Every baby is different. Babies may not speak at the same pace or age. If you’re wondering how to get your toddler talking, the best way is to start talking to the tot as early as possible.
We have seen mothers talking to the baby even before they are out of the tummy. Even after the baby comes out of the tummy, the conversation is usually pretty much a one-sided affair. Between the age of 2 and 3, the kids start picking up words faster than you would have ever thought about. And soon there comes the speech Tsunami when the kid turns out to be a chatterbox unable to stop their “ba”, “ma” and the “da”s. By the age of 2, most of the kids have about 20 to 200 words in their vocab repository to blabber and by the age of 3, the number rises up to about 1000. But, the babies or the toddlers to not hit such high numbers buy their own. Of course, we mean that the parents hold a very important place and an impact on their child’s language and speech. The more you encourage your child to talk, the better they are and have a stronger vocabulary.
However, there are kids who take longer to learn and develop a foundation. But, don’t worry; there are fun simple activities to help toddlers with speech. When kids go to school, the teachers expect them to have good vocabulary knowledge and understanding. And, if your child does not develop the base foundation as a toddler, they may be struggling to keep up with the class.
If your toddler is not talking, it does not mean that they would never learn. There are many cases in which kids learn to speak very late in their life. You must know how to encourage your toddler to talk and instead of making it frustrating for the little one, it must be more of a fun learning for the kids. As they grow, they listen and try to imitate you. We have got some tips for you to help your baby to develop speech and vocabulary.
Even though your little one’s vocabulary is expanding every single day, they still need a lot of practice to build their muscles of the mouth and help say new words clearly. It does sound like daily chores to do but, we can make it simple with few props.
1. The Mirror:
Once your child starts to learn to pronounce by watching you speak, they might get better ones they see themselves forming and looking at the mouth while they talk. A good way to deal with this would be to use the mirror, where to recite or sink the nursery rhymes in front of the mirror.
2. Using a Tissue:
The very basic way to deal with their pronunciation and help with their consonants is by using tissue paper and in front of them out. Hold it and let them practice making the sound of “P”. This is also a fun activity for them while they watch the tissue moving every time they say the word “P”.
3. Eat Peanut Butter?
Wondering how with this help? Place a bit of it behind your child from a tooth, and have them to practice the pronunciation of “P” sound. Teach them that the spot of the peanut butter is where the Township B1 they say the words that begin with “T” or “D”.
How Do I Teach My Baby to Talk?
We are going to tell you tips to help your child’s talking development and activities to support the toddler better. There are many ways you can help your child to talk and to understand how to use words. If in case you see there are no improvements in your toddler talking development, we suggest you must see a speech therapist or a speech-language pathologist if you have concerns.
1. Speak Slowly to the Baby so That they Understand:
You must try to use some to work with a friendly tone in order for your kid to understand what you are saying. Also, try to speak while you have the baby sitting in front of you so that they see your face and your expressions or the way your mouth is moving to speak. Make eye contact and speak patiently to your child. If you can’t repeat the word incorrectly, never snap at them rudely. Instead, try to gently repeat the words, such that they understand the difference.
2. Play with your Child:
Kids learn a lot while playing and with their play. The best way to communicate with your child would be to play with them and help them build their motor skills along with many other additive benefits. Allow your kid to tell you what to do next. Let your find build confidence without you pressurizing them to talk. Since playing in the fun part for the child, it also acts as a speech therapy activity.
3. Ditch the Batteries:
We understand that Technology has been immensely flattering in helping kids to entertain. However, you surely do not want toys that require batteries. This is because, for example, if your kid has a toy train in which the driver makes some statement and the toy overall makes a noise, you must run it couple of times for the kid to hear. Thereafter, you must remove the battery and let your child make noises instead. They could be few exceptions, of course, like the camera toys which takes pictures only if the battery is on. The best toy to let them speak or learn to talk would be something like karaoke or a microphone in which they can record their voices.
4. TV Does not Usually Help kids to Talk:
Do not turn on the TV to use it as a distraction for the kids and having a thought that it helped in teaching them to talk. A TV is usually not considered as a part of speech therapy activities. The crucial most part of learning language or talking is conversing and contacting people.
5. Tell your Day to Your Baby:
Right from the day, the baby is out; you must start talking to the little one. Be it while feeding, changing or even while bathing you must keep talking about what you are doing to the child. You must also have some lovely expressions for the baby to recognize and to feed that little brain with the most possible at the appropriate time. You will be amazed to see the number of things that could be fed into their tiny brain.
6. Introduce Colors and Shapes:
On a daily basis, you keep showing the child various colors and shape of the items. Playing Lego really helps in this case to show various shapes and sizes that could be formed and also that they are colorful blocks that help to seek their attention. You must show the color by pointing that out to the kid, such that they learn to distinguish.
7. Read Books:
An old school method, which has a lot of colorful pictures and finds rhyming words is the best for speech therapy activities. Your kid would love to listen to the stories and gradually you can have your kid to love books lifelong. Ask some basic questions asked what did the character do or how did you like the characters and have the toddler to answer it.
8. Hand Gestures:
A lot of movements using the body like Itsy Bitsy Spider or clapping, peek a boo etc. helps the baby to understand appropriate words. Waving the hand to say goodbye, pointing the index finger to show something such that the kids associate words with meaning and help to build their vocabulary.
9. Introduce new words to your child:
Instead of just saying the words like “doll”, any animal, you must start using adjectives like “Pretty doll” or “pink doll”. Your little one then other new word and associates it things. Point yourself to show “Mummy/ daddy” and others to tell their names.
10. Sing Rhymes:
Use a lot of nursery rhymes to entertain your child. This becomes the vital speech therapy activity, as it helps and encourages your kid to speak and try uttering the rhyming words. This brings your child closer to you and has fun while learning.
