Playing to Learn

I love to play with Trevor, and while lots of times we are just having fun, I try and use it to teach as well.

Meet his new robot friends. Red Robot and Black Robot as he named them. He LOVES them. I picked them up at a consignment sale here in town and though they were would be perfect for practicing conversation.I get to be the red robot and his favorite is the black one. As much as possible when we are playing cars, or dinosaurs or here lately, robots i've been trying to use that time to practice conversation. At first it was just me making the two toys talk to each other but here lately he is responding to my toy and sometimes even making them talk to each other on his own *happy squeal* He even changes voices when he is switching from one toy to the other. So cute!

Usually our conversations involve things like introducing ourselves, asking to play, sharing, voicing needs or wants, ect. Everything is SUPER nice and polite and very gentle. Needless to say trevor's dinosaurs and robots share, take naps and give each other hugs ;)

He is mostly parroting things I have said and I havent heard much creative conversation but I am excited that he is able to apply this to conversation with me as well! This morning he came up to me and said " what's name" and I told him my name was mommy, and I asked him what his name was, and he pointed to himself and said " name Trevor". Happy dance! This was on the list of things that his first speech therapist had given me to work on. Ive noticed too that sometimes times he will make his toys say things that he is feeling, like when he is hungry or tired, helps a mommy out :)

So here's to robots!