Topics in Speech and Language: Bubble Play for Early Sound Development

A Little About Me and This Blog

I have been a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) since 1987. I am a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association. I have worked in the states of New York, Hawaii and Florida. I am currently in New York State. I have worked in settings that include public schools, special education preschools, hospitals, adult day treatment programs, home health rehabilitation, early intervention and preschool homebased therapy. I have provided evaluation and therapy to people ranging in age from 6 months to 100 years. I have worked with a wide range of conditions and treatments including fluency, aphasia, apraxia, voice disorders, dysphagia, cleft palate, hearing impairment, articulation delay, language delay, augmentative/alternative communication, autism, and many others through the years.
The purpose of this Blog is to share information and answer questions that you may have. I will strive to provide the correct information to the best of my professional knowledge. I may not share the same professional opinion as other licensed speech pathologists and I encourage second opinions if you want to be as informed as possible.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Bubble Play for Early Sound Development

   One of my most favorite activities to do with infants, toddlers and preschoolers is to play with bubbles. The kids absolutely love bubbles and I often bring them out for the last few minutes of a session.  The older kids think it's a reward and will work well with the promise of bubbles. I love them for several reasons.  If the child is old enough, I have them practice blowing the bubbles as part of the activity. This works on oral motor strength and coordination. I use bubbles to encourage sign and gesture usage for "more," "please," "done," "bye," "yes," etc. I use related words to encourage all early developing sounds such as /h,p,b,d,m,n,w/. Some bubble play related words are: bubble, more, up, bye-bye, pop, done, please, wet, gone, blow, wow, uh-oh, high, yes, no.
   When blowing bubbles with the child...use the key words repeatedly. For example: "Look....bubble..up-up-up...bye-bye bubble....pop-pop-pop...." "More bubble...pop-pop-pop....all gone..." "More bubble...uh-oh...pop-pop-pop...." "Bubble...wow!....up-up-up... uh-oh...pop!"   "Wow...high bubble....bye-bye." This is also a chance to ask questions of your child and encourage responses either verbally or with gestures.   Ask child "Do you want more?" Encourage them to use head gesture for "Yes," sign for "More" or use words if they are able to say "more" or "more bubble."
     This bubble activity is done regularly and the children begin to respond to the repetiveness of the words modeled and the activity of blowing and popping (popping the bubbles with a pointer finger encourages fine motor skills as well). They will often imitate the repeated words like "pop-pop-pop" after a few sessions. Soon they start to use some of the phrases spontaneously! Parents in my sessions usually love this activity as well. I encourage them to get bubbles and use them as often as possible when the children are learning these early sounds.. I recommend the spill proof type of bubble containers that are available now.
     I will also work on body parts and object recognition with bubbles. I will catch the bubble on the wand and pop it on a body part or toy while I label it. "I'm going to pop this bubble on your foot."  "Pop on block." You are then modeling speech sounds and vocabulary.
     So get those bubbles out and have fun! The learning opportunities are endless.