Activities to Encourage your Child’s Speech and Language at age 2-3 years

* Repeat new words over and over

* Help your child listen and follow instructions by playing games “pick up the ball”, “touch Daddy’s nose”

* Take your child on trips and talk about what you see before, during and after the trip

* Expose your child to different surroundings and the vocabulary that would be used in them.

* Take walks in the park, go shopping in the supermarket, go for a visit to the zoo to use the opportunity to teach them new words.

* Let your child answer simple questions.

* Read story books with your child everyday, as part of the bed-time routine

* Listen attentively as your child talks to you

* Describe what you are doing, planning or thinking

* Have the child deliver simple messages for you like: ” Mummy, Daddy wants to talk to you.”

* Carry on conversations with the child, preferably when the two of you have some quiet time together

* Ask your child questions to get him to think and talk

* Show the child you understand what he says by answering, smiling and nodding your head

* Continue to talk about everything you are doing during activities throughout the day.

* Use simple sentences of 4-5 words when talking around the child.

* Play with child as if you are a child. (i.e. Model dolls "talking"/carrying out familiar routines. "Drive" toy cars to the "store" to get milk, then "drive home" and put away the groceries or prepare dinner).

* Let your child play with other children to develop social and language skills.

* Expand what the child says. If he or she says “want biscuit”. You say ”Adam wants more biscuit”

* In response to your child's initiation of interaction, you can expand what he/she said by adding more words to make the sentence clearer. For example:

        Child: Daddy

        Parent: Daddy help

        OR

        Child: Doggie run

        Parent: The doggie is running

        Child: Doggie

        Parent: He's soft , here feel his fur

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article Courtesy of Isabel Tan Cjinh Ping, Senior Speech Therapist

Bachelor of Speech Pathology, University of Queensland, Australia (1999)

Public Service Commission Scholarship Awardee 1995