Communication temptations

Want to try a silly way to engage your child and get them TALKING?

Set up situations where your child must ask for the object or the event he or she wants. I love to describe this as you “playing dumb.” The trick here is to being a familiar activity but don’t give your child everything he needs so that they must communicate something. Do they need to say the word? Nope, they may point, gesture, sign, or use words to help “fix” the situation. Now they feel confident that they are in charge and they save the day!

Examples:

-Put him in the bathtub without the water

-Give him milk cup without the milk

-Put on one shoe

-Give him a closed bag of snack

- Store favorite toy out of reach but visible to him

-Give him a closed toy box (clear toy boxes are my favorite)

-hand him wind up toy — these are my FAVORITE

**the child must be able to say the word before waiting for him to use the word. If he has never said the word “milk” it’s not likely he’s going to be able to pull this word out, so instead you can provide a model. A new talker must be able to imitate the word for a while before he spontaneously using it to request. Want favorite toys for 12-18 month olds? Click here! If your child is a late talker, remember to use lots of signs and gestures and not just expect those words to come right away!