Making the Holidays Last! A Pediatric Therapist's Recommendation
Authored by Elise Weinstein, M.S., CCC-SLP, Speech Therapist at The Village Therapy Place
Making the Holidays Last!
We are wrapping up another holiday season- let’s celebrate! Your child may or may not remember traditions from last year, but you want your child to gain from this holiday season- what can you do?
Make an experience book!
What is an experience book?
An experience book is a collection of photographs, drawings, and mementos (think: ticket stub from the Rockettes show, leftover napkin from a holiday party, holiday greeting cards and party invitations, holiday candy wrapper- anything that is/was important to your child). Experience books aim to capture the essence of an experience from your child’s perspective.
Who can make an experience book?
Anyone can- and you can create it with your child! Let them help assemble the book once you have collected everything you want to include. Don’t worry about how pretty it looks- focus on the experience.
When should I make an experience book?
Many of us are busy with special events during the holiday season, making it a great opportunity for creating experience books. However, experience books can capture any experience- big or little, happy or sad. The time your child fell and had to go to the doctor. The time you baked brownies one rainy afternoon. The day you spent running errands with your child and got pizza for lunch. Any experience your child went through can be recorded in an experience book.
Why should I make an experience book?
Experience books are a great way to help develop your child’s vocabulary and narrative language skills.
· Vocabulary
Experiences come with a unique set of vocabulary. If you are making a holiday experience book- your child can review and learn all the vocabulary for the season. Whether that is menorah, dreidel, latkes, and gelt or reindeer, sleigh, angel, and elves.
· Narrative Language
Talking about the past is hard for many children. Children live in the present and focus on what they are doing NOW. You can help your child learn to talk about past events using an experience book- the photographs, drawings, and mementos will cue their memories so they can talk about past experiences.
Click HERE for more about experience books or visit the speech resources page on our website (Language #3).
Happy Holidays!
About Us:
We, at The Village Therapy Place, located in Bergen County- in Wyckoff, NJ, aim to provide integrative, neurodevelopmental, individualized, pediatric therapy in a warm, fun, and collaborative environment.
We offer pediatric services that include physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, feeding therapy, and DIR Floortime.
At The Village Therapy Place, we utilize current and evidence-based treatment techniques to help treat your child during his PT, OT, speech therapy, feeding therapy and DIR Floortime session. These include sensory integration, reflex integration, therapeutic listening, Kinesiotape, craniosacral therapy, NDT, BrainGym, feeding therapy, PROMPT, to name a few.
Our expert pediatric therapists offer a variety of treatment options, including 30/45/60 minute sessions, group classes and virtual therapy to best suit a child’s needs.
The pediatric physical therapists, occupational therapists & speech therapists at The Village Therapy Place are in constant contact with a child's caregivers to facilitate lasting change.
Call us today at (201) 201-8220 or email us at office@thevillagetherapyplace.com to speak with a pediatric expert who truly cares!