Speech & Language Tips
Child-Led Play
Follow your child’s interest in play. Copy his/her actions and movements where you can, and model language to him in these situations using the tips above. Adults can try to model further steps of play using a toy of their own e.g. if he/she is pushing cars down a ramp, an adult can copy this, and then make the car fly.
If your child enjoys singing, adults should engage in this as much as they can. Pause during parts of the song that your child knows and see if he/she shows you that he wants you to carry on. Involve actions or even toys where you can e.g. making a frog jump for ‘Five Little Speckled Frogs’ or rowing back and forth for ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’. This will also help support your child’s shared attention in play.
Commenting
Using single words and two-word sentences, comment on what’s happening around you and your child whilst pointing to the different things as you speak. For example, “Doggy running”, and “Small bird”. You can do this during a shared activity or during a walk. This gives your child the opportunity to hear lots of new language and make links between the language and what they can see. Narrate your child’s play when you can.
Expanding
Try to expand on what your child says by repeating and adding one or two words onto what they have said.E.g. if your child says “a car”, you can repeat and expand with “yes, it’s a red car’’, and exaggerate the words that you are adding.
