Encouraging Speech & Creating Yum! Refreshing fruit Smoothies
Teaching your child to whip up a delicious and nutritious smoothie could be consider a great basic life skill. Smoothies are so versatile that they can be the perfect start to your child’s day as breakfast, used as a refreshing after school snack, or freeze the smoothie mixture for an after dinner popsicle or sorbet treat
[1]Ingredients
- Handful of Ice
- 1/2 cup frozen fruit (I used a mixed berry frozen mix)
- 1 ripe banana, broken into chunks
- 1 TB of ground flaxseed and/or 1 TB of chia seeds
- 1 cup of low fat milk (can be replaced with Kefir, coconut milk, almond milk or soy milk)
Cooking Directions
Adult: Get out blender and set up.
Adult/Child: Grab a handful of ice and add to blender.
Adult/Child: Measure out 1/2 cup of mixed berry frozen fruit.
[2]
Child: Peel a ripe banana, break banana into chunks and add to blender.
Adult/Child: Measure out and add to blender one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds and/or one tablespoon of chia seeds. You could also add both seeds to recipe if you like.
[3]
Adult/Child: Measure 1 cup of low fat milk (can be replaced with Kefir, coconut milk, almond milk or soy milk).
[4]
Adult/Child: Once all ingredients are in the blender, cover and then puree until smooth.
Eat! Talk! Enjoy!
[5]
Language Time Tips:
1. Build vocabulary: Use nouns and actions. Nouns: cherry, strawberry, blackberry, milk, banana, peel, flaxseed, ice. Actions: peel, open, add, measure, puree, put in, blend, pour
2. Colors and Size: With this recipe, focus on the various colors of the different ingredients. I love the variety of colors in smoothies like this. The bright red and purple colors of the fruit contrast well with the whiteness of the milk and the black chia seeds. Use this opportunity to learn the colors of the different fruits and how, when combined, they make their own color. What color is the darkest? What is the lightest? With regard to size, discuss the different sizes of the fruit. What is larger, the strawberry or the cherry? When pouring your smoothie, ask your child “How much do you want”?
3. Comment and Describe: Encourage words such as cold, wet, sweet, soft, hard, smooth and delicious! Help facilitate comments such as “The smoothie is cold” or “The banana is ripe”.
4. Sequencing and recalling information: Follow the sequence of the recipe and let your child add the ingredients. Since you are adding the ingredients all at one time, you can give your child the ability to make a choice about what to put in first, second, etc. After they add the ingredients, ask your child, “What did you put in first?” and “What did you put in last?”
5. Answering and asking “wh” questions: Sample “wh” questions include: “What type of smoothie are we making? “What makes the smoothie purple?”; “What happens to the chia seeds when you puree them?”; “What happens to the ice when you puree it?”; “How would the smoothie taste if we didn’t puree it?”
Literacy! Write down the names of the fruit in the smoothie and have your child point to the word as you are adding that specific fruit.
Becca Eisenberg is a mother of two young children and a speech-language pathologist, author, and instructor. Her website, https://languageduringmealtime.com/ [6] encourages learning time during mealtime. On her website, she writes children’s book recommendations, app recommendations, as well as child-friendly recipes with language tips for their family.
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