Village celebrated! Scroll down to find our collection of Royal Wedding crafts, activities, colouring pages and printables.  

 Enjoy these free printables to celebrate William & Kate's 1 year wedding anniversary which is coming up in the next few weeks!

Royal Wedding paper dolls to print Royal Wedding paper dolls page 2
Our Royal Wedding paper dolls give you a choice of not one, but three wedding dresses for you to choose from! You can print out our paper dolls in colour, or in black and white to colour yourselves..
Royal Wedding paper dolls  

Royal Wedding Crafts
Royal Wedding souvenirs - plates and mug
Design your own Royal Wedding souvenirs - plates and mugs ... what a brilliant way to commemorate the special occasion and have something to treasure from the day!
Royal Wedding souvenirs

Royal Wedding Colouring Pages

William and Kate colouring page
Colour in this portrait of the happy couple!
William and Kate colouring page
William and Kate colouring page with frame
Here's a version of the portrait with a gilt frame, just for fun...
William and Kate colouring page with frame

Royal Wedding Doodle Pages

Wedding cake colouring page Decorate the wedding cake
Can you create a really splendid wedding cake for the Royal couple? Either add your own touches to the wedding cake colouring page, or use our "decorations" to cut out and stick on.
Wedding cake colouring page
Decorate the wedding cake
Decorate the hats Decorate the hats - decorations to stick on
All the guests at Westminster Abbey will be wearing hats for the Royal Wedding .. but what will they look like? Decorate your own, either by colouring and doodling on the hat page or by cutting out our lovely "decorations" and sticking them on!
Decorate the hats - hats
Decorate the hats - decorations to stick on
Design a bridesmaid's dress
How will Kate Middleton dress her bridesmaids? You can decide!
Design a bridesmaid's dress
Design a page's outfit
Will there be any pages at the wedding? What will they wear?
Design a page's outfit
Royal writing frame for kids
Draw a portrait of your favourite queen in this regal frame, or use one of the lined versions for some royal writing...
Royal portrait frame
Royal frame writing
Royal frame handwriting
Design a stamp frame
Design a stamp to commemorate the Royal Wedding!
Design a stamp
Design a stamp - blank

Patriotic Printables

Union Jack printables
We've got three sizes of flags for all your decorating ideas and projects, a printable jigsaw, notebooking paper, bookmarks and more!
UK flag printables

Royal Wedding Crafts

UK Olympic mascot
Rule Britannia Ted!
Teddy mascots

More Royal Printables

Henry I colouring page
British Kings and Queens printables
If you are learning about British royalty, you might enjoy our colouring pages, notebooking pages, mini notebooks and other fun printables...

A Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary to William & Kate!

Vanessa & Lauren

FREE printable playdate cards


Play date cards are a lovely way to exchange contact details with other families and to arrange play dates for your kids.





Love,
Vanessa & Lauren