"zucchini."
To practice phrases, have your child describe zucchini. This is an especially good task for child-directed therapy because this may be a food item that your child is unfamiliar with, so she can really explore. Targets may include "long zucchini," "green zucchini" or "organic zucchini" for the precocious!
To practice sentences, ask you child if she would ever eat zucchini and why. Targets may include, "I would not eat zucchini. It looks yucky," or "Zucchini look like cucumbers. I would eat zucchini." Another option is to ask your child what rhymes with zucchini, just try not to get tongue-tied! Targets may include, "Teeny rhymes with zucchini." The key is to elicit sentences that include the word zucchini.
So how can we have a conversation about zucchini? Try comparing it to other vegetables. If your child has never tasted it, ask her what she thinks it might taste like. For the really ambitious, ask your child what foods could be made with zucchini. When I was young my parents had a zucchini cookbook, so I could have told you all about zucchini bread, zucchini bread and grilled zucchini!
The /z/ sound can be a fun one to teach. For a quick tip, tell your child to make the sound a bee makes, "zzzzzz." You may even want to prolong the /z/ sound in a word to highlight it, as in "zzzzzzzucchini" or "zzzzzipper" For more serious instruction, explain the sound in this way: "Put your teeth together. Put your tongue behind your teeth. Blow." Have your child put her hand in front of her mouth so that she can feel the air coming out. To differentiate /s/ and /z/, have your child feel her throat. She should be able to feel the vibration in her throat for /z/.
What other /z/ words can you think that are found at Giant Eagle? Post below! Looking back, I could have chosen zipper, Ziplock, or ziti. I did try for "Zest" soap, but couldn't find any. (I remember the jingle from my childhood: "You're not fully clean until you're Zest-fully clean!")
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