Sentences with "can" and "do/did" were tough for Sara to learn.
Here is one way we practiced "can" so she would understand as well
as use it appropriately.
Adult: Can you clap your hands?
Child: Yes. [Claps].
Adult: Can you stand on the ceiling?
Child: No.
Adult: You ask me!
Child: Can you . . . . ?
Adult: Yes/No. .
etc.
Adult: Can a person fly a plane?
{We found that "Can you. . . " only worked for questions about
her personally, not about "people" in general. For these questions
we asked "Can a person. . . " because she hadn't learned the more
abstract form of "you" which means "people".}
Child: Yes.
Can you. . . ? ideas:
sit in a chair (Yes)
sit on a cloud (No)
stand in the shower
stand in a cabinet
close your eyes
close the sky
eat an apple
eat a house
Can a person. . . ? ideas:
ride a horse
ride a mouse
build a house
build a tree
plant a seed
plant a computer
For us, the more important part of this exercise was for Sara to ask us
the questions, so we would ask a few so she could learn the pattern
and then take turns each time so she would have a lot of opportunities to ask
us rather than just answer the questions.
Sara really liked this activity because the "no" questions were funny to
ask.
