Sometimes knowing how to help our little children learn how to speak and use their tongue can be quite a monumental task for two reasons: One) You, as an adult, don't remember how you learned to speak. Two) for most of us, we learned to speak without any problems or needing speech therapy. Therefore, as a mother
learning to teach a child to discover their voice can be quite challenging but this exercise was always Jr.'s favorite.
A great way to determine your child's tongue strength is by how well they lick their lips. For Jr. he struggled to stick his tongue out from side to side or up-basically all he could do was stick his tongue out. He would typically use his sleeve to wipe food off. He also would drool sometimes when overly excited. He failed to use his tongue to push saliva back and
close his mouth to swallow-which was kinda yucky :)
You'll Need:
- Hershey's chocolate sauce (or any kind)
- Mirror (can use a bathroom mirror)
- Patience
Sit down with you kiddo and tell them that you're going to practice licking your lips and show them. Tell them after your done you're going to make chocolate milk, Mooo. Then place a little chocolate syrup on their top lip and yours and tell them to lick it off. Then place some below their bottom lip and try licking it off. Once they feel comfortable with this try putting is outside the corners of their mouth. It really helps if you use a mirror and they can watch you and themselves practice. Remember make it fun. If they feel pressure to perform you might quickly overwhelm them and that's not the point-the point is to learn and have fun
Together.
That's all she wrote
