Speech Therapy Tips For Parents Of Toddlers
Based on my years of experience in speech therapy, here are my top tips for parents of toddlers to encourage language and communication.
Learning Through Playing
Children learn language through play, when they are having fun and are interested in what they are doing. Play with your child daily. Spend 5-10 minutes every day spending “special time” playing with your child, getting down to their level and sitting/communicating with them face to face, without any other distractions, (no TVs/phones please), to encourage them to learn and talk.
You can help your child by talking about what they are doing during play, using some of the strategies below:
1. Wait and listen: Try not to talk all the time. Pause and see what your child says, you can then repeat back what they say and add another word to help them expand on their sentences. For example:
Comment on what your child is doing during play using short sentences to help them understand and learn new words. For instance, emphasis on keywords in the play or activity like “Train!” or “Drinking milk!”
Expand on what your child is saying by repeating back what they have said and then adding one more word to their sentence. For instance, when a child says “apple”, you can repeat back “eating apple!” Or when the child says “red car”, you repeat “big red car!”
2. Reduce the questions: Asking lots of questions puts pressure on your child to talk. If you comment on what they are doing instead then they will start to hear and learn words associated with what they are doing.
3. Offer choices: Giving your child a choice gives them an opportunity to communicate. Try offering choices to your child throughout the day. For example, at snack time you could say “Do you want a banana or grapes?” or when they are getting dressed, “a jumper or hoodie?”
4. Offer praise: Offering specific praise reinforces a child’s behaviour and shows them that you have listened and attended to something they have done well. So feel free to use phrases like “good listening” and “great tidying” to encourage them further. When they have been praised for something, they are more likely to do it again!
For more speech therapy tips or a private consultation, please feel free to contact me here.