Communication and language
Everyone wants their child to be able to talk and communicate well, but it’s not always easy to know the right ways to help. There are lots of things you can do during your everyday routines and conversations – try our top tips to support your child to grow into a confident communicator.
Top tips for talking
- Talk to your child during your everyday routines, describing what is happening and what they can see
- Share books with your child – talking about the pictures will help keep them interested even if they do not want to listen to the whole story
- Use actions and gestures when you speak to help your child listen and understand
- Limit screen time (phones, tablets, TV) – too much can affect children’s ability to listen
- Play alongside your child, watching what they do and adding in sounds and words e.g. "The car goes vroom."
- Children learn best when we give them the words they need rather than asking them what things are e.g. "There's a duck" rather than "What's that?"
- Show your child choices to help them try words out e.g. “apple or banana?”
- Sing songs and rhymes together, using actions to help your child join in
- Praise your child when they try to communicate - they might not get all the sounds and words correct but will thrive with praise as they learn
- Repeat back what your child says and add an extra word to help them build sentences. E.g. when a child points and says "apple", respond with "yes, a green apple."
