Are you home with your children and worry that you’re not doing enough to help them develop? Well, first of all, if you’re reading this post, you’re likely doing something right. Being a parent is hard, and we often put a lot of pressure on ourselves because of what we see in society and on social media. There are tons of resources and information out there on how to help your child, but it can be challenging to know which sites or professionals to follow.
One thing our speech-language therapists love to do is show parents easy ways they can incorporate language development into their everyday lives to help their children build a bigger vocabulary and improve their communication.
We’ve rounded up FIVE ideas to help you out (hint: they’re all fairly straightforward and easy).
Read to your child
Taking the time to read with your little one every day will help them develop and understand language. While you two read together, you can point out different objects and words to your baby. In addition to being a positive way to improve communication, it allows children, parents, and caregivers to connect, which is equally as important. Hit up your local library and get your little one to help you select the books they want to read. This is a very simple activity with a BIG impact.
Narrating Activities
Another easy way to incorporate language development into your everyday lives is to narrate your daily activities to your child. Explain to them what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. While they may not understand it quite yet, eventually, they will, and they will participate in the conversations with you.
Play Pretend
Playing is a great way to teach little ones in a fun and interactive way. It eliminates the pressure and allows both you and your child to interact with one another. Get them to select a toy they want to play with and allow them to select one for you. Get curious and have fun!
Sing Songs
Singing songs may be one of our FAVORITE activities to do with children. It’s so much fun to watch them sing and dance, all while learning their ABC’s or words to a new song. It’s a great way to help your child develop language skills and we bet you’ll have fun too.
Visual Tracking
One easy activity for parents and caregivers to do with their baby is visual tracking. Take an object like a rattle or ball and have them follow it with their eyes. Explain to them what kind of object you have and describe it. This simple activity will help them begin to understand language and makes them curious about the world around them.
The key to helping your child with early language development is to keep it SIMPLE and FUN! Parents often think that in order to help their children learn and develop, they have to do extravagant things with them, and this couldn't be further from the truth, so be easy on yourself. You have enough to worry about, so simply have fun and enjoy the time with your child.
If you’re looking for more simple and practical tips, be sure to follow our Pinterest account.