Picture This!

There are many games and activities on the market that promote oral language development, but here's a take on one that you can make yourself with the added benefit of being able to tailor it to your child's age and interests.

What you'll need:

• One or more 3 inch styrofoam cubes from a craft store (check the flower arranging department)
• Permanent markers

What to do:

Draw a simple picture on each face of the cube. Take turns rolling the dice, using the pictures to prompt a sentence or ongoing story. These sentences can be as simple or as difficult as dictated by the age and skill levels of your child - from two word sentences for beginners to compound and complex sentences for more advanced students. As an added benefit, students who are developing written language may write the sentence they just created orally.

Different applications:

For a new take on the book report, have the child place simple pictures illustrating characters, settings, or plot lines from a recently read book. As the die is rolled, the child should tell something about this particular story element. 

To work on descriptive language, start by using the picture rolled in a simple sentence. Take turns adding modifiers to further describe both the nouns and verbs. Illustrate the final sentence for comprehension and fun. 

How else could you use these language skills cubes? I'd love to read your ideas in the comments section at the bottom of this page.