Keep your language simple during everyday routines. Build on what the child says by repeating what they have said and adding a word. If they say “juice” you can say “more juice”, “juice please”, or “juice gone”. This shows them what they could start to say next.
Activity Ideas
More
Use bricks to build a tower or blow bubbles. Encourage them to say “more bricks” to get another brick or “more bubbles” to ask you to blow some more. At meal times give them a small amount of food or drink to begin with so they need to ask for more, for example, “more cheese” or “more juice”
Gone
Play hiding games, and say “Dolly gone”, “Thomas gone”, etc. Pop bubbles in the bath and say, “Bubbles gone!”, pull out the plug and say, “Water gone!” When they finish their milk say, “Milk gone”, and so on.
Actions
Choose a favourite toy, like a teddy. Make teddy do different actions, e.g. jumping, sitting, sleeping. Talk about what teddy is doing in short phrases, such as “Teddy is jumping” and “Teddy is sleeping”. Play action games with people and toys and take turns giving instructions. For example, “Teddy dance”, “Dinosaur jump” and “baby sleep”. When looking at books, talk about what the people or animals are doing and leave pauses to encourage the child to join in.
Describing words
Tidy-up and meal times are perfect for modelling describing words such as “dirty cups”, “wet plates”, “big cup”, “red shirt”, “two socks”, etc.
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