Building vocabulary is an essential part of expanding verbal and written language. Once we learn a new word or phrase and understand it, we can use it. 

You’ll hear many professionals say: ‘early intervention is the best intervention!’ It’s important to build meaningful interactions and foundational communication skills from a young age. Think of it as providing your child with the toolkit they need for learning. There are many ways we can build language skills in our own environment! Whether this be at home, the shops, the playground or even the beach. There is always a way to stimulate your child’s language skills. 

My toolbox

If I had a dollar for every time a family requested to do a clinic visit rather than a home visit due to the lack of toys or resources they had for us to use in therapy, I’d be rich! There is a large misconception that you need specific resources and toys to target certain areas of speech and language, and that just isn’t true. The evidence tells us that conducting therapy in a client’s natural environment actually increases therapeutic outcomes. It doesn’t matter whether you have masses or limited toys and resources. Let’s keep it simple!

You may have heard of recasting. This is essentially when you repeat something your child says with more detailed language. For example…

The child says ‘apple’ or ‘want apple’ and the parent responds with ‘I want more apple please.’  

This is the easiest and most effective way to help your child learn language at home. It gives your child the opportunity to hear language and learn how to communicate more effectively. Recasting is a way of modelling without correcting which reduces the pressure and cognitive load of the child. The best thing is, they don’t even realise they are learning! 

There’s no place like home…

Right about now you are probably thinking, “but what can I do at home?” The possibilities are endless. First, let’s think about food…

Getting your child involved with food preparation and cooking is a great way to spend time together and teach your child about healthy eating. It’s also a great opportunity to build your child’s ability to follow directions, build comprehension skills, and learn new vocabulary. It can even be the most basic thing, such as making a sandwich. 

Collect the ingredients together and use ‘WH’ questions (i.e., who, what, when, where) to build your child’s understanding. What ingredients do we need? Where do we find them? What next? Expand further and practice following multi-step directions – ‘First get the bread and then the cheese.’ 

Describe what you’re doing and encourage your child to do the same. Think location, action, colour, texture, taste…

  • ‍‘Toast the bread’
  • ‘Slice the cheese’
  • ‘Chop the tomato’
  • ‘Butter the bumpy bread’
  • ‘Eat the gooey cheese’

Here’s a hint, use the 4:1 ratio by making 4 comments to every 1 question asked. You don’t want your child to think they’re being tested!

Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt. Pick a toy or household item (e.g. pots, pans, bowls, pillow), hide it and take turns giving each other clues. Or maybe you set a theme and give directions – ‘types of leaves’ or ‘things that are soft’. Take photos or draw pictures of what you find. This helps create connections and associations between names and objects. Integrate some turn-taking and location concepts – hide objects and give directions like ‘Put the block under the chair’. Expand further and target 2-step directions. For example, ‘Pick up the toy car and put it behind the couch’. 

The daily grind!

The notorious food shop. It’s very easy for us to hand over a phone and let our children play on some games so we can get some peace and quiet to check everything off on the list. Try incorporating your child into the process of the food shop. Talk about the colour, size, shape, feel and look of certain foods. Woolworths has done part of the work for us providing free fruit samples to our kiddos. Don’t just eat, lets talk about it! Take a banana and think of all the vocabulary you can use to describe it….

  • ‍Yellow
  • Smooth
  • Mushy
  • Creamy
  • Soft
  • Long
  • Peel

Play an I-Spy game. I see something yellow and long. Play a matching game. What else is yellow?

There are so many ways to target language. Remember to keep it simple and functional! You don’t need to go out of your way to buy the next best toy. 

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s communication development, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Hanrahan Health via our website or send an email to admin@hanrahanhealth.com.au.