Top ten activities for developing and improving your child’s speech and language skills

There are many simple activities that you can do with your child to develop their speech and language skills.

1. Be a good model – speak clearly and slowly and face your child when speaking. If your child says a word or sentence incorrectly, rather than correct them or ask them to repeat it, just say the word / sentence back to them correctly to show you have understood. This way your child always hears the correct version. This is how children learn language.

2. Remember your language level – don’t use words or sentences that your child will not understand. Speak to them using language they can understand, and explain any new words.

3. Make time to sit down with your child – even if it is just for a few minutes a day (although the more one-to-one time the better), spend some quiet time with your child, away from distractions. Look at a book together and talk about the pictures.

4. Turn off the TV and take out the pacifier/dummy – children do not learn language and social skills by watching TV, and new evidence shows that too much TV watching prior to starting school can affect listening and attention skills, which will impact on their learning once they start school.

5. Observe and comment – when you are playing with your child, take a step back, do not feel that you have to fill the silences, just comment on the things your child is doing so they can here (and learn) the new vocabulary.

6. Let your child lead – let your child lead the play, let them be the boss of play. This can build self-confidence and does not put pressure on them to talk and respond to the adult all the time.

7. Books, books, books – books can be used in many ways to develop language and early literacy skills. Evidence shows that children that have more exposure to books prior to schooling often find it develop early literacy skills earlier.

8. Sing songs and nursery rhymes – songs and rhymes contain rhythm and rhyme, skills that help with speech and literacy development.

9. Feed language in, don’t force it out – comment and expand on your child’s words and sentences, rather than asking them to repeat words. If your child says “car”, respond with “big car” or “yellow car” or “fast car”. This is how children learn words, by hearing new vocabulary and linking it to the items or events they are focussing on.

10. Make every opportunity a language learning activity – if it’s a trip to the shops, or bath-time, you can make every activity a language learning activity. Point to things, name them, sing a nursery rhyme, or ask a question. You don’t have to set aside a specific time of day to learn language, every activity is a language learning activity.

Speech and Language

The first few years of a child’s life are key to the development of speech, language and cognitive skills. For this reason it is important to create an environment that helps to develop speech and language skills that give them all the stimulation, positive role modelling and human contact that they need. For a normally developing child, learning is easy and creating opportunities for learning is also not difficult. Through play, simple daily interactions and experiences, we can help the child acquire new language and skills.

Adults do not need special training to be able to provide a child with a positive start in life. There are a few simple building blocks that you can put in place to help your child grow, and as a parent, you just need to provide the time to interact with your children. By playing and allowing your child time and space to explore and interact in their own way, you allow your child to develop and learn in a fun and safe environment.

Speech and language skills do not just evolve on their own. They are part of a bigger picture involving social interaction, play, observation, manipulating objects, listening and attending. All these factors are working together and often, without one, it is difficult to develop another. Below, we have listed a few simple ideas that are fun and easy to do at home, remember, always praise your child for making any attempts at communication.

How children learn speech and how to encourage speech

If you want to encourage speech development, or your child is a little late with producing their first words, there are lots of activities that you can do to develop your child’s speech and help them produce more words.

First of all – TAKE THE DUMMY OR PACIFIER OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS!!!

Good modelling

An important aspect of learning speech is listening. A child learns new sounds and words by listening to those around him. This is why it is important to provide good speech for your child to listen to. Say words clearly and slowly and use plenty of intonation. If your child attempts a word and it is not pronounced correctly, praise him/her for trying. Do not try and get your child to repeat the word or correct it. Repeat the word back yourself to show you have understood and to give your child a good version of the word.

To find out more about good modelling and other activities to develop speech and language development go to the Resources Section

Symbolic sounds

These are easy words and sounds to introduce to your young child when they are just starting to attempt some words, or when recognisable words seem a bit late in their development. Symbolic sounds often sound like, or refer to a sound that is related to the word e.g. “moo” for a cow, or “beep beep” for a car. These are fun sounds that you can incorporate when playing games or looking at books. Symbolic sounds are usually short one syllable sounds and words that are easy for the child to produce. They encourage vocalization, imitation, and early vocabulary building.

Motivating sound games

Sometimes, using games can motivate your child to make sounds. For instance play the game – ready… steady…. GO!! Blow up a balloon, hold it, then say “ready….steady….GO”, and let the balloon go. Do this a few times and then pause after you say “ready…steady….” and see if your child steps in and says “GO”.

Communication temptations

Often by tempting your child with something motivating you can elicit some speech or a vocalization. For instance, holding onto the biscuit tin, but not opening it until he vocalizes a request, or only blowing bubbles when you get a vocalization from the child. In the early stages the child does not have to use the correct words or sentences, but just vocalize or make an approximation of the word. We want the child to learn that he can use his voice as a tool to initiate and request.

Listening, attention and observation

Listening and attention skills are the building blocks of speech and language development. The acquisition of these skills is vital in the early years if you want your child to be successful at school. The development of these skills is facilitated by interaction with others, with having a shared focus, and playing in an environment that is free of distractions. Listening, is not the same as hearing. A child can have perfect hearing, but be a very poor listener. Children with Autism, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder or Auditory Processing Disorders will have difficulties with listening, remembering, and following verbal instructions. Children that have had a lack of social interaction or poor role modelling in the early years of their lives may present with listening and attention difficulties. Studies are also showing that over exposure to television from a young age can have detrimental long term effects on listening and attention skills.

Some children find these skills more difficult to master than others. There are lots of ways to enhance your children’s listening and attention skills, not least by turning off the television and spending some quality time with them. Try to find activities that share your attention that you can both enjoy and focus on together. Also, don’t forget to praise good listening and good looking.

Observation skills

These skills require the child to stop and focus on a particular task. Having a shared focus helps this process. A shared focus means looking at things together and talking about what you are looking at. The activities mentioned below require your child to focus on a something for a few minutes and really use their observation skills. These tasks can be done at a table-top as a shared focus activity, or during an everyday activity.

If you think your child has a speech delay or disorder, see our Milestones sections to give you an idea of the normal rate of speech development. If you continue to be concerned about your child’s speech and language development visit your local speech and language therapist / pathologist.

To find out more about activities that you can do with your child to develop their skills – go to the Resources Section

Language – how to develop language skills

There are lots of activities you can use throughout the day to develop your child’s language skills.

Remember your language level

One of the biggest things to be aware of when using language around your young child is the level of language you use. This means using words and sentences that your child can understand and avoiding complicated words, long sentences and difficult instructions. Remember, with young children just use key words, and if you use a small sentence emphasize the important words. Talk slowly and point to what you are talking about.

Watching, waiting and listening

You can enhance your child’s development of language by sometimes taking a step back during play and letting them take the lead. This gives the child control of their environment and builds their confidence. Although you are still involved in the play you are not dictating what is happening. However, you can still be feeding language into the play as it is happening, by commenting on what they are doing. So the takeaway here is not to feel you have to fill in any gaps of silence, just watch and listen and add language.

Adding language

Adding language is an easy thing to do and can be done in all types of different situations, not just play. You comment on what the child sees, commentate on what your child is doing, or expand on what they have said e.g.

The child puts a marble under a hat

Adult: “you’re putting it under the hat”

Child: “car”

Adult: “fast car” or “red car”

The environment

The environment in which your child learns also has an impact on how they learn. Try and reduce distractions and background noise – TURN OFF THE TV!!

A busy household with lots of children will be noisy, but allows lots of play opportunities for the young child. However, sometimes you cannot beat some adult time, and if you get half an hour to have some one-to-one quality time with your young child then make the most of it.

To find out more about ways to encourage speech and language skills during play and everyday activities go to the Child Development Section of the Resource Centre.

Games & Play

Games and playtime activities are great opportunities to develop your child’s speech and language skills.

Simple Games

There are lots of simple games you can play and indirectly work on speech and language. Games can played while driving in the car from Kindergarten, or when you are at the park or in the supermarket. Learning language does not have to be done in a structured environment. Don’t forget when you are playing games to focus on speech and language, you will also be working on social skills, turn-taking, observing, listening and attention, so it’s a win win situation.

Toys

Toys are fun and great for involving your child. Even with the simplest toys you can create fun activities and provide lots of situations for learning and developing speech and language. Imagine building a tower with wooden blocks – a simple game, but with loads of opportunities:

Building a tower

Speech and Language opportunities: adjectives (higher, up), verbs (fall down, build), preposition (on-top), nouns (colours, numbers)

Communication and Social skills: turntaking, joint focus, sharing, listening, attending, observing

Here we can see even a simple game with wooden blocks involves all sorts of language and play skills.

Look at books

Books are great for having a shared focus and for learning new words. Books can also play a key part in developing early speech and literacy skills. There are many ways to use books and the pictures to focus on language. You can focus on books with symbolic sounds for early speech or storybooks to focus on language. Books are a great way to work on lots of skills and children love them. Look at the books together, name the pictures, ask questions, and talk about the story.

Role play

Dressing up is great fun and playing different roles will expand your child’s imagination. In fact you do not even have to dress up to do role play. Games involving different characters will allow you to introduce lots of new related language and stretch your child’s creative play skills. For instance, if you pretended to be firemen putting out a fire, think how many related words you could use” fire, fireman, fire engine, ladder, water, hose, burning, building, driving, climbing, up, down, smoke, hat, boots, jackets, save, squirt, bucket, fire out, hero, etc etc etc. Role play is great for expanding your child’s imagination and introducing new vocabulary.

Most types of interaction through play will have a positive effect on speech and language acquisition. The child’s social skills will also benefit because they will be using eye contact, turn-taking and listening skills. By letting your child take the lead in a game, they will gain confidence in communicating and feel that they are in control, so be relaxed in the communication environment.

Depending on your child’s language competence you may want to set a goal for each game, although it is important not to make it too structured because we want the game to be led by the child. Any goal should be simple and flexible. Language needs to be fed into the game, rather than trying to encourage the child to say particular words. This means we don’t want to be continually saying to the child “what is he doing?” or “what are you doing?” or “say running, say running”. Children do not learn language this way, children learn language by hearing it first and making associations between the word and the action. As adults we want to just feed the language in at the appropriate times.

Example of a language role play game:

Bus Driver game: Let your child be a bus driver and you can be the passenger. Set up some chairs for a bus and act the roles. As an example, just look at all the verbs you might use in this game: steer the bus, press the horn, ring the bell, sit down, pay the driver, drive the bus, find the change, walk down the aisle. If your child finds a game complicated, you could be the bus driver first and model it for your child, then your child can take a turn and you add language to the situation.

Music

Music is also a great way to involve your child and can be used in many ways to enhance speech and language. Music is good for getting your child to listen, and experiencing a shared focus. You can read books and follow music singing the songs as you point to the pictures. Songs also focus on intonation and stress and have a beat to them which helps with aspects of speech development. These are skills we all use when talking and syllable awareness is important when learning to talk. Music can be used to enhance language and some songs can be sung involving actions and thus creating the link between words and actions.

Using everyday activities as a language learning opportunity

Using everyday activities can be a great way to practice and develop speech, language and literacy skills. These activities can also change a mundane event into a pleasurable one. The child may also not realise that you are practicing speech and language skills because the activity will be fun.

Using everyday tasks to promote speech and language is relatively easy, you just have to use your imagination:

Bathtime – Use lots of vocabulary during bath-time, talk to your children, and model the words for them. Introduce vocabulary: Verbs: wash, scrub, rinse, clean, brush, dry, splash, sink, float. Nouns: soup, towel, water, tap, flannel, bath, sink, body parts. Sing songs in the bath.

Cleaning the bedroom – Play “I-spy” to practice initial sound awareness (good for speech and language development).

Talk about what the people on the street are doing (e.g. walking, working, riding etc) to focus on verbs, or name as many different occupations that you can see (driver, policeman, road-worker, shopkeeper etc). These are just simple ways to use everyday opportunities to find entertaining and simple ways to focus on speech and language.

Remember, if you make speech and language sessions into games your child enjoys it more, is more motivated and may not even see it as speech and language practice, but as a game. Children like games and are motivated when it becomes competitive. This means you can create ideal situations away from the table-top activities to work on speech and language. Just use your imagination because almost any daily event can be turned into an educational game.

Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development

By: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

“What we’re getting at is not whether this is necessary, but whether it might help facilitate learning a little bit more quickly than you might otherwise expect,” Shafto said.

That defies how pediatricians say we should speak to babies: speak to them as you would an adult. Some parents follow that advice, but Shafto says it seems natural to speak to babies in a sing-songy voice.

“We do it intuitively. There’s no sense in which we’re intentionally trying to teach the child the vowels of the language or any other property. It’s just a thing we do naturally. And that’s what I think is really quite interesting about it is that we might actually be built in some way or know implicitly how to help children,” said Shafto.

Shafto says the value that sing-songy talk to babies is dragging out the sounds of vowels. His team used sophisticated math and computer science models to break down a litany of language learning literature to describe how those vowels differ from one another.

“And what we were interested in is describing how the vowels that we speak — U and I, for example — differ from what you speak to a child, for example. So it’s been well established that they do differ and what we were trying to understand is why they might differ,” Shafto said. “Our argument is that, in fact, the deformations in the language that we’re introducing when we speak to children are consistent with what you would expect if you were trying to teach the child the vowel categories. So, for example, certain vowels that you might confuse tend to get further apart from one another so they’re more easy to discriminate in affected speech.”

Asked to demonstrate he said, “Well I’m not sure I can actually do that on camera, that’s a tricky one. I have small children so if you put my children in front of me I could do it.”

Shafto says we exaggerate vowel sounds to help foreign language speakers understand us. We do the same with our pets, but out of cuteness, not for them to understand vowel sounds.

The team’s research appears in Psychological Review. Shafto says the mathematical models can be applied to teach other subjects even though the educational benefits of baby talk are hard to probe because infants are too young to speak. Nevertheless…

“Infants receive atypical speech but it’s speech that appears, at least in our analysis, to be able to help them learn the actual vowels that they’ll experience as adults,” Shafto said.

A conclusion contradicting conventional wisdom.

Receptive Language Delay in Toddlers… Advice for Parents

TREATING RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE DELAYS AT HOME FOR LATE TALKERS

Many times during an initial assessment, when I ask a mom how her late talker understands language, she responds with… “My child understands everything.” While this is true for some late talkers, many times a toddler who isn’t saying very much doesn’t understand very much. I hate it when I’m the first person to point that out to a mom who’s worried about her child.Here’s the truth: A child must understand words before we expect him to talk. A child who doesn’t understand much really can’t (and shouldn’t) say much either.

This incorrect assumption can lead to other problems, such as problems in the “behavioral” realm… A toddler may be described as “bad” or “stubborn” because he isn’t doing what his parents, his daycare teachers, or his grandparents tell him to do.

Here’s what’s really going on in that situation:

He doesn’t follow directions because he doesn’t understand what’s being said. He seems to ignore language because words don’t mean anything to him yet.

When parents understand the connection between receptive language (what a child understands) and expressive language (what a child says), wonderful things can begin to happen!

By changing the focus, parents can make a huge difference in how a child begins to talk by helping a child learn to understand more words.

Several years ago, I wrote a longer post with great background information about receptive language. It is a lengthier version of the tips I’m going to recommend below. If you want the “meatier” article, click here.

If you recognize that this may be part of what’s going on with your own late talker, let me give you some easy suggestions to get started…

Change What Your Child Hears

During your daily routines at home, pay attention to HOW you’re talking to him. Toddlers with receptive language difficulties often need very specific and focused “teaching” (for lack of a better word) to begin to link words with objects, people, and events.

When parents are resistant to changing the way they talk to a child, I (very gently, of course) remind them that we must change the way we’re talking and interacting with him in order to make a difference. Let’s face it, if the child was going to “pick it up” in daily conversations, it would have already happened, and there wouldn’t be a problem.

Young children with difficulty understanding and processing language need adults who are there to “interpret” the world for them. These toddlers benefit from nurturing parents and teachers who can provide support to help them understand words and begin to make associations throughout the day.

How can you do this for your child?

Practical Ways to Work on Receptive Language at Home

1. Reduce the complexity of what you’re saying.

Use mostly single words and short phrases.

Sometimes this isn’t stated to parents clearly enough. The advice is simply, “Talk to your child.”

This approach doesn’t always work with children with receptive language disorders. Since there’s a problem with your child learning to understand, you must simplify what you’re trying to teach since he’s not getting it the “regular” way.

Perhaps you can relate to this example: Imagine being dropped off in a country where you understand very little of the native language. You may recognize a few common words or phrases, but you need to find out how to get to the nearest airport to book the next flight home. Because you can say just a few words in that language, the person you’re talking to assumes you “understand everything” and makes no adjustments in how they speak to you. How do you feel? You know you’re in over your head! That’s how it is for a child with a language delay. He understands some of it, but not enough to get him through the day.

Use lots of single words. Use lots of short phrases. Avoid long explanations or questions. When you’re asking your kid with language delays if he wants a cookie, don’t launch into, “Do you want one of these yummy chocolate chip cookies that Mommy just bought at the grocery store?” Hold up the cookie and ask, “Want a cookie?” See the difference?

2. Watch your child and talk about what he’s paying attention to at the moment.

When you’re eating breakfast in the morning and he’s looking at his cereal and milk, use those words and talk about the meal. Don’t discuss what happened at daycare yesterday or grandma’s visit next weekend. Keep it simple and in the here and now so it “makes sense.”

3. Talk directly to him using words he can use.

Kids with language problems need parents who go out of their way to “teach” them the words they need to communicate.

This means that you shouldn’t spend your time talking to a child with baby talk. While we all break into, “Look at mama’s sweet, sweet little, bitty baby girl,” your child needs to hear language she can use.

When a child is having difficulty learning to understand conversations and follow directions, we have to talk directly to them for much of the time we’re together.

Reduce the amount of time spent listening to adult conversation. While we all spend a good deal of time talking to our spouses and older children while a toddler is there, don’t miss opportunities to talk directly to the child using mostly single words and simple sentence structures he can eventually begin to repeat.

4. Give him clues (or “cues” in SLP terms) as to what you’re talking about.

Usually children with language comprehension delays rely heavily on visual cues since they don’t consistently understand or process words. Point to direct his attention. When practical, show him the object. If you’re using books, point directly to the picture, say its name, and then make a brief comment. Provide other visual cues including gestures such as leading him and moving objects within his line of vision to be sure that he knows what you are talking about.

Because they need visual cues, kids with language delays may depend on your facial expressions to add meaning to your comments. Make your expressions match your words. If you’re upset and he’s about to be in trouble, don’t send mixed messages by continuing to smile as you warn him. He may misread your cues.

When he’s not responding, move closer to him, get down on his level, and touch him to redirect his attention.

Some children respond to clapping or finger snapping more readily than a word to get his attention. Beware! Don’t overuse this technique, or he may start to tune this out. Children do this because it’s annoying, not because they don’t understand.

Some kids need picture schedules to help them know what to expect next. Many preschools use these kinds of systems to provide additional support. Take digital pictures and put them in a small album or post them on the refrigerator to “show” him things he doesn’t understand in daily routines.

5. Repeat directions when he doesn’t seem to understand.

Toddlers with language delays need extra repetitions of information to be able to process what’s been said. Resist the urge to think and say, “I’ve already told you once (or twice).” Repetition helps his little brain to learn.

6. Break commands into smaller chunks of information.

Until he’s following directions consistently, limit yourself to simple commands with one piece of information. Use “Go get your cup,” rather than “Take your cup to the sink.”

Once he’s gotten the hang of familiar directions, then work on adding more parts. “Get your shoes and bring them to Mommy.”

7. Reword what he doesn’t understand.

When you’re getting that look (like “Huh?”) or if he’s tuning you out, try using other words. If you’re saying, “Our family is going to church now. We have to get ready to leave,” and he’s not looking, you might try calling his name and saying, “It’s time to go bye-bye.” Pause. “Come here.”

8. Give him frequent opportunities to demonstrate that he understands.

Consistently ask him, “Show me the ____, ” and “Where’s the _______?” If he’s not pointing yet, encourage him to look around to find what you’ve asked him to locate. Other activities you can include in your daily routines:

• Have him point to pictures in books. Focus on names of objects & actions. “Where’s the dog?” and “Show me who is sleeping.”
• Once he’s mastered basics names for objects and common actions, up the ante. Teach object use/function with words such as, “Which one is for riding? Which one goes on your feet? Which one do you use to drink? Which one says moo?” Help him identify parts of an object rather than the whole picture – “Find the door of the house, the wheel of the car, the dog’s foot, etc…”
• Retrieve objects on requests. Have him get items or put away specific toys on request. “Get your ball,” or “Bring me your puzzle.”
• Have her perform familiar tasks related to daily routines. Toddlers can get diapers or wipes before changing time, throw things in the trash, put their own cups in the sink, take off their own shoes and socks, close a door, wipe off a high chair tray, pet the dog, and help you clean up toys by placing them in a basket. Involving them regularly in these kinds of activities increases their opportunities to follow directions (and help you out!)
• During playtime give short directions and help him perform the action. For example, “Put ball in,” and then help him do it.
• When you’re playing with puzzles, hold up a piece and label it with a single word as he completes the puzzle. When he is finished, have him retrieve the puzzle pieces one at a time by asking, “Give me the ________.”
• When dressing, tell her to put her arm in the sleeve or her leg in her pants. Hold up a sock and shoe and ask her to, “Get the sock.”
• When he’s seated near a toy, hold out your hand and say, “Give me the _____.”
• Place several items related to your play in front of her and ask, “Where’s the ______.”
• In the bathtub or during diaper changes, ask him to point to body parts, and help him follow through.
• During play time ask her to give her baby doll a drink or put her baby down to sleep.

9. To build compliance with everyday tasks, try telling him to do things that he’s already about to do.

For example, if he’s headed for a ball, say, “Get the ball.” If he’s reaching for a book, say, “Read your book.” A child may not yet be following directions because you asked him, but using this method gives toddlers a way to “get in the habit” of doing what Mommy says.

10. Insist that he follow directions by providing physical assistance as necessary.

Once you’ve given him a verbal direction and repeated it once or twice, help (or make) the child complete the request. Repeat the direction so he can link the activity with the words.

11. Pause frequently when you are talking to him to give him time to process what you’ve said.

This is hard for chatty parents, me included! Give him enough time to think during your conversations. You may have to purposefully (but silently) count to 5 before moving on to your next point, or before you repeat yourself to be sure he’s had time to respond.

12. Have fun too!

Make some directions fun too, such as “Come here so I can tickle/hold/kiss you.”

Teach games like, “Gimme 5,” so that everything isn’t about behavioral compliance!

13. Lastly, but probably the most important, be very consistent with realistic behavioral expectations.

Children with difficulty understanding language need the same rules day-in and day-out that are easy to remember and follow. They need to be able to count on consistent routines.

If your child’s ability to understand language is much lower than his chronological age, you’re going to need to keep that in mind when determining behavioral standards and even disciplinary methods. For example, time out is recommended for children who are 2 and older. If your child is 26 months old, but his comprehension is at the 16 month level, time out is not an appropriate choice for him.

Some parents disagree with this and think that this is how you “teach” a child to obey. Believe me, though, you’re fighting an uphill battle. This would be like trying to teach a 3 year old to tie shoes or jump a full-size hurdle. He’s just not ready yet. Use the same discretion when determining what is and isn’t appropriate behavior based on a child’s ability to understand.

Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development

Birth to 2 Years

• Encourage your baby to make vowel-like and consonant-vowel sounds such as "ma," "da," and "ba."
• Reinforce attempts by maintaining eye contact, responding with speech, and imitating vocalizations using different patterns and emphasis. For example, raise the pitch of your voice to indicate a question.
• Imitate your baby's laughter and facial expressions.
• Teach your baby to imitate your actions, including clapping you hands, throwing kisses, and playing finger games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and the itsy-bitsy-spider.
• Talk as you bathe, feed, and dress your baby. Talk about what you are doing, where you are going, what you will do when you arrive, and who and what you will see.
• Identify colors.
• Count items.
• Use gestures such as waving goodbye to help convey meaning.
• Introduce animal sounds to associate a sound with a specific meaning: "The doggie says woof-woof."
• Acknowledge the attempt to communicate.
• Expand on single words your baby uses: "Here is Mama. Mama loves you. Where is baby? Here is baby."
• Read to your child. Sometimes "reading" is simply describing the pictures in a book without following the written words. Choose books that are sturdy and have large colorful pictures that are not too detailed. Ask your child, "What's this?" and encourage naming and pointing to familiar objects in the book.

2 to 4 Years

• Use good speech that is clear and simple for your child to model.
• Repeat what your child says indicating that you understand. Build and expand on what was said. "Want juice? I have juice. I have apple juice. Do you want apple juice?"
• Use baby talk only if needed to convey the message and when accompanied by the adult word. "It is time for din-din. We will have dinner now."
• Make a scrapbook of favorite or familiar things by cutting out pictures. Group them into categories, such as things to ride on, things to eat, things for dessert, fruits, things to play with. Create silly pictures by mixing and matching pictures. Glue a picture of a dog behind the wheel of a car. Talk about what is wrong with the picture and ways to "fix" it. Count items pictured in the book.
• Help your child understand and ask questions. Play the yes-no game. Ask questions such as "Are you a boy?" "Are you Marty?" "Can a pig fly?" Encourage your child to make up questions and try to fool you.
• Ask questions that require a choice. "Do you want an apple or an orange?" "Do you want to wear your red or blue shirt?"
• Expand vocabulary. Name body parts, and identify what you do with them. "This is my nose. I can smell flowers, brownies, popcorn, and soap."
• Sing simple songs and recite nursery rhymes to show the rhythm and pattern of speech.
• Place familiar objects in a container. Have your child remove the object and tell you what it is called and how to use it. "This is my ball. I bounce it. I play with it."
• Use photographs of familiar people and places, and retell what happened or make up a new story.

4 to 6 Years

• When your child starts a conversation, give your full attention whenever possible.
• Make sure that you have your child's attention before you speak.
• Acknowledge, encourage, and praise all attempts to speak. Show that you understand the word or phrase by fulfilling the request, if appropriate.
• Pause after speaking. This gives your child a chance to continue the conversation.
• Continue to build vocabulary. Introduce a new word and offer its definition, or use it in a context that is easily understood. This may be done in an exaggerated, humorous manner. "I think I will drive the vehicle to the store. I am too tired to walk."
• Talk about spatial relationships (first, middle, and last; right and left) and opposites (up and down; on and off).
• Offer a description or clues, and have your child identify what you are describing: "We use it to sweep the floor" (a broom). "It is cold, sweet, and good for dessert. I like strawberry" (ice cream).
• Work on forming and explaining categories. Identify the thing that does not belong in a group of similar objects: "A shoe does not belong with an apple and an orange because you can't eat it; it is not round; it is not a fruit."
• Help your child follow two- and three-step directions: "Go to your room, and bring me your book."
• Encourage your child to give directions. Follow his or her directions as he or she explains how to build a tower of blocks.
• Play games with your child such as "house." Exchange roles in the family, with your pretending to be the child. Talk about the different rooms and furnishings in the house.
• The television also can serve as a valuable tool. Talk about what the child is watching. Have him or her guess what might happen next. Talk about the characters. Are they happy or sad? Ask your child to tell you what has happened in the story. Act out a scene together, and make up a different ending.
• Take advantage of daily activities. For example, while in the kitchen, encourage your child to name the utensils needed. Discuss the foods on the menu, their color, texture, and taste. Where does the food come from? Which foods do you like? Which do you dislike? Who will clean up? Emphasize the use of prepositions by asking him or her to put the napkin on the table, in your lap, or under the spoon. Identify who the napkin belongs to: "It is my napkin." "It is Daddy's." "It is John's."
• While shopping for groceries, discuss what you will buy, how many you need, and what you will make. Discuss the size (large or small), shape (long, round, square), and weight (heavy or light) of the packages.