“Talkin’ Up A Storm”
Children learn to understand word labels when they are used over and over again in their play and daily activities (e.g., mealtime, dressing, bathing). Developing a vocabulary occurs naturally when you talk about what your child sees, hears, and experiences. Regularly introduce new word labels.
- Introduce new words in different sentences and stress the words to draw attention to them.
- Consistently present the newly learned word labels in various situations.
- Label objects in your child’s environment.
- Label toys and actions during play with your child.
- Label foods and utensils during mealtime.
- Label clothes while dressing your child.
- Label objects used for bathing (e.g., soap, washcloth, towel).
- Take your child for walks and label what you see and hear (e.g., car, tree, plane, bird).
- Use names of people.
- Read books and label pictures of objects, actions, and descriptive words.
- Sing your child’s favorite songs.
- Label objects one by one as you give them to your child.
- Present the known object with 2 that are unfamiliar to your child.
- Provide the word label of the object and ask your child to retrieve it.
- Present your child with the object and narrate actions as the object is used.
- Present pictures of objects to help your child comprehend the word label in a more abstract form.
- Guide your child’s hand toward the object, toy, and person, as you label them.
- Show your child the objects in an animated manner as you label them.
- Point to, reach and turn your child’s head toward the objects or pictures labeled.
- Label and describe objects, people, and pictures.
