5 Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development!
The first few years of a child’s life are vital to their ability to communicate for years to come. And parents play an important role in their children’s language development! Interacting with your children in these 5 fun, easy ways will help them build robust vocabularies, a strong understanding of grammar, and literacy skills!
1. READ
READ! Need we say more? Reading aloud is simply one of the best ways to help children develop language skills! It builds vocabulary and teaches children about the world around them – even as infants! Looking through a picture book without words and talking about what you see can be incredibly helpful as well.
2. MIMIC
When your baby laughs or makes a funny face, mimic it back to them! Children aren’t born with the ability to mimic others right away, but they learn to quickly as others mimic them. This skill will help them learn to copy the shapes your mouth makes as you speak to them!
3. COUNT
Even before your baby can produce language, start counting! You can count things around you or sing fun counting songs like “Five Green Speckled Frogs” or “The Ants Go Marching!” Counting with your baby will give them the foundational language needed to begin learning more complex math concepts.
4. BABBLE
Work on getting your child to repeat simple sounds like “ma,” “ba,” or “da.” Say the sounds to them and try to get them to repeat you. Whatever babble they produce, repeat it back to them. Act like you’re having a conversation! This positive interaction will encourage them to keep making sounds and get closer to speaking!
5. MOO, BAA, AND NEIGH
Did you know some of the easiest sounds for a child to produce are vowels? After vowels come the consonants p, m, h, n, w, b, d, and t! Combine these two early developing sounds and what do you get? Animal sounds! “Moo,” “baa,” and “neigh” just to name a few! While animal sounds aren’t words, they help children learn to associate a sound/word with an object – an animal in this case! Here at Project Play, we love this interactive way to get your baby started talking.
Let us know how you get your baby babbling or help their language development by commenting below!
Wondering what language development is typical for your child’s age? See this list of developmental speech and hearing milestones from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association! If you have any concerns about your child’s development, contact us for a speech-language consultation today.