“ENCOURAGING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN TODDLERS” Melanie Yates shares her top tips
What can I expect of my child’s language development by the time she is a toddler? A preschooler?
There are many things you can do with your toddler to help their language development.
- When playing with your child, get down to their level to ensure eye contact. This may mean you have to lie on your tummy if your little one is sitting on the floor.
- Comment on what your child is doing or what your child sees. Use short simple sentences. Talk about things as they happen, like when you’re unpacking the shopping, having a bath or watching the television.
- If your child says something incorrectly, say it back the right way. Do not make your child repeat it.
- If your child is already saying words, then use language that is one level above. For example, if your child is saying single words, then you can use 2-3 word sentences. If the child says “car” you could say, “car is driving”. You need to model language that you want your child to imitate.
- Read, read and read some more! Reading storybooks has been shown to maximise language learning.
- Children learn when they are interested. Have fun together! Be silly!
Let your child play with them so that she becomes aware of which object makes which sound.
Ask your child to cover her eyes while you make a sound. Let her show you which sound she heard.
To help develop your child’s language (both single words and sentences) you can:
- Sing nursery rhymes and songs, especially those with actions.
- Play games in which your child has to find a named object from a selection. Let her post the object into a box when she finds it. Use everyday/familiar objects.
- Take clear photos of some of your child’s toys and/or household objects; look at these together and talk about the pictures. Match the real objects to the pictures.
- Pretend play. Try playing dress ups, shops, play scenes with transport vehicles, playing with dolls etc.
How can I encourage my child to speak, when she prefers to point at everything?
How can I encourage my toddler/preschooler to have a conversation with me?
In order for your child to communicate she needs to be motivated and interested.
The following is very effective (and can be done every day!) to encourage conversation:
Be face-to face with your child. Sit or lie on the floor so you can be face to face.
Treetop Speech and Language therapy, Singapore.