Toddler Talk

Speech is an important milestone in toddlers. Toddlers usually begin using one- two word phrases at this stage. There are several things that parents and caregivers can do to encourage speech.

Toddlers understand and say nouns before other parts of language. Identifying nouns with your child is the best way to start speech. You can build vocabulary in almost everything you do with children, simply by talking to them. While dressing them (or as they are dressing themselves) identify shirt, pants, socks, shoes, say left foot and right foot when putting on their shoes. While at the grocery store, identify common food items, apples, juice, crackers, etc. While driving in the car, ask your child “what do you see?” and model responses such as “I see trees and the road” or “I see a stop sign and a car next to us.” Descriptive words are important when building a vocabulary. When talking with your child, use adjectives. You can say, “I like your green shirt”, “Let’s get in the blue car”, “That tree is tall”, “The kitten is little”, etc.

In addition to working on receptive language, you can encourage talking by modeling words for your child. If they show signs of hunger, model “eat” and try to have them imitate the word. If they want to be picked up, model “up” and try to have them imitate the word.

Typically your child’s first words are simple. At dinnertime, say “Eee” before giving them food, withhold for a moment to encourage them to imitate the sound to request “eat”. When playing with a ball, say “ba” before throwing them the ball. The motivation of playing should encourage them to imitate the sound. Shortening words so that children are able to say them is important. Instead of encouraging them to say “fire truck”, first work on “tuck”. Simplifying words can be helpful so that children can more easily imitate. Shorten sentences as well. Instead of saying, “The baby is crying”, encourage your child to say, “Baby cry”. Instead of asking them to say “pick me up, please”, ask them to say “up peas”. Then follow up with a model of the correct production of the word or sentence.

Finally, reading is a great way to encourage speech and language. While reading books, describe the pictures and ask questions. In addition, ask them to identify and point to pictures in the book. This will keep children engaged during book reading.