If you ever see me out walking with my boys or call to our house unexpectedly you will usually find one of us singing Nursery Rhymes to Conor and Jack. They both absolutely adore music and song, unfortunately myself and the crows outside sound quiet similar but luckily both my boys seem to appreciate my attempts to make them happy through singing (badly) their favorite songs. Music and song really helps them to feel happy and calm so I always try to include what they love in their daily lives.x
The sad part about them both not being able to speak just yet means they can’t “sing” just as you can I would so I am always trying to find ways to encourage their interaction, giving them more control over their environment. One way I can really help them is through Visuals/Communicative aids that help to give them a “voice” when we are having fun together during song time.
As Jack is a only just starting out with PECS (Picture Exchange Communication) I wanted to make sure I created a Visual he could use just as easily as his older brother Conor.
Communication Board
His most favorite song at the moment is The Wheels on the Bus so I decided to introduce the idea of a Song Communication Board, which is essentially a printable board that has all the components of his favorite song on it.
As I sing the song to Jack I stop and wait for him to point at which part he wants to hear. For example, to start I point at the picture of the wheels and I start to sing “the wheels on the bus go round and round etc” and when that line is finished I say “Jack choose“. I then wait for Jack to point at whichever picture he wants to hear next and then once he has chosen I sing along using his choice as a guide.
The main purpose of using a Communication Board is for Jack to learn he has a choice in what happens next and also that it is much easier to just point to what he wants next rather than having a “meltdown” because I can’t interpret what he is saying in his mind just by looking at his face (even though sometimes I can lol!). It also takes a lot of the frustration away for him as he now has a “say” in what he wants to hear next.
He really enjoyed using the Communication Board and he picked up how to use it straight away. He was super happy when he could keep picking the “people” picture as he loves when I lift him “up and down, up and down” to the words of the song.
With Conor in mind then I wanted to make sure that he had more of a challenge then just having to point so I created a separate printable “Requester” visuals that I cut out and laminated individually. He then used these individual PECS pics with his “I want” picture from his PECS book.x
Requesting Visuals
Conor loves to “match” so I also created an additional printable that I laminated and then using a dry erase marker I asked Conor to match all the pictures that were the same by drawing a line from left to right.
As always I have made a free PDF Download of the printable for you all so you can also have heaps of fun with your own children while you sing (much better than me) The Wheels on the Bus song.x
I can match Printable
You can find your FREE DOWNLOAD here.xx
Next week’s Friday Freebie Nursery Printable will be none other than “Old Mac Donald” so pop by to download your free interactive printable.x
YOU CAN FIND THE OLD MAC DONALD FREE PRINTABLE HERE
1 Comment
Hi Amanda, I recently ordered your fabulous “Countdown Calendar” for my daughter to use (and also to help her younger brother who has just started school!).
Thank you so so much – I was delighted to receive it promptly, beautifully packaged and with a lovely personalised note and such thoughtful extras, really very much appreciated!
I really am so impressed how well the calendar is made and your attention to detail is first class. The calendar is proving very useful and I’ll definitely look forward to ordering more resources in the future!
Keep up the good work; these fantastic visual resources are invaluable in enabling us to support our children 🌻💫🥰. Many thanks, Caroline (& my daughter Catherine!)