Not Sure How to Target the Core Word “Not”? Try These Simple Activities
Sleepy Sheepy by Lucy Ruth Cummins is filled with fun illustrations. It’s about a little sheep that insists he is NOT sleepy. Despite his drooping eyelids, he plays with toys, climbs on furniture and even eats a late-night snack. He finally gives in and sleeps soundly in his bed. This book repeats the core word “not” many times.
Read this book and model “not” using your child’s AAC system. Here are some additional activities for teaching this core word…
Find the Sheep
Hide a toy sheep and tell your child that it has fallen asleep somewhere in the room. Start looking for the sheep together. Talk about all the places where you do NOT find it (e.g., “not here!”, “not there!”).
Pizza Toppings
Bring out a toy pizza and a variety of other toy foods to serve as possible toppings (e.g., tomato). Sit down for a picnic with your child and the toy sheep. Talk about the toppings and what you each want or don’t want on your pizza (e.g., “not pineapple! not for me!”).
Mystery Bag
Put toy animals in a mystery bag one at a time. Ask your child to guess what animal is in the bag. You can give them clues like “it has stripes”. For every incorrect guess, model “no, it’s NOT a ___”.
Sorting/Matching
Sort small items like blocks or toy cars by color or size. Model phrases like “that’s NOT blue… it’s yellow!”. Match objects to their corresponding pictures. You could say “that’s NOT a match!… this is a match”.
Arts and Crafts
While doing arts and crafts together, offer your child items that aren’t quite right… For example, give them a marker when they really need a glue stick (e.g., “that’s not right!”). When coloring, give them an unexpected colored crayon (e.g., “oops, lemons are NOT blue!”).
Core Vocabulary Resource
We’re not done yet… My “Where is Bunny?” core vocabulary resource (available for purchase on www.teacherspayteachers.com) provides many opportunities for modeling the core word “not”. It includes a simple story booklet featuring the character of Emma looking all over the house for her pet (e.g., “She’s not on the stairs”).
It also includes a lift-the-flap activity page and a handout explaining aided language stimulation. Prepare the activity page and help your child look for Bunny. Model “not there” as you lift each flap until you find her.
