Last week I wrote a blog post called, The Power of Play-The Best Way to Teach Your Toddler to Talk. This week I'm going to talk about how to play with your child to increase toddler speech development.
Now that you have learned why play is important and the different levels of play, let’s talk about how you can play with your child to help him talk and communicate faster.
The first way to play with your toddler, and probably what comes to mind for most parents, is by playing with toys. Most children love to play with toys because they are fun and toys are something that he/she finds interesting. Just make sure the toys that your toddler plays with are age-appropriate.
Some age-appropriate educational toys for toddlers include stacking blocks, baby dolls, wooden peg puzzles, toy trains, and toy cars. There are a variety of words to target with these toys. Have your child repeat them or attempt to repeat them and make sure he/she understands them. Some of these words include: “up”, “more” (when playing with stacking blocks), “eat”, “drink” (when playing with baby dolls), “in”, “out” (when playing with peg puzzles), “go”, “stop” (when playing with toy trains and toy cars). While a Vtech Laptop is a really great educational toy for older children, it won't do much good for a toddler!
The second way to play with your child is through creative play. Children up to age three will benefit greatly from creative play. Creative play can again involve toys or just imaginative play between you and your toddler. Examples of creative play include dressing up in costumes of your toddler’s favorite characters, making up songs, and pretending you and your toddler are his/her favorite animals. Also, try to find toys and other items that can help with creative play. Use your imagination!
Keep in mind that in order to make play work you must make time to play with your toddler every day. Make play activities fun and engaging. Sit down on the floor with him or her, play dress up, or play your child’s favorite game. Just play with your toddler to help develop his/her creativity, imagination, thinking and speech and language skills! Most importantly remember to praise your toddler when he/she tries to communicate with you while playing.
To learn more speech and language tips to help your toddler talk and communicate faster, be sure to check out my book on Amazon Kindle, Talking With Todders - 52 Tips to Boost Speech and Language Skills.
Now that you have learned why play is important and the different levels of play, let’s talk about how you can play with your child to help him talk and communicate faster.
The first way to play with your toddler, and probably what comes to mind for most parents, is by playing with toys. Most children love to play with toys because they are fun and toys are something that he/she finds interesting. Just make sure the toys that your toddler plays with are age-appropriate.
Some age-appropriate educational toys for toddlers include stacking blocks, baby dolls, wooden peg puzzles, toy trains, and toy cars. There are a variety of words to target with these toys. Have your child repeat them or attempt to repeat them and make sure he/she understands them. Some of these words include: “up”, “more” (when playing with stacking blocks), “eat”, “drink” (when playing with baby dolls), “in”, “out” (when playing with peg puzzles), “go”, “stop” (when playing with toy trains and toy cars). While a Vtech Laptop is a really great educational toy for older children, it won't do much good for a toddler!
The second way to play with your child is through creative play. Children up to age three will benefit greatly from creative play. Creative play can again involve toys or just imaginative play between you and your toddler. Examples of creative play include dressing up in costumes of your toddler’s favorite characters, making up songs, and pretending you and your toddler are his/her favorite animals. Also, try to find toys and other items that can help with creative play. Use your imagination!
Keep in mind that in order to make play work you must make time to play with your toddler every day. Make play activities fun and engaging. Sit down on the floor with him or her, play dress up, or play your child’s favorite game. Just play with your toddler to help develop his/her creativity, imagination, thinking and speech and language skills! Most importantly remember to praise your toddler when he/she tries to communicate with you while playing.
To learn more speech and language tips to help your toddler talk and communicate faster, be sure to check out my book on Amazon Kindle, Talking With Todders - 52 Tips to Boost Speech and Language Skills.
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