A gesture can speak for itself – which ones does your toddler use?

Your toddler is taking big steps in their communication and is starting to bring together words, gestures and expressions to make their point. You might have a treasured list of their first words somewhere, but have you thought about looking at the range of gestures they make?  

When we communicate, we give information about what we are saying through our tone of voice, facial expressions and gestures, as well as in what we say.  

Your toddler must understand all these parts of how we share ideas to become a confident communicator.   

Something we might take for granted as proficient communicators is the use of gesture – it might be eye-opening to watch your toddler and see how many types of gesture they’ve mastered.  

Gestures are often used with speech to emphasise a point or make the meaning clear 

Iconic gestures (for giving context) 

These gestures give meaning to what is being said. For example, you might hold your finger and thumb close together when describing a tiny mouse or put your hand above your head as you talk about the new tower block you saw.  

Deictic (or pointing gestures) 

Deictic gestures include pointing, but also reaching, showing and giving.  

Your toddler might use these gestures to show you something that’s interesting, or to involve you in their play.  

Metaphoric gestures (to represent something) 

These gestures are used to give a visual representation of an idea you can’t show. This could be things like using a gesture to show the passage of time (pointing behind you to show ages ago).  

To make this kind of gesture you need to understand that ideas can be represented with words, pictures or gestures and it’s likely your toddler can’t do this yet – so this could be something to look out for in the future!  

Beat gestures (to emphasise a point) 

These gestures tend to be in tune to the rhythm of speech and can help to put emphasis on parts of what is being said.  

Emblem gestures  

There are some gestures that we understand without the need for words: the nod of our head, OK or thumbs up are all emblem gestures.