Listening, watching and responding to your child is a great way to talk to them about the things that interest them, which will help them learn words more quickly.
Everyday routines like preparing a meal can be a great time interact with your child and can help them learn new words and how to have conversations.
Watch this mum and her daughter chatting in the kitchen in the video below.
How listening, watching and responding helps your child learn
It helps your child to:
- Show you what interests them
- Keep the conversation going about something that interests them
- Link the words they hear with what you’re doing or looking at
Everyday tasks like cooking with a toddler can be a great chance to build their vocabulary by introducing them to different words for foods and textures.
Try naming different foods as you hand them to your child. See which ones they're most interested in and talk about what they're looking at, such as colours and how things feel.
If they try to say the name of a food, repeat the name back to them correctly and try adding words to create a sentence, such as 'Yes, carrot. It’s a big, orange carrot.'
