How to get your child talking
Top tips to get your toddler talking through teaching them how to request for their favourite toys and foods
Start or develop your little one’s communication skills through teaching them to ask for the things they want and need…
“How can I help my toddler talk?” This has to be one of my most asked questions!
Along with “what is ‘normal’ speech development?” and “when should my child be talking?”.
Luckily I have some top tips for you to help boost your little one’s speech & language skills.
I am going to focus in this post on how you can support your little learner to ask for the things they want. If you are looking for more general advice, check out this blog post where I talk about what you can do while waiting for speech & language support.
Why work on requesting?
Requesting (asking for things) is the earliest developing form of communication. Whether little ones are asking for food, a nappy change, our attention or a preferred toy this is where it all starts!
It gives instant results! We can show little ones that we are listening and understanding them with our behaviour very easily.
It reduces frustration. Imagine really wanting something but not being able to communicate that need - horrible!
How to work on asking?
💰Give a small amount of the item 'for free'.
🗣️ Model the sign/ word they need.
⏸️ Pause, quietly.
💰Give a small amount 'for free'.
This means exactly what it says! Give your little one a bit of whatever it is they want with zero expectation for them to ‘do’ anything for it. So you might give them few mini-cheddars, blow a few bubbles, give them 1/4 of the puzzle pieces they need.
By offering something for ‘free’ you are establishing motivation for the item (making sure they really want it), and setting yourself up as a helper as opposed to someone just getting in their way (by demanding they ask straight away).
🗣️ Model the sign/ word they need.
After you have given your toddler a little bit of the toy/ food they love, show them how to ask for this item. Do this by modelling the sign or saying the name of the item (e.g. “cheddars”, “bubbles”, “puzzle”).
⏸️ Pause, quietly.
Pause expectantly, and quietly wait to allow your little one time to process what has occurred. Look between your little one and the rest of the item (e.g. look at your child and then at the mini cheddars packet and back again). Often this pause alone is enough for children to have a go at saying the word to ask for more of the item.
🧡 As soon as your little one says the name of the item/ copies your sign show them you have understood and give them the rest of the toy/ food!
Ok great but what if they don’t say the word?! What do I do then?
This is really common! When talking is tricky for little ones, the pause is not enough - we need to give them a little more support. So here’s what to do…
During the pause count to 3 (slowly in your head), if nothing happens, say the word again and give your little one the rest of the toy/ food as if they said it. We don’t want to create additional frustration here so accept that on this go they weren’t quite sure what we were asking.
Choose 2-3 key toys/ foods to focus on and only work on this strategy with them. The ones you pick need to be HIGHLY motivating, and you need to be able to offer bit-by-bit, by breaking into smaller parts, or by giving a turn and then pausing.
The next time there is an opportunity with one of the key toys/ foods follow the steps above but…
Say the word and sign at the same time, and use hand-over-hand or hand-under-hand prompting to support your little one to sign along with you. As soon as they do, give them the rest of the toy/ food.
Enjoy! Let me know how you get on by dropping me a DM on instagram where I am @sw_speechtherapy
Toys to help your preschooler talk
Toys to help toddlers get talking
What to look for when choosing toys for your 2 or 3 year old to develop their communication skills?
When pre-schoolers are struggling to communicate, we are desperate for that magic bullet which will make things easier for them and bring on their talking.
The reality is no, one, toy is going to develop your toddler's speech and language skills alone, (and you should be wary of any toy that claims it can!).
It is much more about what you do with the toy, how you play with the toy than the toy itself.
That being said, here are my 4 golden rules that I follow when choosing toys for little ones who find communication a little tricky.
Toys that need you to operate.
Toys that can be played with in multiple ways.
Toys that have lots of parts, so can be shared bit-by-bit.
Whatever your little one loves!
Don’t worry if the toys you just bought on the weekend don’t follow all these rules. I recommend that rule number 4 is a must when picking toys for little ones! But besides that just be mindful of some of the others.
Here’s why…
Toys that need you to operate them are great as they create a shared moment.
If little ones can play totally independently it can be difficult for us to become a part of their world, but if we are needed it gives us an easy in!
I’m talking wind-up toys, balloon powered cars, toys that need bigger, stronger hands to operate.
The toys that can be played with in lots of ways are great for keeping play interesting and to allow you to model a variety of words.
When children find speaking hard, we want to model language for them based on what they are doing.
If we are playing in a variety of different ways then we can model lots of different language.
For this rule, things like carboard boxes, open-ended sensory bins and Duplo are brilliant!.
Toys that can be shared bit-by-bit, keep the play exciting and provide opportunities to work on requesting and turn taking. I’m talking about puzzles, train tracks, marble runs – most ‘construction’ type toys follow this rule.
Finally, children learn best when they're having fun - so choose a toy your child loves!
If you are looking for more toy inspiration follow me on Instagram @sw_speechtherapy where I share the toys I have in my therapy kit, strategies, and milestones to help you understand where your pre-schooler is at, and how to help them become a confident communicator.
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