How to train children with language delay

A child\’s speech development plays a vital role in his language ability and communication. However, some children face speech difficulties such as lisp and inaccurate pronunciation when developing speech. In this case, lip training and oral muscle training have become important means to improve children\’s language expression ability. This article will discuss the importance of lip training and oral muscle training, and introduce some interesting games that parents can refer to to help children improve their speech skills at home. 1. Practice tongue flexibility and oral muscle strength. Oral muscle training is crucial for children’s pronunciation accuracy and speech fluency. You can let your child do some oral muscle gymnastics to help strengthen the flexibility and strength of the oral muscles. Oral Muscle Gymnastics 01 Tongue Stretch: Have the child stick out the tongue as far as possible, hold it there for a few seconds, and then slowly withdraw it. Repeat this action 10 times. 02 Tongue up and down movement: Let the child press the tongue against the upper teeth as much as possible, and then move the tongue under the lower teeth. Repeat this action 10 times. 03 Tongue left and right movement: Let the child put the tongue against the left teeth as much as possible, and then move it to the right teeth. Repeat this action in the opposite direction 10 times. 04 Tongue touch: Let the child touch his/her upper palate (roof of the mouth) and lower palate (bottom of the mouth) with the tip of the tongue. Repeat this action 10 times. 05 Tongue circle: Let the child draw a circle with his tongue around his mouth, first clockwise, then counterclockwise. Repeat 10 times in each direction. These exercises can be performed every day, approximately 10 times each. As children perform these exercises, they should be encouraged to relax their tongue and mouth muscles and try to make their movements as smooth and consistent as possible. Also make sure your child doesn\’t feel pain or discomfort. If your child experiences any discomfort or pain, he should stop practicing and consult a doctor. Mouth movement training 01 Blowing action: Give the child a balloon, let them blow it up and keep the balloon inflated for as long as possible, which helps to exercise the oral muscles. How to improve children\’s language expression ability: Put ping pong balls, paper or feathers on the table and let them blow them. Or drop watercolor on the drawing paper and blow the watercolor around to form a painting. 02 Sucking and chewing: Give your child some food that requires firm sucking, such as a straw, ice cubes or frozen juice. At the same time, they are also encouraged to eat hard foods that need to be chewed hard, such as beef jerky, dried mango, dried sweet potatoes, etc. placed close to the teeth of the cheek for him to chew. 03 Make sipping and licking movements: Use a drinking tube to sip drinks, such as milkshakes, yogurt and other thicker drinks. Or put peanut butter or jam on his lips and encourage him to lick the food clean with his tongue. 04 Use voice games and songs: Exercise oral muscles through some interesting voice games and songs, such as tongue movements around the mouth, imitating animal sounds, etc., which can stimulate children\’s interest and improve the coordination of oral muscles. Using the Oral Muscle Trainer The Oral Muscle Trainer is a device that helps children exercise their oral muscles, which can improve oral function and language development. Here are some common oral muscle trainers. 01 Training braces: It can help adjust the teeth and bite relationship, and also exercise the oral muscles. 02 Silicone teether: suitable for infants and young childrenUsed to help babies exercise their tongue and oral muscles. 03 Oral muscle trainer: This trainer is usually a special device that can strengthen the muscles of the tongue, lips and jaw through actions such as blowing, inhaling, and exhaling. 04 Oral practice ring: This is a ring-shaped instrument, usually made of rubber or silicone, that can be placed in the mouth for practice. Help strengthen oral muscle strength through chewing, blowing and other actions. 05 Oral Massager: Exercise oral muscles by massaging the tongue and the inside of the mouth. Please note that the specific choice of children\’s oral muscle trainer should be determined based on the child\’s age and oral problems, and is best used under the guidance of a doctor or professional. 2 Breath training and oral muscle training Breath training When helping children perform mouth movements and breath training, do not use excessive force to avoid oral discomfort or injury. If you have any questions or concerns about your child\’s mouth movements and breath training, it is recommended to seek advice from a professional speech therapist or doctor. 01 Blow bubbles Let children try blowing bubbles. This simple and fun activity can help them exercise their oral muscles and improve their oral flexibility. 02 Blowing paper cups Parents and children sit in a circle, and each person takes turns blowing up a small paper cup with his mouth to see who can blow the farthest or highest. 03. Give children some simple oral instruments, such as harmonicas, whistles, etc., and let them play as good music as possible. This game can exercise the strength and coordination of oral muscles, while also cultivating children\’s interest in music. 04 Blowing the ping pong ball Let the children blow through the straw and try to blow the ping pong ball across the table to see who can control it best. 05. Play the \”birthday\” game with your children by blowing out candles. Ask them to imitate the game of blowing out candles or blowing soap bubbles. This helps them master exhalation techniques and oral muscle coordination. 06 Blowing balloons: Let the children blow air with their mouths to make the balloons as big as possible and see who can blow up the biggest balloon. This can help them control their breathing and strengthen their oral muscles. 07 Whistle: Give children a whistle and let them practice whistling, which can strengthen the strength of oral muscles and the ability to control breathing. For oral muscle imitation, choose one or more objects that your child likes to imitate, which can be animals, characters or anything he is interested in. Incorporate oral muscle imitation into fun games or activities to increase their interest and participation. 01 Imitation of sound effects: Combining oral muscle exercise with sound effects, allowing children to compete by imitating various sounds and rhythms. They can imitate animal sounds, the sounds of musical instruments, or various sound effects from popular songs. For example: read books about animals with children and imitate different animal sounds. How do puppies bark? Woof! What does the kitten call? cat! What does the frog call? Gugua! 02 Lip Reading Challenge: Organize a lip reading challenge where children need to guess the correct word or sentence by imitating and guessing other people\’s lip shapes. This not only exercises the oral muscles, but also improves their observation and verbal communication skills. 03 Mouth painting: Children can use their mouths instead of their hands to draw with brushes or colored pens. They can imitate various animals or shapes with their mouthsshape, transforming your creativity into paintings through mouth movements. 04 Say letters and words: Let children practice pronouncing letters and words clearly, which can help them exercise oral muscles and improve oral control. 3 Some other training methods 01 Pout action: Help children exercise the flexibility and coordination of their lips by imitating the movements of fish beaks, bird beaks, frogs and other mouth parts. 02 Picture-viewing exercises: Give children some pictures of mouth movements and ask them to imitate the mouth movements in the pictures. This can help them strengthen the coordination and control of their mouth muscles. 03 Lip Sounds Play lip sound games with children and learn how animals change the shape of their mouths and make various interesting sounds. 04 Tell stories with sounds: Choose some picture books that can make sounds, and emphasize some interesting sounds in the stories, such as knocking on the door, ringing the clock, the cry of the tiger, etc., and let the children imitate them.