Cleft Care at Home
Comprehensive cleft care does not only happen at your local Smile Train partner treatment center. It is vital that children and caregivers continue treatment at home.
9 Reasons to Smile
This activity book is filled with creative art projects and engaging family games that help people with clefts explore their emotions, their relationships, and their world — even while at home. It can be used as a printed booklet or as a guide on a phone. It is available in many languages — please use, share, and send pictures or videos of your child using it at home to [email protected].
Speech Home Practice and Parent Resources
Smile Train’s Speech Resource Library includes fun home practice activities such as games, books, and videos, as well as valuable parent and caregiver educational materials. You and your family may use these materials to practice your child’s speech skills at home, learn about cleft speech strategies, and gain a better understanding of speech therapy principles. Many of these materials were developed by Smile Train partners across the world, as well as by Dr. Catherine Crowley, a member of Smile Train’s Global Medical Advisory Board and founder of the Leaders Project at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Smile Train's Speech App
Smile Train has developed a free, interactive application (iOS and Android) for children with clefts to practice their speech on a smartphone or tablet. The app includes digital stories and games that target sounds children with clefts usually find challenging. It also has notes and video tutorials to help caregivers understand what is happening with their child’s speech and how to help them overcome their speech challenges. Try the app today!
Telehealth
Where available, Smile Train supports our local partners in providing psychosocial counseling, feeding and nutrition guidance, and speech services through WhatsApp, Zoom, or Facebook (depending on local norms and regulations). This is a lifeline for families who cannot travel for care due to distance, cost, and/or other travel restrictions. Telehealth services offer a way for families to receive personalized information and feel supported, even if they cannot physically visit a cleft team. Please reach out to partners in your region to learn which have these services available.
Student Lesson Plans and Activities
"Smile Sessions" is a learning series that engages elementary school students in topics related to Smile Train and cleft care. The goal is to give cleft-affected families the tools to build awareness and support in the classroom. Each session features an important theme and focuses on Smile Train’s programs in a specific country. These 20-minute lessons begin with background information, continue to a discussion on making connections, and close with an interactive activity. All video sessions are also accompanied by a lesson plan and PowerPoint presentation.
Smile Train Quiz
Make your whole family smile with this Smile Train Quiz featuring a variety of smile- and cleft-related questions.
Order a Smile Train Cuddle Pack
If you or your child has a cleft-related surgery coming up, you can order a special care package from our partner Cuddles for Clefts at no cost!
Fill in the Smile Train Blanks
Learn about Osawa Oswiti, Smile Train’s one-millionth patient, who traveled from his small town to the capital of Tanzania to receive his life-changing cleft surgery. Afterward, put your memory to the test and complete a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet about Osawa's story.