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<\/a><\/p>\nMake Friends: <\/strong>The playground is a wonderful place to interact socially with other children. Practice using greetings by encouraging your child to wave and say \u201chi\/bye.\u201d You can also encourage your child to initiate a conversation with another child by asking them their name or if they would like to play.<\/p>\n Action Words:<\/strong> The playground encourages all sorts of movement, so what better place than a playground to target action words (verbs). Think of all the actions that your child can do while at the playground: swing, slide, climb, run, walk, jump, sit, play, stop, go, etc. You can model the word while your child is completing the action or have your child tell you what she is doing.<\/p>\n Basic Concepts in Play:\u00a0<\/strong>A variety of basic concepts can be used to describe play at the playground. Examples of these concepts include: fast\/slow, up\/down, high\/low, on\/off, in\/out, big\/little, under\/over. Use these concepts to describe your child’s movement or incorporate these concepts into<\/p>\n Ready, Set, Go!:<\/strong> Use anticipatory sets in play. Anticipatory sets are phrases that are used repetitively with your child so that she will anticipate what comes next. For example, you can place your child at the top of the slide and keep her in position while you say, \u201cready, set, go!\u201d After you have said \u201cgo,\u201d let her go down the slide. To encourage your child to interact using language, repeat the task. This time you will say \u201cready, set\u2026 \u201c and then wait. You won\u2019t let your child go down the slide until she has finished the phrase, in some way, by using a sign, approximated word, or word. The sequence of ready, set, go is powerfully motivating to produce language, especially when something exciting is about to happen.<\/p>\n