The baby’s environment in the womb is connected with water. Most newborns enjoy bathing, slapping their hands and kicking their feet in the water. It gives the child not only pleasant sensations, but also develops various receptors and provides unlimited opportunities for the child to learn about the world around him. One of the techniques that has great resources is aquatherapy.
Aquatherapy is a method of correcting various kinds of developmental disorders in children that uses water. Playing with water is not only a natural and accessible form of activity for every child, but also one of the most pleasant ways of learning.
Water therapy is used in remedial work with children who have various speech disorders, delayed psychomotor development, neurological deviations, intellectual disabilities, general motor activity deficits, hearing and vision disorders. We use and conduct water games as an additional innovative pedagogical technique.
What is the purpose of water therapy:
- promote physical development of the child: hardening, development of tactile-kinesthetic sensitivity and fine motor skills of hands, regular exercises in water are a preventive measure against diseases;
-promote the development of speech;
- reduce the manifestations of hyperactivity in a child;
- form health-improving processes in the body;
- stabilize the child’s psycho-emotional state.
Children who attend aquatherapy sessions enjoy playing with water, as it is something the child loves to do, something they are not afraid of. All the knowledge that children learn while playing is absorbed much faster and easier.
But before you start playing games, you need to remember a few simple rules for working with water:
- You can not intentionally pour water on the floor;
- Do not splash water;
- After the game, wipe your hands dry.
Here are a few examples of games with water.
Game “Find a given sound in a word”.
Equipment: a container of water, toys, waterproof aprons.
How to play the game: tell a child the “A” sound and ask him to take out a toy, the name of which begins with this sound. For example: a bus, a stork, etc.
Game “Consolidate the visual image of a letter” (prevention of dysgraphia).
Equipment: a container with water, plastic letters, waterproof aprons.
The game: throw the plastic letters into the water and ask to get one of them.
Game “Learn a letter by feel” (literacy)
Equipment: a container with water, plastic letters, waterproof aprons.
How to play the game: close your eyes, put your hands in the water, take any letter and recognize it, what letter is it?
Game “Collect Beads” (development of fine motor skills)
Equipment: a container of water, lace, beads, waterproof aprons.
The game: collect the beads in the water.
The game “Make a Letter”.
Equipment: a tank with water, metal sticks, waterproof aprons.
How to play: lay out letters on the bottom of the tank with metal sticks.
Play “Spell the Word”.
Equipment: a container with water, plastic letters.
Course of the game: Write a word on the bottom of the container from the letters that are at the bottom.
Game “Expanding the vocabulary” (forming a vocabulary of adjectives)
Equipment: a container of water, toys, waterproof aprons.
The course of the game: get a round, light, iron, big, narrow, etc. toy.
Game “Expanding the vocabulary”.
Equipment: a container of water, toys, waterproof aprons.
The course of the game: take out an oval, yellow, plastic fruit (lemon).
Game “Pearls”.
Equipment: a container of water, pearls (pebbles), waterproof aprons.
The game: How many syllables are in a word? Take out the same number of pearls. How many syllables are in the word, so many pearls.
Fishing nets” game (math, counting)
Equipment: a tank of water, fish, net (the usual net from any new plastic toy), waterproof aprons.
Game move: Catch more fish in the net. Good for you. Now let’s count them.
Game “Fishing nets” (counting and forming color perception, size)
Equipment: a container with water, fish, a net (an ordinary net from any new plastic toy or a strainer), waterproof aprons.
Course of the game: Catch more fish in the net. Good for you. And now let’s put them by color: red to red, white to white. How many white fish we have. Let’s count them. Which fish are more and which are less?
The game “Finger Games”.
Equipment: a container of water, waterproof aprons.
How to play: We carry out finger games in water.
The game “Shells” (noun with a numeral)
Equipment: a container of water, shells, waterproof aprons.
The course of the game: take out one shell each and count: 1 shell, 2, 3, 4, shells, 5 shells.
Game “Sponge” (develop tactile sensations)
Equipment: a bowl with water, a sponge, waterproof aprons
Game proceeding: take out and squeeze out the sponge.
Game “Non-spill”.
Pouring water from container to container will give the child a life skill so that later he/she can pour himself/herself water without spilling it on the table and without spilling it on himself/herself.
Equipment: water, plastic cups, a plastic jug, waterproof aprons.
How to play: the child will put the cups and pour water into them from the jug.
The game “Ship” (we develop speech breathing)
Equipment: a container of water, a boat (a Styrofoam ball, slivers, tubes, lids) waterproof aprons.
The course of the game: Let’s blow smoothly on the ships. Whichever ship will sail further away, he won.
Games with water create a joyful mood, increase vitality, give children a lot of pleasant and useful impressions, experiences and knowledge.
