Don’t put away those plastic eggs yet!

At Easter time, I find myself driving to multiple dollar stores around the city in the search of plastic eggs. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize this, but kids LOVE using the plastic eggs in therapy. You can use the traditional plastic eggs, but many of the stores have a variety of eggs, like these ocean animals and dinosaur eggs!

The themes mean that they are perfectly acceptable to use any time of year! I mean, you can use any eggs all year round, there is no rule that says you can’t.

So why do kids love eggs so much? Kids LOVE to open things to find out what is hidden inside.  The element of surprise is a very powerful strategy that I use all the time.

So what if you don’t have eggs? You can still recreate the element of surprise using items from around your house. Use a cloth bag or a box (something kids cannot see into) and put various items in it that are related to your child’s goals (e.g., all things that start with your child’s target sound, a variety of items your child can label, describe, categorize, etc.). Take turns pulling things out and talking about the items you and your child find. There are also many toys commercially available where you can open doors to reveal item such as surprise puzzles, miniature houses or these 2 toys that are therapy favourites!

For younger kids you can also practice core vocabulary such as open/close or in/out when playing with the toys. They could also ask for ‘help’ if it is difficult to open or practice commenting (e.g., ‘wow’, ‘look at that’, ‘I like it’).

When you use the element of surprise in play with your child, you facilitate endless opportunities for natural language to occur. You can also create lots of opportunities to practice specific words or concepts as identified by you and your SLP by selecting specific items to hide inside the eggs or toys. You can then talk about what you find.

What other games or activities can you think of that  incorporate the element of surprise?