Is your child having some difficulty developing their knowledge of body parts and general language skills?

If so, then Mr Potato Head can help!

 

Play: It can’t be disputed that children learn best through play as language development can be supported, by adults, in a fun and natural way. Playing with Mr Potato Head can help develop symbolic play, certain language skills and support overall cognitive development.

Choices: Offer your child choices of body parts when placing them into Mr Potato Head. It can support the understanding and expressive use of, vocabulary for body parts. Talk about these body parts as your child is assembling and experimenting with Mr Potato Head. Providing choices can also support a child’s ability to make decisions.

Requesting: Mr Potato Head is a great tool to help support the skill of requesting. It offers many ways to develop consistent use of communication including, gestures, sign and verbal communication. Adapt the way Potato Head is played by holding back some pieces from the child to provide repetitive opportunities for the child to use all their communication skills.

Action words and prepositions: Get Mr Potato Head moving! Show a child how he can jump and walk to support understanding and use of verbs. Play hide and seek with Mr Potato Head to support the understanding of prepositions. Knowledge of these location words assists in enabling a child to follow directions and instructions.

Mr Potato Heads’ use is not limited to the support of language and communication development. Its use can also help support the development of fine motor and visual scanning skills.

 

Mr Potato Head is a wonderful multipurpose toy and I highly recommend it!

 

Written by

Elaine Baldwin, Senior Speech & Language Therapist at Sensational Kids, Clonakilty

 

Where Can I Purchase Mr Potato Head?

Mr Potato Head is available from Sensational Kids Child Development & Learning Store

 

Copyright Sensational Kids CLG 2018