How to Build Your Child’s Vocabulary
Have fun – No matter what you are doing with your child express genuine emotions of joy and excitement with your words, vocal intonation, facial expressions, gestures, and turn taking.
Self-talk – Describe what you are doing when with your child. Label objects and actions, describe problems, solutions, and emotions. For instance, “What should I put on the pizza for dinner? Lots of cheese and veggies!”
Parallel talk – Describe what your child is doing: Discussing things, sequences, and play with single words and short phrases. Meaningful context will help your child better understand units of language.
Imitate what your child does – The easiest way to get your child’s engagement is simply to imitate what they do and say. We all love to feel seen and understood.
Follow your child’s lead – During play allow your child to initiate ideas and then follow along without taking over. After lots of following, try adding one new idea and see what happens. If your child likes your idea roll with it. Sharing ideas is a great form of turn taking and collaboration.
Offer choices – Across routines and spontaneous events give your child choices. Slowly name each choice while gesturing to it or holding it up, and wait for some kind of response.
Oops! – Offer silly options or reinforce clear mistakes to highlight the importance of vocabulary. For example, “Do you want hamburgers or shoes for dinner?”
Question a little (not a lot) – Limit questions that test knowledge of animals and shapes. Save open-ended questions to promote critical thinking. “Why isn’t the tiger moving?” vs. “What sound does the tiger make?”
Pause in anticipation – During turn-taking be sure to pause with an expectant look to encourage your child to speak. You may have to pause longer than normal, and that’s OK.
Add language – Add words to your child’s utterances. If they request food with “Hungry” add “I’m hungry”. If they are talking about toys they like encourage them to compare / contrast the toys’ traits.
Use routines – Songs, games, and routines are great opportunities to use all the previous strategies in a safe, fun environment that let’s your child build their vocabulary.
