All About Child Speech and Language Milestones

Everything you need to know about your child's speech and language milestones, from their first words to verbal development and beyond.

From first words to full sentences, your child's language skills will advance significantly in the first few years of life. But it can be hard to know if they're hitting expected milestones, and you might find yourself wondering: When exactly will my toddler start talking?

"Every child develops on their own timeline, but the best way to help develop your baby's language skills is to simply talk to them," says Rahil Briggs, Psy.D., a child psychologist at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City. "The number-one way children learn to speak and boost their vocabulary is by listening to their parents at home."

1-Year-Old Language Development

Your little one is just beginning to communicate beyond crying. At this age, your kid should be able to do the following.

Say a handful of words

Your toddler still has a limited vocabulary at this point, but you can help it grow by reading out loud and talking to them every day, Dr. Briggs recommends. "At this age, the main concern is that baby's speech is 'mama' and 'dada' specific, meaning that when [they say] those two words, [they are] actually referring to Mom [or] Dad—not the cup or dog."

Imitate your voice

Even though your child isn't saying many words, they're babbling a lot and attempting to imitate the sounds of others. Parents "should be hearing vowel and consonant babbling by 8 or 9 months, and it continues as your baby starts to form words around 12 months," Dr. Briggs says.

Respond accordingly

Pediatricians are mostly concerned with your child's receptive language right now. Do they recognize your voice? Do they turn their head toward different sounds? Do they laugh when others laugh?

"Even at this age, your baby can communicate with intent and get what they want by pointing or looking toward an object. They should also be able to follow your eyes and look where you're looking," says Kenn Apel, Ph.D., president of the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders in Minneapolis and co-author of Beyond Baby Talk. These responsive actions are more important than how many words your child can say at this age.

Follow simple direction

In addition to responding, see if your child follows simple one-step directions and commands, such as raising their arms when you say "up," taking a sip of water when you tell them to, handing over a toy upon request, and stopping what they're doing when you say "no" (although they will probably try to do it again!).

Use hand and body gestures

During the first year, kids will use their hands and body movement to help them communicate with their limited vocabulary. And while gesturing is a natural part of communication for people of all ages, little kids in particular will use gesturing to help their cognitive and language skills build.

According to research, kids who use gesturing when talking can be a positive sign of language growth. A Month-By-Month Guide to Speech Development

Baby and Toddlers First Words

Early Learning, Learning Activities / By Holly

First Words For Babies and Toddlers

20 First-word flashcards for babies and toddlers are here for your early learner. Encouraging memorization, understanding, and object recognition with 20 free first words for kids. Visuals are used during early childhood development to encourage recognition. The more your child views an image or an object they begin to memorize it and understand its purpose. Visuals can help your child identify images within their environment. Your child will show you their understanding by pointing or trying to say what the image/object is. This is a fantastic first step into your little one’s early learning journey.

Free First Word Flashcards

Your free first-word printable flashcards come with 20 large images and words. This is a fun activity set to encourage your early learner’s speech and language skills.

Babies First Word Flashcards

Your child’s vocabulary is an important part of your child’s development. Babies first learn to babble then speak. Moments that we all wait patiently for. Or should I say “eagerly” for? Some children may speak later than others and that’s ok. All children grasp, learn and adapt differently. However, starting early encourages your child to practice and build their speech and language skills.

Toddlers First Words Flashcards

Toddlers are doing their very best to grasp and understand many words. Toddlers are to have 100 to 200 words in their vocabulary by 18 months. Toddlers with speech and language delays may not have as many. The pronunciation of sounds for children with speech delays is a huge factor that contributes to the diagnosis. However, toddlers will point to a form of communication, to make their wants known and needs met. You can also use flashcards to develop pointing skills. This will help your child memorize, understand and identify words. Grab your free first-word flashcards and introduce them to your child today!

Teaching First Words to Children

Teach first words to your child daily with your first-word flashcards. Babies and toddlers are always on the move. This gives you the opportunity to voice objects and images within their environment. The key is vocal repetition! Your little one will begin to demonstrate memorization and recognition of many words. You can follow the steps below to encourage first-word development for your child.

Step #1: Show and Tell

Show your child the flashcard and tell them what it is. Be exaggerative and enthusiastic, this is a great strategy that will keep your child attentive.

Step #2: Point

Point to the flashcard and repeat its description. Assist your child with return demonstration by encouraging your child to point to the flashcard.

Step #3: Object Recognition

You have shown your child the image, told him or her what it is, and also practiced pointing. Now it’s time for a little challenge to observe their understanding.

What is Object Recognition?

Object recognition is identifying an object or image. To single out a specific item!

Object Recognition Challenge

You have been teaching and your child has been learning. Now it’s time to challenge them and view their understanding. First, your want to eliminate distractions and use three of the flashcards to start. For example, you can use the ball, duck and baby. Next, place the three flashcards at eye level. Ask your child for the ball or just say the word ball. Wait patiently for a response. If your child brings you the requested flashcard he or she has identified an object amongst other objects/images. If not, no biggy! Start from the beginning and repeat steps 1 and 2 of the teaching strategies above.

First Word Activities

First-word flashcards are great learning essential to have. Learning first words with flashcards encourages memorization, understanding, and identification of images /objects. Here are some activities you can implement with your first-word flashcards.

Read

To get your child familiar with new words and images/objects, you can read the flashcards daily. You can also include your new flashcards into your child’s daily schedule. For example, you can use the flashcards as a book before bed.

First Word Games

Children love games and become actively attentive, especially when it is fun. He or she is tuned in and ready to actively participate. You can create many developmental games with flashcards. You can create a scavenger hunt and have your child find the flashcard you are voicing. I spy is another fun way to encourage pointing and identification. For example, place a few of the flashcards within your child’s view. Now, you will ask your child “where is the ball” or “do you see the ball”? Wait patiently for a response. You can also have your child match the flashcard to the actual objects/toys. Super fun!!!

Benefits of First Word Flashcards

Children learn and grasp information in many different ways. Visuals are great learning tools for babies and toddlers. They enjoy seeing images and relating them to things they’re familiar with. Flashcards encourage your child to memorize objects/images, understand its purpose and identify more things !!!

Materials Needed

• Printer

• Laminating Machine

• Laminating Sheets

• Scissors

Baby and Toddlers First Words

Learning Flashcards for Speech and Language Development. Grab your 20 free first-word flashcards!

Download

First Word Flashcards

You have 20 flashcards to encourage speech and language development for your little one. Children become so excited seeing large images that are frequently used within their environment. The more you review the flashcards with your child, the more he or she will remember it, understand its purpose and participate independently. However, repetition is highly recommended to obtain memorization and comprehension.

First Words Learing Binder

First Words Learning Binder for babies and toddlers is finally here. The first words binder offers early learners a fun hands-on experience with a ton of repetition!

Baby’s first words learning binder.  First words learning activity book for toddlers.  Learn first words for babies and Toddlers. Hands-on learning activities are designed to encourage sound and word recognition.  Follow along in the learning binder with your 20 free first-word flashcards. The First Word Learning Binder includes the exact images from your free flashcard set. This technique offers the additional repetition needed for early learning, special needs children, and children with Autism to grasp and understand the concept.

Free Printable First-Word Flashcards

Our free, downloadable and printable first-word flashcards are fantastic for babies and toddlers who are just starting to talk. Using flashcards is a fun activity to share with your young child and can help them to pick up new words. You can start to use vocabulary flashcards as young as 6 months old.

The flashcards are thoughtfully designed with bright and stimulating images to capture your child’s attention. They will enjoy looking at them as much as practicing naming them.

Click Here To Download First Word Flashcards

Our First-Word Flashcards Include

Everyday objects

We have chosen a range of items that are familiar to your child such as a teddy, banana and book. Learning this key vocabulary will help your child to communicate and express themselves.

Animals and Nature

A subject that is guaranteed to capture a child’s interest. Our cute illustrations of cat, dog, cow and more will have your child excited to practice their flashcards with you.

Vehicles

Another topic that many children love. We cover a range of vehicles such as cars, boats, and trains. Key vocabulary that will help them to talk about the world around them and also identify some of their favorite toys.

How To Use Our Flashcards

Flashcards can be used in lots of fun and exciting ways.

Show and Tell – Show the flashcard to your baby and say its name clearly. Repeat a few times. Keep it fun and use a sing-song voice, animal noises and vehicle sound effects. Choose only a few cards at a time and keep the session short.

Name the Card– Hold up the flashcard and ask your child to name the image. If they get it right add it to a pile on your right, wrong answers on the left. As you repeat the game, more and more cards will end up in the right pile. Remember, lots of praise and high fives for correct answers.

Find the Flashcard – A great activity to encourage movement. Spread out the flashcards an appropriate distance away for your child’s ability. This could be a short distance or the other side of the room. You could also place them on a higher surface, like the sofa, if you want to encourage pulling up to standing. Name a flashcard and ask your child to find it. They must make their way to the card by crawling, walking or pulling up and select the right one to bring back. They can be rewarded with lots of claps and cuddles when they succeed.

Match to the object – It is important to help your child understand that the picture represents a real-life object. If you have any small toys that match the flashcards, use them too. Have your child match the objects to the cards or show them at the same time. For older children, you could use flashcards as a scavenger hunt. Hide the toys and show your child the flashcards. Can they find the right toy without you name it?

Top Tip – Make your flashcards tough enough to withstand a toddler by laminating them, printing on card, or gluing onto the card. This will toughen them up and make sure they last for lots of fun flashcard sessions.

If you love our free, downloadable, and printable First-Word Flashcards we have other activities that are great for preschool children. Try our Free Printable Kids Colour Puzzle Sheets to start exploring colors with your little one. Or, if they love animals, check out our Free Printable Picture Farm Scavenger Hunt to discover fun new ways to make a scavenger hunt accessible for younger children.

LINK

 Sign Language or “Baby Signs”

Once your little one is starting to imitate you a bit, introduce some simple sign language into the mix. You can teach this by modeling signs while saying the word, then guiding his hands to form the sign.

 Try to do this during meaningful times. For instance, if he getting milk, then show him the sign for milk, have him make the sign, and then hand over the sippy cup. You can look up videos of how to form individual words in  sign language here – just type in the word you are looking for.

Some useful first words to target through sign language:

• More

• All Done (in the ASL video dictionary, just search for “done”)

• Milk

• Eat

• Drink

• Book

 Using baby sign language

Introducing a few baby signs to older infants and young toddlers helps boost language development. Children learn best when concepts combine mind and body.

If you do use baby sign language, be intentional about saying the word with the sign. This helps build the language connection for your child.

The two products I just bought for Sky are From Amazon. Hope was able to be friends with kids that had to communicate with sign language. And it is important for Hope to teach Sky them in order for her to have that same opportunity.

  LINK FOR CARDS      LINK FOR BOOK

It was crucial that they provide photos of what they are signing. This was the only set I could find that did that. They are also huge 4 x 6 size which is really helpful for babies. 

I strongly recommend that you stick with words and themes related to your child's life and Interest.

Looking for another activity to incorporate sign language for pre-talkers? Check out this article on coloring or this one about pasta threading. 

Top 20 Baby Signs – Baby Sign Language

Baby sign language is an awesome tool to use before baby can say words. Follow our step-by-step guide, which includes a visual cheat sheet, to teach it to your baby.

How many times have you wished that your crying baby could just tell you what was wrong? Baby sign language is a great tool to establish communication between you and your baby before they start talking, and we’ve got the low-down, including:

Baby Sign Language Basics

It’s a version of typical American Sign Language (“ASL”) that’s simplified for baby’s hands and motor skills. It helps parents and caregivers communicate with babies who are not yet verbal or who are just starting to talk.

Get my FREE Baby Sign Language Cheat Sheet!

• A free, printable chart.

• The top 20 baby signs.

• A simple one-page cheat sheet.

Get Your BSL Cheat Sheet, Click Here 

Benefits for Baby

1. Improves self-esteem

Some experts believe that this type of communication improves baby’s self-esteem, because it helps them feel seen and heard and shows that their parents are attentive to their needs. It’s also a confidence booster, as they’re gaining and mastering a new skill.

2. Improves mood

Because temper tantrums typically stem from the frustration of not being able to communicate their needs, this type of communication can potentially reduce the frequency and intensity of temper tantrums.

It helps you keep your calm, too, because you’re not trying to figure out what’s bothering baby and growing increasingly frustrated trying to interpret their cries.

3. May help baby talk sooner

While some experts believe that this reinforcement and repetition can help babies talk sooner, the research is mixed. One thing is certain, though: It doesn’t delay verbal skills. (source) Can’t hurt to try, right?!

Get free updates on baby’s first year!

Sign me up! 

When to Start Teaching It

Your baby’s eyesight and motor skills have to be developed enough for them to observe and participate.

Most babies are developmentally ready for parents to begin signing around four months, though baby won’t likely be able to sign back until they’re seven to nine months old.

How to Teach It to Your Child

1. Start with the familiar

What are the activities and objects that baby does or sees on a regular basis? Start there. Start by introducing signs baby will frequently use, such as “more,” “milk,” “mom,” or “dad,” so you’ll have ample opportunities to use those signs.

2. Repeat, repeat, repeat

Repetition is key. Repeat those first few signs often—even if it doesn’t seem like baby is picking up on it. You might be tempted to try a different sign if baby isn’t picking up on the first signs you introduced, but it’s important to stick to the basics. Once baby has mastered the initial 4-5 signs, then you can expand their vocabulary and add another 4-5 into the rotation.

3. Keep your cool

Don’t expect your child to master this process over night—it’s a slow process. Keep it fun and encourage baby. Praise baby when they understand and/or repeat your actions. Keep a smile on your face, and make sure that you’re holding your hands where baby can see them.

Baby Sign Language Flash Cards

These words are very relevant to baby’s routine, so you’ll naturally use them often. Remember: Repetition is key.

More

Keep your fingers straight and press your fingers to your thumbs. Then open and close your hands repeatedly with your thumbs turned towards your body. It’s kind of like making an alligator mouth, only turned on its side.

Eat

With the same hand shape used in the sign for “more,” turn your fingers to face the sky and tap them repeatedly against your lips.

Hungry

Press your palm flat against your chest, under your chin, and slide it down to your belly. Think of your hand following the path that food makes.

Milk

If you’ve ever milked a cow, you’ll recognize the sign for “milk.” Think of milking an udder. Make a fist with your hand, thumb facing you and fingers tucked behind your thumb, and open and close it as if milking a cow.

Water

Think “W” for water. The sign for water is done by making a “W” with your three middle fingers, pressing your pinkie and thumb together out of sight, and tapping your hand against your chin.

Please

When your baby has learned the signs for “eat,” “milk,” and “water,” you can move to asking them to say “please” before fulfilling their request. Simply press the palm of one hand flat against your chest and move it in a circular motion.

Thank You

After they’ve said “please,” reward them with your thanks. Tap your fingers to your chin and then make the same motions as blowing a kiss.

All Done

Hold both hands up at chest level, fingers extended and palms facing you. Then flip them out, so the palms face your baby.

Change

This is a more complicated sign. Curl the fingers of both hands into a ball, leaving your index finger out. Tuck it into a hook shape, then cross your hands at the wrists and switch them, top to bottom, several times.

Potty

Ever played, “I’ve got your nose,” with your baby? The same hand shape, thumb tucked between your first two fingers, is used to sign potty. Form the shape with your hand and then shake it back and forth several times like you’re ringing a bell.

Get a free, printable one-pager with all 20 of these signs!

• A free, printable chart.

• The top 20 baby signs.

• A simple one-page cheat sheet.

Get Your BSL Cheat Sheet, Click Here 

Bath

Form both hands into fists, then imagine an old washboard, or scrubbing baby’s back. Rub your hands vertically up and down your torso.

Play

Hang ten, dude. There’s a reason that hand shape, thumbs and pinkies extended, other fingers tucked in, became the symbol of California surfer dudes. When you make the shape with both hands and twist them back and forth at the wrists, it means “play.”

Sleep

Start with your fingers open, palm facing you, at your forehead. Then draw them down your face, closing them as you go. Think of eyes closing in sleep.

Book

Press your palms together, fingers flat, and then make the motion of opening them. Keep the bottom edge of your palms touching just like a book’s spine.

Daddy

To make the sign for daddy hold your hand up with your fingers spread. Palm facing towards the side, tap your thumb to your forehead.

Mommy

The sign for “mommy” is the same as the sign for “daddy”—the only difference is that you tap your thumb to your chin.

Dog

The sign for dog is made by putting one hand down by your leg and snapping your fingers, just like you’re calling your dog inside. Snap with your thumb and middle finger.

Cat

The sign for cat mimics the whiskers on your cat’s face. Place one hand by your mouth where a cat’s whiskers grow. Think of drawing your hand outwards, like you’re running your fingers along the whiskers, while simultaneously pinching your index finger and thumb together.

I Love You

Think of one of the most natural expressions of love—a hug. Cross your arms in front of your chest, hands balled up as if you’re hugging yourself.

Yes

How do we often indicate “yes,” even when speaking? By nodding our head up and down. The sign for “yes,” makes the same motion only with your hand. Form one hand into a ball and hold it up near your shoulder, then wag it up and down as if you were nodding your head “yes.”

Help

How often does your baby reach out their arms and ask to be lifted up? The sign for “help” is similar. Place your dominant hand, curled into a thumbs up, on top of the flat palm of your non-dominant hand. Have them down by your waist, then move them both up your body like the bottom hand is lifting the top hand.

Baby Sign Language Chart

Okay, there you have it, the top 20 baby sign language signs! To help you and baby master them, I’ve created a free, printable one page guide for you!

Get a high-res, printable version of this chart!

• A free, printable cheat sheet.

• The top 20 baby signs.

• A clean, simple one-pager.

Get Your BSL Cheat Sheet, Click Here 

And Don’t Forget…

If you’re getting discouraged, take a deep breath and keep at it. Sign language takes patience and lots of repetition. Even if it seems like baby isn’t grasping the concept at first, you might be surprised when they sign “milk” out of the blue! Your hard work will eventually pay off.

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Sensory Play

I can make a spectacular argument that sensory play supports every learning domain. 

Actually, that’s probably why I started this entire website.

Anyway, sensory play is the perfect opportunity to introduce interesting new vocabulary. Take time to describe what your child is feeling, smelling, seeing, hearing, and even tasting.

Here are some fantastic sensory play ideas:

• Ice Cube Play

• Tearing Paper

• Play Dough

• Water Play

Singing 

Singing is a great way to promote language development. Introduce music in whatever ways feel comfortable for you. If that means only singing to the radio, that’s fine. You can also turn normal routines into songs or sing favorite lullabies.

Trust me, you do not always need to play children’s songs. Your toddler will get more from the experience if they see you engaged and enjoying it.

Fingerplays

Fingerplays and action songs are a great way to promote language development.

• Itsy Bitsy Spider

• I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee

• 5 Little Monkeys

Naming familiar objects

For younger toddlers, simply labeling familiar objects is a great way to build vocabulary. Adding descriptions is a bonus.

• “Let’s put on your yellow flower shirt.”

• “Here are the crackers. You loved these round crackers.”

Making Connections

Drawing your child’s attention to what they are experiencing and language is so powerful. This builds both language and cognitive skills.

• “Your toes feel cold. They were cold when you got out of the bath too.”

• “That was a big yawn. I yawn when I’m tired. Are you sleepy?”

Asking open-ended questions

Remember when I said “quizzing” is not a developmentally appropriate way to support language? I did that. 

However, open-ended questions are golden for language development. Even for children who are learning words, open-ended questions help boost language. Instead of you repeating the same question, you can start introducing new language?

Quizzing Questions

• What color is that?

• What animal is that?

• What is this called?

Open-ended Questions

• “The cat is gone. Where do you think she’s hiding?”

• “We cleaned up. What should we do next?”

Get my free list of open-ended questions. Memorize a handful of these and get in the habit of working them into playtime.

Serve + return conversations

Serve-and-return is taking turns communicating with your child. This could as simple as exchanging smiles.

For children who aren’t verbal yet, serve-and-return is responding to their coos, cries, and squeals.

Focusing on the rhythm of a serve-and-return conversation helps young toddlers learn how to communicate. Check out this video to learn more.

Playing with Letter Sounds + Rhymes

Playing with letter sounds and rhymes helps a toddler’s brain build language connections. Many children’s songs and books already emphasize alliteration.

You can draw your child’s attention to these sounds in everyday conversations.

“There is a bluebird. Oh it’s a buh-loo buh-ird.” 

“These flowers are fabulous. Fabulous flowers.”

You can also use alliteration and rhymes to create treasure baskets or a themed reading time. Toddlers are not developmentally ready to identify sounds on their own, but they can still begin to build connections.

Treasure Basket Ideas:

Letter D-themed:

• Doughnut toy

• Doily

• Toy dog

• Letter D magnet

• Dumptruck

Letter S-themed:

• Slinky

• Toy strawberry

• Toy snake

• Spoon

• Sponge

Books with Rhyme + Alliteration

• If You Give a Moose a Muffin

• Llama Llama Red Pajama

• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

• Belly Button Book

Narrating Your Actions

Narrating your actions also promotes language development. This means describing what you’re doing as you’re doing it.

For example, “I’m putting on my shoes. I’m tying my laces. After this, I’m going to find my coat.”

You can also narrate your child’s actions. For example, “You’re putting the block on top of the other block. The tower is getting taller.”

Face-to-Face Interactions

Face-to-face interactions are how children learn to shape their mouths to form sounds and how to communicate nonverbally. Engage in face-to-face interactions with your child as often as possible. This means making eye contact, using facial expressions, and vocalizing.

Treasure Baskets

Treasure baskets are an easy way to introduce loose parts to younger toddlers. As toddlers manipulate and investigate the treasure items, you can talk about each item. This is a great chance to share new vocabulary and have conversations.

Treasure basket ideas:

• Metallic objects

• Circles + round objects

• Nature objects

• Magnetic objects

• Monochrome (all the objects are the same color)

Book Baskets

This is an alternative version of a treasure basket with a the theme is a specific book.

The Pout Pout Fish

• Toy fish

• Seashells

• Mirror (for practicing pouting face)

• Empty peanut butter jar

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

• ABC magnets

Goodnight Moon

• Toy bears

• Mittens

• Bowl

• Comb

• Brush

• Toy mouse

Nursery Rhyme Themes:

• Lamb toy (Mary Had a Little Lamb)

• Spider toy + rainstick (Itsy Bitsy Spider)

• Watch + toy mouse (Hickory Dickory Dock)

From day one, your baby is listening to you intently to eventually communicate with you. Those listening skills will then turn into eye contact, cries, smiling, giggling, babbling, and more. In fact, your baby’s first communication begins with crying.

Have you ever noticed your baby cries differently for different needs? Different cries are baby’s way of communicating with you!

But how do a baby’s cries develop into speech? By the age of one, your baby will develop both nonverbal and verbal language skills to communicate. To help your baby develop essential language milestones, here are 21 kids’ speech activities to foster listening skills and speech development for your baby!

In this post, they explore fun-filled, language development activities that not only strengthen the bond between you and your baby but also lay the foundation for their communication skills. LINK» 

How Sensory Play Benefits Language Development

Would you like to help your child work on their language skills in a fun and engaging way? Let’s see how sensory play benefits language development and what you can do to assist your baby, toddler or preschooler.

In this post, we’ll explore fun-filled, language development activities that not only strengthen the bond between you and your baby but also lay the foundation for their communication skills. LINK» How Sensory Play Benefits Language Development

It’s a Process

Speech development is more than speaking words. It is a complex system of verbal and nonverbal communication. To express emotions and thoughts you baby will first begin to cry to communicate his or her needs to you.

After communication crying, the sky is the limit for speech development and your baby! 

But your baby needs your help along the way! The best way to develop language skills by year one is through imagination and play. 

Each of the 21 activities below combines:

• Imaginative play,

• Simple instructions for you and baby to follow,

• Activities involving both verbal and nonverbal speech.

So start playing some of these fun speech and language activities to give your baby a head start before he or she turns one!

Read more on how to utilize kids activities to reach developmental milestones! If your toddler already reached their wonderful twos, consider using Speech Blubs App in combination with offline games for kids to build their vocabulary.

 Speech Development!

21 Kids Activities for Speech and Language Development

1. Animal Jam

Simply say phrases like:A cow goes ‘moo’

• A duck says ‘quake’

• A chicken goes ‘cluck’

This helps your baby recognize the names of common animals along with their unique sounds. The best part about Animal Jam is it can be done anywhere, even in the car!

2. Sound Stories

Storytime is a wonderful time to bond with your baby. But it is also a way to enrich your baby’s language development. To learn speech skills, your baby also needs to learn nonverbal communication and sounds in response to everyday things. Instead of reading through a book, make reading fun by adding facial expressions, voice inflections, sound effects, and animal sounds.

3. Talk Back

Babies communicate by crying, cooing, and squealing to get your attention. When he/she is communicating with you, start talking back. If your baby coos, coo back. If baby smiles at you from across the room, smile back while saying ‘Hello’ and waving.

Babies learn through imitation. Over time your baby will not only smile, but say ‘Hello’ back to you while waving.

4. Name That Color

Everything is made of color. To help foster early color recognition, say the colors of everything you see.

For example: Name the colors of cars passing by while taking a walk to the park; tell your baby what color clothes he/she is wearing, toy colors, and more!

5. Karaoke

Whether you can keep a tune or not, your baby doesn’t care! Singing is a perfect way to provide a language learning opportunity that includes voice inflections, new words, and facial expressions. So go ahead and make a silly face while singing at the top of your lungs!

6. Monkey See, Monkey Do

“Monkey see, monkey do” is all about facial expressions. Facial expressions are an important aspect of speech development because they convey emotions. Research suggests that nonverbal forms of communication like facial expressions make up 60 to 65% of communication.

To encourage increased emotions through facial expressions, hold your baby in front of you and mimic his/her facial expressions. When your baby smiles, smile back. Better yet! Stick out your tongue, make a silly face, and watch to see if baby repeats your expressions.

7. Mirror, Mirror

Since tummy time is an essential part of a baby’s physical development, take advantage of tummy time by using a mirror. Not only will baby enjoy his/her reflection, but each time a coo or giggle is made your baby can see where the sound is coming from and his/her facial expressions when ‘speaking.’

8. Bicycle

After a diaper change or anytime your baby is on his/her back, take baby’s legs in move them in bicycle motions while singing a silly song or reciting a nursery rhyme. The bicycling motion will allow baby to focus on your face while you sing or speak to her/him.

9. Face-To-Face

Face-to-face is one of my favorite fun activities for promoting speech development! Lay on the floor with your little one and face each other. Point to areas of her/his face while naming the parts of the face. This will help your baby not only learn hand/eye coordination, but early recognition of parts of the face.

Better yet, take this activity one step further by doing the following example:

Point to baby’s nose and say ‘nose’
Take baby’s hand and touch your nose while saying ‘nose’

Having baby touch your nose allows her/him to understand that everyone has
similar body parts with the same names.

10. Repeat after Me

This simple game works best when facing your baby. Start making babbling sounds AKA baby talk (especially with vowel sounds) and wait for your baby to repeat them back to you. Some common coos and babbling sounds include: Oohh/aww; mamma/dada.

This type of speech normally does not develop until four months of age. So don’t be upset if your one-month-old is not catching on, just give it time. Before long you and baby will be chattering back-and-forth.

11. Say My Name

One of the biggest language developments a baby will make is learning/recognizing his/her name! While it’s different for every baby, most babies will recognize and respond to their names between 3 to 6 months of age.

To help baby along with this language development, say your baby’s name whenever possible.

Some fun ways to say your baby’s name include:
Adding his/her name to a silly song,
Asking a question with his/her name,
Replacing the names of book characters with your baby’s name.

12. Echo

To develop language babies need to repeat or ‘echo’ words. A great way to include new words and increase language skills is by adding expressive phrases to everyday situations.

For instance, if your baby drops his/her bottle on the floor say, “Oh no!”

I’ve found this activity also helps develop speech by adding sound effects to baby’s activities. Each time your baby jumps while holding him/her, add a sound effect like “boing, boing.” While trying to calm your crying baby, rock him/her back and forth while saying, “swoosh, swoosh.”

Over time, baby will begin to “echo” what he/she hears.

I know it seems silly, and that’s because it is! Echo is meant to be a fun learning activity for babies, so the sillier you get with sound effects and funny phrases the more baby absorbs new words, sounds, and phrases.

13. This Little Piggie

Next time, your baby is laying on his/her back, grab a foot and start saying the rhyme “This Little Piggie.” Since this game doesn’t number each of the five toes, the rhyme needs to be modified to help baby learn numbers.

Instead of saying “This little piggy went to the market” say, “The first little piggy went to the market; the second little piggy stayed home,” etc.

Another I’ve done the rhyme to help with number recognition is by saying the rhyme the following way:

• “One little piggy went to the market”

• “Two little piggies stayed home”

• “Three little piggies had roast beef”

• “Four little piggies had none”

• “And five little piggies cried wee, wee, wee all the way home”

While this may give the rhyme much more little piggies, it still allows your baby to hear each number and count the number with each toe.

14. Carpool

Carpool is an activity that’s perfect for crawling babies! While baby is crawling, get down and your hands and knees and teach baby how to push a car or truck as she/he is crawling. Your baby doesn’t have to keep a constant hand on the car, just a little push in between crawling motions.

To include speech development, add car sound effects; tell a funny story about the car ride; sing “Wheels on the Bus/Car/Truck”; etc.

15. Roll-A-Ball

This game if perfect for babies who can sit unsupported and have decent hand/eye coordination. Simply take a (medium- to large-sized) ball and roll the ball directly toward him/her. Incorporate language skills by saying phrases like “Here is your red ball!”

Roll-A-Ball can become more advanced by helping baby understand simple instructions and responding to those instructions. Try rolling a ball over to him/her and asking him/her to roll the ball back. 

You can help your baby with learning numbers by counting out loud to him/her every day. This activity doesn’t require extra effort on your part, simply start talking and counting out loud.

The following are great ways to include number counting each day:

• Count each stair step as you carry baby upstairs,

• Count how many bananas you bought at the store,

• Count baby’s fingers and toes.

17. Disappear, Reappear

Instead of playing a regular game of peek-a-boo, try playing with your baby’s favorite toy or stuffed animal. Hide his/her toy from view. Wait and few seconds and say “peek-a-boo.” You can also incorporate more speaking skills into the game by adding some creative dialogue!

Examples: “Peek-a-boo! There you are . . . Mister Bear missed you so much! Thank goodness you found him!”

18. Finger Puppets

Small finger or hand puppets are an amazing way to help develop language skills for your little one! By using finger or hand puppets to tell a story you are showing baby the following language and speech skills:

• Different facial expressions to show emotions when speaking

• Creative dialogue between two or more puppets (similar to speaking between two people).

19. Fruits and Veggies

Much of a baby’s speech development has to do with repetitive hearing and use of everyday words. One way to help with word recognition of common fruits and vegetables is by playing pretend with plastic fruits and vegetables.

Although baby will need to be supervised with pretend plastic food because of small pieces, he/she will learn how to recognize a banana, carrot, pear, and more! 

Also, don’t forget to count your fruits and veggies for number recognition!

20. Picture This

One of the easiest ways to help develop language skills in babies is through flashcards. Flashcards with pictures and writing help your baby begin to recognize what the picture or action is on the card along with the corresponding word or phrase. 

While your baby won’t say the words out loud for a while, it helps him/her to recognize the picture with the associated word. 

21. Build a Tower

Building a tower with blocks is perfect for developing hand/eye coordination. But this activity can also be used for encouraging language development in babies.

As you watch or directly help your child stack blocks, say the color of the block along with counting the blocks as the tower is being stacked. Many available baby blocks also have pictures in which you can describe the picture to your baby. For instance: If you have blocks with animals pictured on them, name each animal along with the sound the animal makes.

It’s a Process

Speech development is more than speaking words. It is a complex system of verbal and nonverbal communication. To express emotions and thoughts you baby will first begin to cry to communicate his or her needs to you.

After communication crying, the sky is the limit for speech development and your baby! 

But your baby needs your help along the way! The best way to develop language skills by year one is through imagination and play. 

Each of the 21 activities above combines:

• Imaginative play,

• Simple instructions for you and baby to follow,

• Activities involving both verbal and nonverbal speech.

So start playing some of these fun speech and language activities to give your baby a head start before he or she turns one!

Read more on how to utilize kids activities to reach developmental milestones! If your toddler already reached their wonderful twos, consider using Speech Blubs App in combination with offline games for kids to build their vocabulary.

Baby Dolls + Stuffed Animals

For older infants and young toddlers, baby dolls and stuffed animals are often the first props in pretend play. Dramatic play becomes more complex as a child gets older and is valuable in developing language and communication skills.

At this age, they need you to model how to use toys in dramatic play. Model conversations, narrate caring for a baby doll, or have the toys act out simple social scenarios. Toddlers will be able to practice using the words and sounds they are learning.

Simple Instructions

Giving your child simple instructions is a way for them to build receptive language skills. 

• “Can you hand me that book, please?”

• “Find your shoe and bring it here.”

• “Toss that paper in the trash.”

Don’t use this activity to test how well your child can follow directions. Instead, you are using these opportunities to gently guide your child when they are confused or don’t understand a request. You are giving them the language they need to problem-solve.

• “Oh, I needed the book. You gave me the box. The book is beside it.”

• “Do you need help finding your shoe? Check under the blanket.”

• “Hey, you found the trash can. Thanks for helping me clean up the kitchen.”

• “Try asking mom where the cup is.”

Telling Stories

Telling stories builds language and can help a child learn more about their family or community.

This is a perfect activity to do while driving in a car or walking. You can tell stories from books, make up your own, or share stories from your own life. 

Art + Dictation

Asking your child to share about their artwork is a perfect way to build language. Toddlers can practice sharing what they created. Adding dictation to art helps capture your child’s words. Take a moment to write exactly how your child described it at the bottom of the art.

• “It blue.”

• “Dog.”

• “I did it!”

As children get a little older, always ask permission before writing on their artwork. You can add a post-it note or write on the back if they want you to capture their description without altering their creations.

Talking During Care Routines

Nothing more personal than the moments you provide direct care to your baby or toddler. Rocking to sleep, bathing, changing diapers, feeding, and dressing are all very intimate moments. Use these times to really connect with your children and introduce language.

Narrate While Your Child Problem Solves

This activity will make any play more language-rich. It also helps your child preserve the information they just learned.

• “Oh, that didn’t fit. Yes, try rotating the block like that.”

• “You are trying so hard to reach that. You lifted up on your tippy-toes and reached the book.”

Exploring Outdoors

There are endless opportunities for language learning when you explore the outdoors. Point out different colors, shapes, sizes, and textures as you walk. Describe the actions of animals and people you see.

Ask your child questions about what they are experiencing.

• “I see a red bird. Do you see it? It’s flying from that tree to the next one.”

• “The wind is blowing. Do you feel it? It’s so strong!”

• “That dog is so big! And he’s barking.”

• “What do you think that kid is saying?”

Counting Activities

Yes, a math activity to promote language skills. When you count with your child, you are not only teaching them numbers but also new words. As you count different items with your child, help them describe what they are seeing.

• “One, two, three, four blueberries. Can you eat one?”

• “Five flowers. I wonder if bees are eating from all five?”

• “Ten steps. Let’s see if we can take ten more.”

Describing Emotions

Labeling feelings is a great way to help your child understand and begin to regulate their emotions. It also helps them learn the words to express what they are thinking and feeling.

• “You look so happy! Did something fun happen?”

• “You seem a little sad today. Want to sit with me?”

Laying the Foundation for Talking:

Teaching Imitation Skills

 If you have a baby close to the one year mark, you might be hoping that your little one will start talking any day now.

Or maybe your have an infant (6-12 months) and are looking for some ways to build that foundation for talking.

Or you may have a late talker and are looking for some ideas. (If that is the case, I suggest you check out Toddler Talk for more in-depth ideas on how to work with your toddler to get him or her talking.)

Here’s a question for you: Is your child imitating you – your actions, your expressions, your sounds? If not, you may want to be teaching imitation skills!

Think about how babies learn say their early words – they imitate you or repeat after you. That’s why learning the skill of imitation, any type of imitation, is so important as a foundation. It seems simple enough, but there is actually a lot going on when a child is learning how to imitate.

Let’s say your child is going to imitate you clapping. To do this “simple” task, your child has to:

• Pay attention to you – watch and process what you are doing

• Have the initiative to attempt a try

• Coordinate muscles

• Try several times to practice and get the movement right

• Watch for your response – When it is a positive that will make him more likely to try to imitate more things!

• Start to understand social turn-taking (a building block for conversational turns)

 If your child is not talking yet, a great way to build the foundation for future talking is by working on imitation. You can work on this in some fun ways to help your child imitate actions and then work up to sounds and then words!

 How to Teach Imitation Skills

– Physical Imitation Activities:

 Clapping and Arms Up

Clapping babies are so cute! Clapping and raising both arms in the air are some of the earliest actions that babies learn to copy (and do on their own). Encourage your child to clap with you by demonstrating and even guiding their hands the first few times to help them understand what to do.

For practicing Arms Up, try creating a verbal routine (something you say the same way each time) by asking your child, “How big is baby (or child’s name)?” and then answering, “So big!” as you raise both hands into the air. Once your child knows what to expect, you can ask the question and raise your hands up but then WAIT until she copies your action before you reward her by saying, “So Big!” This is sure to get lots of giggles!

Peek-a-Boo

Peek-a-Boo is another classic for a reason. It’s very repetitive, which is perfect for very early learning. Plus, as babies learn about object permanence, having something (like your face) quickly “disappear” is exciting! You can try guiding your child’s hands a few times to help him get the idea.

Pointing

Pointing is great not only for imitating, but also as a foundation skill for early communication. Think about how much a child can express about what they want, need, or are interested in just by pointing!

How to encourage pointing: As you are out on a walk or looking through a book, point to something that your child seems interested in. Then you can guide her finger to do the same. Reward her point by telling her what the item is called. You are also working on filling her bucket with vocabulary that she will use later!

Try to read every day with your child to develop a routine that includes pointing to things in her favorite books. Remember, while you might be sick of reading Goodnight Moon, your child loves repetition! Plus, repetition is one of the best ways for her to learn.

RELATED: How to Raise a Little Bookworm

Sing Songs with Movements

Try singing songs that have movements that go along with them such as

“Ring around the Rosies”

“If You’re Happy and Your Know It, Clap Your Hands”

“Wheels on the Bus”

“Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”

“Hokey Pokey”

RELATED: 12 Kid’s Songs for Language Development

 Sign Language or “Baby Signs”

Once your little one is starting to imitate you a bit, introduce some simple sign language into the mix. You can teach this by modeling signs while saying the word, then guiding his hands to form the sign.

 Try to do this during meaningful times. For instance, if he getting milk, then show him the sign for milk, have him make the sign, and then hand over the sippy cup. You can look up videos of how to form individual words in  sign language here – just type in the word you are looking for.

Some useful first words to target through sign language:

• More

• All Done (in the ASL video dictionary, just search for “done”)

• Milk

• Eat

• Drink

• Book

 How to Teach Imitation Skills

– Verbal Imitation Activities:

Once you’ve got your little one imitating some basic physical movements, it’s time to try out some verbal imitation activities.

Imitate Your Child’s Sounds

Okay – I know we are supposed to be talking about getting your child to imitate you, but this is a good place to start. You will peak your child’s interest by imitating his babbling – or any sound he makes. This can also teach him that it is a type of game that can be fun!

Sound Effects

While playing with cars, try “Vrroom” or “beep beep.” Or while playing with a baby doll or stuffed animal, make crying sounds or drinking/eating sounds. This can be more enticing to some children to start making sounds with their mouths.

Animal Sounds

Making animal sounds is another fun, silly thing to try with your little one! You can do this while looking at an animal book, at pictures of animals, or with animal toys. Some easier animal sounds are “woof,” “moo,” “baa” and “meow” but any sounds that are motivating for your child is a great place to start!

And once you’ve got your child imitating vocal sounds, then next step are those first words you’ve been waiting for!!

P.S. Here’s a link the book Toddler Talk that I talked about if you are worried about your toddler’s language development.

RELATED: 9 Tips to Get Your Toddler Talking

Fun Activities Support Infant Language Development

There is a magical joy in hearing your baby coo and babble, as these are the building blocks of their language development. 

But did you know that you can play a crucial role in fostering your little one’s language skills? 

Through simple, enjoyable activities, new parents can create a nurturing environment that promotes language development right from infancy. 

During the first year, babies are like language sponges, keenly absorbing and responding to the sounds and movements in their environment. 

One of the first skills they develop is the ability to make new sounds. 

From cooing at around 2 months to babbling towards the end of their first year, these sounds are the early stages of speech development. 

Imitation plays a critical role during this phase. 

Infants observe and start mimicking gestures, sounds, and simple words that they see or hear frequently. 

This copying behavior is a fundamental stepping stone in language acquisition.

Another pivotal skill babies work on is listening and reacting to sounds and voices.

 Even before they can talk, they begin to understand the nuances of language.

 They keenly observe intonation, pitch, and rhythm, which helps them to gradually recognize familiar voices or react to the emotional tone of a conversation. 

All these skills work together to pave the way for your baby’s language and communication development.

Make Tummy Time a Positive Experience While Working on Communication Milestones

Believe it or not, tummy time can be a fantastic avenue to encourage language development in your infant. As your baby spends time on their tummy, they gain a new perspective of the world around them, stimulating their curiosity and interest. During this time, you can engage your child with different sounds, sing songs, tell nursery rhymes, or talk to them about their surroundings. 

This can help stimulate their auditory senses and expose them to varied tones, pitches, and sounds of language.

 Furthermore, responding to their coos and babbles not only makes tummy time a positive experience but also supports their communication milestones.

 Remember, the more sounds, words, and positive vocal interactions they hear, the better for their language development.

Encouraging Communication Skills Through Daily Routines

Incorporating language learning into daily routines can be one of the best ways to grow your child’s vocabulary.

Everyday activities such as bathing, feeding, or changing diapers provide abundant opportunities for language exposure and reinforcement.

 As you engage in these routines, be mindful and intentional in your interactions.

 Narrate what you’re doing, describe objects around you, or even sing songs. 

This not only introduces new words and sounds but also builds a comforting rhythm of repetitive practice, essential in language acquisition. 

Over time, these structured, habitual interactions become a part of your baby’s daily life, seamlessly integrating language learning into their everyday experience. 

The key is consistency and repetition, as this helps your baby recognize patterns and predictability in language, laying a strong foundation for their future communication skills.

For more easy ideas and activities on how to support your baby’s development CLICK HERE.

Work on Baby’s language skills during Bath Time

Bathtime offers a fantastic opportunity to work on your baby’s language skills.

 The sensory-rich environment of splashing water, floating toys, bubbles, and warm towels can stimulate your baby’s interest and curiosity. 

You can use this time to describe the different objects in the bath, introduce words related to temperature like ‘warm’ or ‘cool’, or even narrate a short, fun story about their rubber duck navigating the ‘ocean’ in their tub.

You can name body parts so that these important words become part of their vocabulary.

The echoey sound that is often found in a bathroom also makes sounds fun to try out.

Singing songs about bathing can also add a musical element to language learning. 

Bath time, thus, becomes more than just routine hygiene; it is an educational, bonding experience that helps cultivate your baby’s language and communication skills.

10 Best Baby Bath Accessories (Safe, Soft & Multi-Sensory)10 Best Baby Bath Accessories (Safe, Soft & Multi-Sensory)

Introduce New Words During Snack Time

Snack time can be an excellent opportunity to introduce new words and concepts to your baby. Use gestures or baby sign language as a way for your baby to communicate even before those first words come in. Signs such as “more” or “all done” can be perfect to model and teach during snack time. Snack time is a great time to help children learn words for a number of reasons, including:

• Hearing new words: Talking with your child at snack time helps them hear new words and learn to associate words with objects.

• Responding to interests: Responding to your child's interest in a word helps them learn it more quickly.

• Repeating words: Repeating words often helps children link the word to the object.

• Bonding: Spending time together at snack time can help you bond with your child.

• BBC Chatting together at snack time - Why should you talk to your baby at snack time? Talking at snack time helps your baby hear...

• You can also use this time to teach them words like ‘bite,’ ‘chew,’ and ‘swallow.’

• Remember to make snack time interactive and fun. Encourage them to touch and feel their food, this can also be a great sensory activity. Respond to their reactions to different foods and reinforce the words you introduce, setting a foundation for their language comprehension and expression.

Work on First Words During a Diaper Change

Diaper changes, though seemingly mundane, are actually fantastic opportunities for language learning.

 This is because they are routine, repetitive moments that happen numerous times throughout the day, providing ample practice for your baby. 

What makes this time even more unique is the face-to-face interaction it allows. 

As you change your baby’s diaper, you’re in direct eye contact with them, making it the perfect moment to model new words and sounds. 

You can talk about what you’re doing, name the objects you’re using, and even introduce concepts such as ‘wet’ or ‘dry’. 

This close interaction is vital for your baby to observe your mouth movement, which aids them in learning to form words. 

Additionally, this can be a great time to incorporate a song or a fingerplay. 

These rhythmic, musical elements can make language learning stimulating and fun. 

Overall, diaper changes offer a unique, intimate setting for language learning right from infancy, turning mundane moments into enriching experiences.

Reading Books Supports Receptive and Expressive Language Development

Reading books to your infant is an incredibly effective method for bolstering early literacy skills and it is a great way to support language development.

It provides a structured setting for introducing new words and concepts, thereby helping to expand your baby’s growing vocabulary.

 As you read aloud, your child is exposed to the sounds, rhythms, and patterns of language, which play a pivotal role in their linguistic and cognitive development. 

Furthermore, books often include a myriad of topics, characters, and situations, offering a rich source of diverse vocabulary and complex sentences. 

This consistent exposure to language aids in the development of both receptive language skills (understanding of words and language) and expressive language skills (ability to express oneself). 

Reading is also a wonderful time for interaction. 

When your baby responds to the images or the story, ensure to react and engage with them, as this active participation promotes their communication skills. 

Therefore, establishing a regular reading routine not only paves the way for early literacy but also significantly contributes to your child’s language and communication proficiency.

So choose one of your favorite board books and take some time to read together!

Check out some of the best books for babies here.

During the first two years, a baby’s development is the highlight of their life. From everything we do and teach them, this is how they will continue to learn. During this time, developmental language activities are important. Especially if genetics hint toward a learning disability or Autism Spectrum disorders. But they are also fun and simple!

Playing Peek-a-Boo

Not the usual covering your face Peek-a-Boo. The one where you take a toy as they’re watching you and hide it under a blanket or something, but leave a little bit of it sticking out.

Ask them “where is it?” and encourage them to look for it. Most babies will dive right for where you hid it. Once they have mastered this, start hiding it without having a little part of it showing. This is great for their fine motor skills and object permanence. This is a quick, fun AND easy baby developmental baby activity!

Stack Toys Together

You can buy stacking toys (click HERE for ours) or you can use plastic cups you have at home! Take turns stacking the stacking toys or cups.

Don’t be annoyed if you find your baby just knocking them down. My baby LOVES breaking down stacking toys and towers. This is normal as they find a lot of excitement in it, especially if it’s new! Just keep stacking and show them how to do it as well. This helps them learn cause and effect and is a great activity for your baby.

Wooden Puzzles!

Grab from the store any baby wooden puzzles. Maybe get them a custom name puzzle with pegs from HERE like the one we have. Make sure the pieces are big enough for their little hands and minds.

Start by introducing puzzles and encourage them to play with them at an earlier age. Play with them! Show AND tell them how to do it. Guide their little hands with the puzzle piece to where it belongs. Let them attempt it themselves. When they get it, cheer them on and make them feel happy and excited. Playing with puzzles helps them with problem solving, visual skills and fine motor skills. Puzzles are fun baby activities (6-months and older)!

Read them Books

What baby doesn’t like looking through picture books? Get them ones that have many colors and pictures to look at. Sit with them and read it to them, but make sure to use different voices and expressions to make it more fun and exciting. Let them help you turn the pages. Be sure to also point to pictures as you are reading. Reading is great for their language development and listening skills making this not only fun, but a bonding time for mom and baby!

Make them a Bottle Rattle

Have empty water bottles lying around? Fill it up with some beans or rice (or anything else!) and glue the top shut. Give your baby the rattle and watch them shake it and see their expression when they hear the noise they are creating. Especially since they usually know that bottles themselves do not make noise, this will be a surprise to them.

Since it is surprising to them, this brings in the element of being surprised into their development. It also is great for their fine motor skills, auditory discrimination and cause and effect. This is one of those baby activities that are fun for them because if your baby is anything like mine and loves water bottles, this will be exciting!

Disappearing Baby “Snack”

This is such a fun and engaging activity for babies! Take a smaller finger food snack your baby likes (like cheerios) and take 2 plastic cups. Cover the snack with one cup and let the baby figure out where it is. Use 2 color cups and show them which is covering the snack, move the cups around and see if they remember which cup it is under. Once the baby masters that, do it with the other cup.

This is a great and simple developmental baby activity for reinforcing object performance as well as developing their attention skills and memory.

{Want to try out a new baby snack? Read about YUMI ORGANIC BABY FOOD}

Ziploc Finger Painting

Grab a gallon size Ziploc (or any bag of your choosing) and add some washable non-toxic paint inside. Seal it shut, and better to use duct tape to make it even more sealed and safe. Spread the paint around and then lay it flat for the baby to play with on the floor or high chair. For better playing, tape it down to the area they will be playing on.

Let your baby play around with with their fingers making squiggly lines and whatever else their fingers make. Making marks on the bag helps with their sensory development, fine motor skills, cause and effect and early writing skills. Plus, with this baby activity, they may develop into a mini Picasso!

Container Play

Take a container large enough to fit some of their toys. Put in balls, pegs, whatever your baby likes to play with. Hand it to them and see what they do. At first, they may find it more fun to just turn it over and dump the entire thing out. But soon enough they will realize that there are toys inside and will start banging and shaking the container with the toys inside, as well as grabbing some toys out.

Reload the container until they slowly figure out how to put the toys back inside themselves. Once they master this, you can start using smaller containers! This is great for object manipulation and orientation skills.

I understand the crucial role parents play in shaping toddlers’ language development. Early on, we have the power to influence their communication skills in meaningful ways.

I’m excited to share my favorite play-based, nurturing language activities that will not only enrich your toddler’s language journey but also make learning fun and interactive.

Importance of Toddler Language Development

Language development in the early years can impact a person’s ability to communicate and understand language over a lifetime. A child’s vocabulary starts to snowball during the second year.

As communication skills develop, parents and educators need to ensure they are creating a language-rich environment. This is also the time to closely monitor language development to catch speech and communication delays early.

Montessori Language Activities

- Examples and how to keep them relevant.

Above pictured are some of the recent language baskets and trays I've used with Weston (18 months). My approach with Weston is slightly different to what I used with Richie. I've made sure that all of Weston's language materials are relevant to him and our family. The animals are animals that he has seen, the vehicles have been seen in our community, the workers are those that Weston knows, the flowers and herbs are from our very own garden. There are no Australian animals, no African or Arctic animals, we will introduce these later, once they become relevant to him. I've also tried to include items that interest him.

Toddlers are absorbing so much and learning about the world around them, they are trying to make sense of the world around them. We can assist them with language, by giving them the names, the words of things. Why not start with the things that really exist around them.

Dogs / Birds

Transport / Insects

Community Workers / Farm Animals

Root Vegetables / Fruit

Herbs / Flowers

Language baskets are primarily about language, teaching the names of things, to increase knowledge, expand vocabulary and comprehension. 

At home, language baskets can also be used for open-ended play and loose parts. We can take them into the kitchen and cut the foods open and taste them, admire what is inside. We can use the language baskets for a three-period lesson. I keep in mind to use accurate language and scientific names. At 18 months we haven't used any language cards or started any matching activities. Weston is really absorbed in his current materials, this will be a natural progression. 

We are also constrained by our environment and resources. I love looking at language baskets in toddler classrooms. Often I've seen miniature work tools, model gardening materials, holiday clothes (often doll sized), beach clothes and equipment all in language baskets. Please note that you may want to use less objects in your language baskets than we have in ours pictured, often it's best to start with fewer object especially if they are new to the child or if the child is younger. 

Montessori language baskets are a way to introduce infants and toddlers to new vocabulary, increase knowledge and comprehension of the objects being introduced, and a sensorial extension to the language learning experience.

Beyond their simplicity, they are also a simple and versatile tool to expand language at home. They can easily be adapted to make the contents relevant to the seasons, holidays, your child’s unique interests or your family. We love using them to explore items specific to the seasons or a place we are about to visit. The baskets serve as 3-D flash cards that they can touch and see from all angles.

In their early stages (without the use of cards for matching), language baskets are a useful language tool for infants and toddlers alike. Children as young a 12 month olds can engage in sensorial exploration of the items they are learning about, while older toddlers can still benefit from having items to explore (without the cards), when they are learning about them for the first time.  So, even with an older toddler, don’t discount the value of presenting new items or replicas alone before introducing matching cards.

Progression of the Language Basket Material at Home

From items on their own, to matching cards, and the different options: here’s how to get started implementing this material at home

Objects only

First, start by presenting 3-4 replicas or real life instruments in a basket, simply naming the object “this is a cow.” Simple but accurate labels along with exploration of the object. If you are introducing the item and vocabulary for the first time, focus on the word and your child’s exploration of the item, before expanding on more description of the object (“look at the colors, what does it feel like”). Simply label objects as you show them, as they pull them out of the basket to explore and play, and as they get put back in the basket during clean up. Remember that this items-only step is not exclusive to infants, and is a mindful approach for introducing new vocabulary through toddlerhood as well.

Identical matching cards

Next, offer cards for matching to identical images, also working with only 3-4 items at a time in the early stages. You can take pictures of the objects and print them; aim to keep the image small or same size as the object once printed, if possible. It’s not necessary for your child to have full verbal mastery of the objects, but to be able to concentrate, observe as you guide use of the material, and to show an interest in language and the materials you are introducing it with. Follow your child as you determine readiness to introduce this step, sometime between 18 and 24 months.

Similar matching cards

After plenty of practice matching to identical images, present replicas an objects to match cards with  “similar” pictures, such as a real life picture of the item in its natural context, in use, or a in a different color. Again, follow your child’s lead, interest and knowledge of the items introduced as you consider presenting matching with “similar” pictures.

Things To Consider

Group items in categories
Items within the basket should remain in the same category, such as animals categories, instruments, kitchen tools, sea life items, etc.

Items and replicas
We love using replica objects such as theSafari LTD farm animals andSchleich animals pictured here, but don’t forget that you can present vocabulary from items already found in your toolbox, closet or kitchen drawer.

Age appropriate items
With small replicas and objects, always exercise caution and supervision, as with any use oof materials with small parts.

Don’t forget to check—ourFREE printables with pictures from language cards.

10 activities to help develop your
child's speech.

The best way to help a child's speech and language developmentis through play. 

Here are 10 simple activities that you can do at home, including the key vocabulary to focus on, to help develop your child's speech and oral language.

The key to these activities is about engaging with the child and using simple, useful language that matches the actions of play. 

This puts the language into context with what they are experiencing and gives them opportunities to hear, use and practice the language in a way that makes sense to them. 

Often the simple phrases are repeated over and over again in the same activity which is what you want. The words that you can focus on are listed for each activity under "Language" but you can still use them in correct sentence structure whilst focusing on the key words. 

For example, "Ball. You have a ball" and "Give ball. Give me the ball please." 

For more specific information about how to develop your child's speech through play and to hear our personal journey with oral language concerns, see here.

Ball Play

Materials

• little ball

• bowl

• basket

• spoon

Language (to match the actions)

• throw ball

• get ball

• give ball please (simple instructions for them to follow)

• ball in basket

• ball out of basket

• ball on floor

• ball on spoon

• ball fell off spoon

• pick up ball

Pasting

Materials

• Glue stick with lid

• large sheet of paper

• scraps for gluing (paper/felt/feathers etc)

Language (to match the actions)

• lid off glue

• glue on paper

• stick on paper

• lid on glue

• glue on hand

• sticky hand/ your hand is sticky

• sticky paper

• red/blue/green etc paper (saying colour names as they are used)

• put lid on

• "Child's name" give lid please (try simple instructions for them to follow)

Trucks and Ramps

Materials

• little truck

• ramp (use hard cover books for ramps) or a cookie sheet

• small toy animal that will fit in truck/trailer (eg. dog, cow)

Language

• Go!

• brooooom!

• Ready, set, go

• Go truck!

• truck on ramp

• truck go down ramp

• truck at top

• truck at bottom

• "dog" in truck

• "dog" out of truck

• "dog" on ramp

• "dog" on floor

• put dog in truck (simple instructions for them to follow)

Making a Snack

Instead of preparing a snack for your child, provide materials for them to make their own snack and then use the language that naturally goes with the processes.

Materials

• Little containers

• fruit (eg. banana, strawberries)

• plastic knife

• savory cracker

• spread (eg. cream cheese, peanut butter)

• sultanas

• plate

Language

• yummy

• eat food

• hungry

• snack time

• cut up banana

• peanut butter on cracker

• put in container

• more?

• you like?

• 3 sultanas. 1, 2, 3.

• strawberry on plate

• strawberry off plate

• in mouth
  
  

Pom-pom Play

Materials

• pom-poms

• basket

• box

• plate

• spoon/tongs

Language

• pom-poms on floor

• pick up pom-poms (can use simple instructions for them to follow)

• pom-poms in basket

• pom-poms in box

• pom-poms on plate

• pom-poms off plate

• pom-pom on spoon

• "red" pom-pom 

• 3 pom-poms. 1, 2, 3

• more

• all gone

• tip pom-poms

Ring-Ring

Materials

• toy phone

Language

• hello

• yes 

• thanks

• ok

• press buttons

• ring-ring

• who's there?

• bye

• Mama, Daddy, Nanna, etc.

Let's build

Materials

• variety of different blocks (shapes, sizes, colors etc)

Language

• build up

• block on top

• put on

• fall down

• big tower

• tall tower

• very tall

• put block on (following simple instructions)

• big block

• little block

• "red" block

• more

Animal Tracks

Walking plastic animals over clay/playdough to leave footprint impressions. Focus the language on the movements and animal sounds.

Materials

• clay/playdough

• plastic animals

Language (match the actions being used)

• roll clay

• squishy clay

• kangaroo jump/ jump jump jump

• marks in clay

• footprints in clay

• more?

• snake slither/ sssssss

• frog jump/ jump jump/ ribbit ribbit

• lion roar/ roaaaaar

• animals walk

• walk on clay

I'm a Chef

Pretend cooking play using playdough and various kitchen implements. You can roll some sausage shapes etc. to help encourage other actions that allow you for other language use.

Materials

• playdough

• plastic pot w/ lid

• plastic frying pan

• plastic knife

• plastic plates

Language

• cut "playdough" (or, "sausage/carrot" etc.)

• roll playdough

• in pot

• out of pot

• in pan

• out of pan

• lid on pot

• lid off 

• on plate

• more?

• no more

• all gone

• yummy

• what are you making?

Sandpit Play

Sensory play is great for young children and for developing language. Children are able to match what they are seeing/hearing/smelling/touching or tasting with the words that go with the sensory experience. This makes the experience very tangible for them.

Materials

• sand

• plastic bottle with lid

• spoon

Language

• lid on bottle

• lid off bottle

• sand in bottle

• scoop sand

• pour sand

• give spoon

• tip sand

• empty bottle

• sand all gone

• sand on spoon

Handy Tips:

- Generally, just asking my child if they would like to play with me is enough to entice them to participate in some one-on-one time, however if they are hesitant (code for, my toddler wants to do what he wants to, not what I want him to) I will get out the materials and start playing with them myself. The more fun I'm having on my own, the more they usually want to join in.

- If your child really isn't in the mood for your planned play, I wouldn't force it. Instead, try to find a way to engage with what they are interested in playing and try and use and encourage them to practice the language that naturally comes with that activity.

- Read my tips on the best way to approach these one-on-one play times with your child.

- It is very important to allow your child time to respond to any questions you ask and for them to attempt to use or mimic the language. 

Encourage and praise their attempts at oral language.

- You will most likely find, during the course of your one-on-one play, that other language (other than what's listed above) naturally occurs due to the direction that your play takes.

This is of course perfectly fine. Just try and keep the language short, clear, relevant and useful during this time. Repetition is important.

- There are lots of great

kids books that encourage speaking and making sounds

. A favorite of ours is, "Mr Brown can Moo. Can you?" by Dr Seuss.

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