Theme: Plant The Tiny Seed

Book: Plant The Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson
Craft: Play-Doh Plants
Linguist’s Corner: Cause and Effect Play

Book

This week’s book is Plant The Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson. I love reading this book with my students because it is essentially cause and effect play in book form! What a great example of how cause and effect play can facilitate language development. Read more about cause and effect play in the Linguist’s Corner below.

While reading Plant The Tiny Seed, I would target the following linguistic skills:

  • Following directions with imitation

  • Receptive language

  • Vocabulary related to theme (seed, sun, rain, sprout, bird, etc.)

  • Increase attention span by finding the ladybug on every page

Note: if you purchase the book at the link above, LTC will receive a 10% commission at no extra cost to you. I’ve intentionally chosen to partner with bookshop.org because I believe in their mission: “To help local, independent bookstores thrive in the age of ecommerce. Certified as a B Corp, Bookshop.org puts this mission and the public good above financial interests, giving over 80% of our profit margin to independent bookstores.”

Better yet - see if your local library has this book! While you’re there, introduce yourself to the librarian. :)



Craft

This Play-Doh Plants craft is an excellent way to bring our book to life! When a child is building vocabulary, it can be so helpful for the child to hear/experience the same vocabulary words in different settings. Reading Plant The Tiny Seed then actually planting a tiny seed will really reinforce the vocabulary and the entire experience!

If you want a quicker project (sometimes it’s just so hard to wait for the seeds to sprout!), you could make these adorable potato stamp flowers.

While making this craft together, I would target the following linguistic skills:

  • Nouns such as dirt, seed, water, sun

  • Colors

  • Following directions and receptive language

  • Self-advocacy vocabulary (help, give me, etc.)

  • Verbs such as pushing, planting, watering



Linguist’s Corner

Cause and effect play is an essential phase of cognitive development… but it is also essential for language development.

Cause and effect play from a cognitive sense could look like playing with blocks - if I hit a tower of blocks, it will fall over. Hitting the tower = cause, tower falling over = effect.

Cause and effect play can be a great way to catch a child’s attention. One of my favorite tricks is to put a toy on my head, then “sneeze” as the toy falls off. Sneezing = cause, toy falling = effect.

What does this have to do with language development? Incorporating language into a cause and effect game can teach a child that their sounds, signs or words can create change. Cause and effect play is an important prelinguistic skill that will help to create the environment where language can thrive.

Plant The Tiny Seed incorporates linguistic cause and effect page into almost every page of the book.



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Stay patient, stay connected, and have a blast! Feel free to email me at language.through.connection@gmail.com and show me how your craft turned out. I am a team of one and I read every single email that you all send to me. :)

Do you know someone who would love these activities? I would be so grateful if you would share this post with them!



About Language Through Connection

Brianna Lopez, M.S., CCC-SLP is a certified speech/language pathologist, a linguist and the founder of Language Through Connection. At Language Through Connection, we believe in creating an environment where language can thrive through deeply engaging, connection-oriented activities and strategies.

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