Ooshies are better than you think!
I don’t love the sneaky marketing that big supermarkets use (or the landfill), though I do try to see the best in a situation! Like it or not, many of us parents are welcoming Ooshie collectables into our homes, thanks to Woolies latest Disney Campaign.
Don’t just let them collect dust or sit at the bottom of a toy box. Here’s my TOP 5 things to do with Ooshies, ensuring your child’s communication and play skills get the benefit they deserve rather than Woolworths being the only ones to benefit.
🔆 Guess the Ooshie - Place all Ooshies in a box. Take turns to pull one out & act out the character. Move your body like they do & change your voice to sound like them. Taking on the role of someone else is perfect for developing pretend play as well as perspective taking skills.
🔆 Stories - Make up stories using the different Ooshies you have. This will develop narrative skills as well as expand vocabulary & grammar.
🔆 Who am I - Give your child clues about an Ooshie & encourage them to guess who the character is. Great for listening skills, reasoning skills & questioning skills.
🔆 Hide & Seek - Hide Ooshies around the home. Give your child clues on the location & descriptions about the hidden spot. This works on their listening, understanding of positional concepts (under, behind, between) & functions of objects i.e., Thor is hiding behind something you use to dry your body.
🔆 Trade them! For double ups, encourage your child to check in with a sibling or friend & find ways to negotiate swapping one Ooshie for another. This will encourage reciprocal conversation, as well as negotiating, justifying and convincing - higher & more complex verbal skills for children to learn.
What other fun ideas can you think of?
About the writer:
Lauren is a speech pathologist who has over 15 years experience working with children and teenagers who present with a range of learning and communication difficulties. Lauren is passionate about helping others and loves to find simple and creative ways to make learning fun!
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