Let's talk - activities and ideas!

First smiles, first babbles, first words... they’re all exciting milestones because you get to see your baby or child communicate. You know that those early smiles, coos and babbles are times of connection and so won’t be surprised that learning to talk is about much more than first words.  

We’ve put a round up of all our articles about talk and communication at the bottom of your Today screen. We’ll leave them there for a while, so you have lots of time to read them. And we thought for this weekend’s play ideas, we’d focus on supporting your little one’s communication.  

Talking tips for all children 

• Remove distractions (as much as you can) - turn off the TV or your music. 
• Talk about the things your child is interested in – you might do this by talking about something your baby is holding or looking at or talk in depth about your child’s latest interest.  
• Use a mixture of comments and open questions (those that need more than a yes or no answer). 
• If your little one has a dummy, take it out while you have a chat (try to keep dummies for sleep times).  

Babies 

Face-to-face chats 

What to try 

• Hold your baby in your arms or on your lap.  
• Position them so they can see your face.  
• Chat to them about anything at all!  
• Pause occasionally to let them respond – they might wriggle, smile, babble or make other sounds. 
• Keep going for as long as your baby is enjoying your chat. 

Toddlers 

Your toddler will probably learn new words quickly, and be interested in words. Chatting about lots of different things will help them to expand their vocabulary.  

What’s in the bag? 

What you need 

• A collection of objects or pictures  
• A bag or box 

What to do 

• Place the objects in a bag or box. 
• Get your toddler to pick something out.  
• Tell them the name of the object, and something it does.  
• Give them some time to play with and talk about the object.  
• Ask them to choose another and chat about that one.  
• When they’ve finished looking, say the name of each object in turn and get your toddler to put it back in the bag.

Children 

Wonderful words 

What to try 

• Pick a couple of new, exciting words to use when chatting to your child.  
• Choose words linked to something they’re interested in. This could be names of plants, birds, cars, animals or words that describe some of these things.  
• Pick complex words as well as simple ones – your child will enjoy words that are difficult to say.  
• Have a chat with your child about the word and what it means – if it is the name of an object, have an object for them to hold, or look at pictures of one together. 
• Bring the words into conversation as you play and chat.  
• If your child says the word incorrectly, don’t ask them to repeat it. Simply say it again, correctly, and carry on chatting.  

Don’t forget that you already have lots of play ideas your child will love, linked to their active skills, in your Activities tab.