Turning Daily Situations into Learning Experiences!

Who doesn't love trucks, tractors, and road construction? Well, unless we adults are stuck in the traffic it causes of course! The truth is, kids (especially boys) LOVE to watch the digging, pushing, and beeping of road construction trucks.

Just outside of a daycare center I visited this morning were workers putting in new water pipes. I decided to take this opportunity and turn it into a learning experience with the child I was seeing.

I see this particular child for speech-related goals and when he saw the trucks, he was immediately excited. He told me, "There are two trucks, one, two!" The child watched the pipe go into the hole and said, "down, down, down." I was blown away by the amount of speech this situation was encouraging.

 

After watching the trucks dig holes for a few minutes, I asked him to choose whether he wanted to play with toys at the table or continue watching the trucks; much to my surprise, he walked to the table and brought a toy back to the window. We proceeded to play with a shape sorter and a puzzle while watching the trucks. We continued to talk about what the trucks were doing, what they were going to do next, and other educational points, such as colors and shapes.

The next time you pass by road construction with your child in the back seat, turn it into a learning experience. Ask them open-ended questions, such as "How many trucks to you see, what are they doing?"

You can also turn routine situations into learning experiences, such as a grocery store visit, doctor appointment, or walking the dog. Try it out!

Katie Zink, ITFS/P