Water parks are fun and popular destinations for families during the summer season. In addition to being an inexpensive vacation and a relief from the summer heat, trips to the waterpark can be wonderful opportunities for language learning experiences! Included below are tips for working on specific language skills while spending time with your family!

Social Communication:

My Turn/Your Turn: Before your children take off down a slide or chute, use visuals to help them say “My turn!” and “Your turn!” to practice using this language when regulating turns when engaging in turn-taking activities. Use a “My Turn” visual card to further increase your child’s understanding of the language you are wanting them to use.

Initiating and responding to comments is another great skill to practice at a water park. Your child can say “Watch Me!,” “Look!” or “Ready, set, go!” as they start down the slide or jump into the pool. Model these comments for your child just as you want them to use them.

Your child can also work on their requesting skills when choosing activities within the water park. Visit the water park’s website before your visit to gain an idea of the attractions that are there. You can then make visuals that can help your child understand their surroundings and express themselves. Binary choices are a great way to help your child make a choice by narrowing the options. Since most water park slides are different colors, use visuals to represent these colors as you present your child with the options: “Ride blue or ride green”

Visuals can also be made for attractions such as the wave pool, play area, picnic tables, lazy river and more! If your child makes choices beyond the level of binary choices, then an open-ended “I want ___” visual can be used for all attractions.

Modifiers:

Descriptors such as wet/dry, fast/slow, cold/warm/hot and dangerous are also great words to work on. You can practice wet/dry as your child uses a towel to dry off. Model the language by singing “Wet hair, gonna dry, dry, dry!” As your make your way down the slides and chutes, describe the ride a fast, slow, or scary!

Verbs:

Action words may be the easiest skill to address. With all of the running, sliding, splashing, swimming, and climbing that goes on at water parks, you will have no shortage of opportunities to model this language or help your child to use the language! Use songs to narrate your actions as you swim in the wave pool, float in the lazy river, ride down the slides, climb ladders, and swing on ropes!

Enjoy getting relief from the summer heat while implementing fun social language activities with your child!

~KidSpeak, LLC
www.kidspeakdallas.com

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