I am obviously no artist (as evidenced by the smiley face in the above picture), but I can use a doodle board!  The magnetic doodle boards are great because they require much less pressure to make a “mark” as compared to crayons and paper.  Some boards also come with shapes so that little fingers can grab the knobs in addition to trying the pen.  But this post isn’t about fine motor skills, it’s about how to use a doodle for speech and language skills!  So let’s get to it.

Using the pen, you can make a straight horizontal line “chooo chooooooo” all the way to the other side “STOP!”

Then you can make a wavy line and practice firetruck sounds each time the line changes direction “weeeeoooooweeeeeoooo”.

Make lots of circles and choose a vowel “oooooooo” or “eeeeeee”.

When you’re ready to change your picture just slide the knob across (or down) “eeeerase!”

Another great aspect to a doodle is that there is only one pen so it’s a great opportunity to practice turn-taking with either gestures (pat on chest for “me”/”my turn”) or words “my turn”, “your turn”.

Use the doodle for body parts (or at least facial features).  Make “mommy” and “daddy” faces then let your little one tell you what parts are missing/needed “eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair”… depending on your artistic ability.  Say “hi mommy” and “bye bye mommy” when it’s time to erase and draw siblings or other family members.

The board pictured at the top is especially wonderful because the four shapes are animals!  Instead of the traditional circle, star, square, etc. this board is great for animal sounds.  Each time the magnet makes a dot you say the appropriate sound “quack quack”, “meow meow”, “hop hop”, “ruff ruff”.

Magnetic boards are also good for car activities!  My kids like to use them to draw “maps” to our destinations.

Here are some magnetic boards you might want to try:

For other “art” activities for speech and language play at home, check out:

Playing with… ART

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