Amy Elder, MA CCC-SLP, speech therapist at the Midtown office of Child and Family Development, is getting ready for the holiday season now!
She recommends selecting simple games for toddlers. For little kids, games can:
- introduce and reinforce cognitive concepts (matching, counting, letters, numbers)
- encourage social communication (turn taking)
- increase attention to structured activities
- provide bonding time between family members (quality time)
Her favorite games for 2-4 year olds include Barnyard Bingo, Hi ho Cherry-o, Uno Moo, Zingo, and matching/ memory games.
These products are available in local stores and online sites. One example is Uno Moo:
Uno Moo is similar to the classic Uno but revamped for preschool players.
- Farm animals come out of their barn to play, and younger players round them up by matching their colors or types
- Kids will have a blast playing with cows, pigs, skunks, chicken, dogs, sheep or farmer figures and putting them on the barn door and pushing others into the barn
- When you are down to one figure, shout “UNO Mooooooo!”
- The first player to get all of their critters back into the barn wins!
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Child and Family Development has 8 licensed speech therapists in Charlotte and Pineville. We are in-network with many insurance plans, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield NC, Cigna, Medcost, North Carolina Medicaid, Primary Physician Care and United Health Care. Our clients also may pay privately and access out-of-network benefits.
