Tips & Activities

Tips & Activities To Encourage My Child To Talk:

Read, Read, Read!

The best thing you can do for a child is to read books with him or her. Choose colorful books with large, simple pictures. Talk about the pictures rather than just reading the text. Encourage interaction from your child by asking questions. Point to what you are talking about.

Encourage Communication

Use sign language or words to encourage communication once your child is old enough. Wait for your child to ask, gesture, or sign for a toy on a shelf, rather than just getting it for him. Do not anticipate your child’s need or desires before he or she has a chance to make them known to you. If your child gets what he or she wants without communicating, he or she will not bother to point, gesture, or ask.

Wait, wait, wait

Delay your responses to your child’s pointing, gestures, or babbling when he or she wants things. Pretend you don’t understand to see if your child will try to verbally communicate. Pausing allows your child another chance to verbally express him or herself.

Parent’s Speech

Label objects and actions in real life and in pictures. Use slow, simple speech when talking to your child. Never “baby talk” to your child. Use real words, instead. For example, say “bottle” rather than “baba.”

Self  Talk

Talk out-loud about what you are seeing, hearing, doing, and feeling when your child is within earshot. Your child does not need to be paying attention to you when you are talking out-loud to receive the benefits of speech.

Parallel Talk

Talk out-loud about what is happening to your child. Describe what he or she is doing, seeing, hearing, and feeling when your child is within earshot. Again, your child does not need to be paying attention to you.

Praise your child!

Respond to your child’s speech attempts with non-verbal and verbal praise. This will encourage him or her to try and communicate more and more.

Expansion Modeling

Try and add one to two words to what your child says when you respond back to him or her. Example: Child says “daddy” and you say “daddy home.”

Use Sign Language

The use of sign language with young children has been found to encourage language development, not hinder it.

Sing to Your Child

Songs promote vocal play, attention, listening, and speech. Sing simple songs your child can sing too. (Ex. The Itsy Bitsy Spider; Twinkle, Twinkle; Wheels on the Bus).

Early Language Stimulation Activities

Playing with Sounds

  • Take turns making sounds or saying words with your infant or toddler.
  • Make the same sound your infant or toddler is making (ba-ba).
  • Make a sound that is like your infant or toddler’s sound (ga-ga).
  • Make sounds of familiar animals (dog, cat).
  • Make sounds of familiar objects (car, phone, drum).

To help your infant or toddler succeed, you can:

  • Do activities while doing something your child enjoys (bathing, being tickled, eating, or playing with toys).
  • Wait and see if your child makes a sound, then imitate that sound.
  • Play with toy animals or look at picture books about animals and make animal sounds.
  • Make sounds while playing bouncing and turn-taking games (Horsie, Peekaboo).

To make this activity more challenging, you can:

  • Make a sound and see if your child repeats it.
  • Encourage your toddler to repeat two or three sounds after you (ga-da; ga-da-ba)
  • Say a sound (b), then change it to a new sound (p). Does your toddler pay attention to the difference?

Talking about Food

Ask your child questions about food:

  • What color is it?
  • How does it taste?
  • How does it smell?
  • What do you like the best?

To help your child succeed, you can:

  • Talk about how food tastes, smells, and feels.
  • Ask your child simple questions about his or her food (Does your cookie taste sweet?).
  • Do this activity when you and your child are cooking in the kitchen

To make this activity more challenging, you can:

  • Encourage your child to describe food with more than one word (orange, juicy, and sour).
  • Have your child practice counting raisins and nuts and comparing sizes (big, little).
  • Ask your child harder questions about food (Is an apple a fruit or a vegetable? What else tastes sweet?).

Talking About Things Outside

Talking to children about what they see or hear teaches them new words.

Ask your child questions about things he/she sees outside:

  • What color is it?
  • What do you see?
  • How does it feel?
  • What shape is this?

To help your child succeed, you can:

  • Talk about something your child can touch and feel.
  • Ask your child questions about things he/she is really interested in (rocks, mud, butterflies).
  • Ask your child simple questions (is this rock smooth?)

To make this activity more challenging, you can:

  • Talk about something your child can touch and feel.
  • Ask your child questions about things he or she is really interested in (rocks, mud, butterflies).
  • Ask your child simple questions (is this rock smooth?)

Use books to facilitate language

  • Talk about what your child is looking at.
  • Ask questions about what your child is looking at (What is Spot doing?).
  • Add a little bit more to what your child says (Spot is hiding under the bed.).

To help your child succeed, you can:

  • Use a book with large pictures of things your child likes (baby animals).
  • Ask your child simple questions (Is the froggy green?).
  • Wait longer for your child to say something (Yeah, froggy green).
  • Make a simple sentence out of what your child said (Yes, the froggy is green.).

To make this activity more challenging, you can:

  • Ask your child to make connections to your child’s own experiences (Have you seen a doggie like this before?).
  • Ask your child harder open-ended questions (Why is Goldilocks breaking Baby Bear’s things? What is a kennel?)
  • Add more to what your child said (She is too big for his things, because she is probably older than him.)

Learning how to use books

Teach your toddler:

  • What the front of books are.
  • What the back of books are.
  • How to turn from right to left.
  • What pages are.
  • What words and letter are.

To help your toddler succeed, you can:

  • Let your toddler feel the book’s cover, pages, and pictures and talk about them.
  • Use sturdy cardboard books with thick pages so your toddler can turn the pages.
  • Have your toddler point to pictures in the book.

To make this activity more challenging, you can:

  • Have your toddler show you how to turn pages from right to left.
  • Point to the parts of the book (front, back, pages) and ask your toddler what they are.
  • Talk about the front page that tells about the title, author and illustrator.

Going to the Library

It’s never to early to go to the library with your infant or toddler. At the library, you and your child can:

At the Library, you can:

  • Find books, magazines, music, and videos
  • Check out books or books on tape
  • Listen to stories
  • Watch puppet shows
  • Find information on computers
  • Find out what happens in your community

To help your child succeed, you can:

  • Talk about what your child can do at the library before going there.
  • Do one thing your child really enjoys at the library.
  • Go to the library when your child is in a quiet mood

To make this activity more challenging, you can:

  • Have your child choose a book or topic him or herself
  • Have your child help you find things at the library
  • Encourage your child to check out books to read at home

If you need help, ask the librarian in your area or your child’s educator about bookmobile routes.

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