When you do something with your child and you describe what’s happening, you're helping them link the words they hear to the things they're doing.
Watch how this mum talks her daughter through a game of copycat.
How describing what they're interested in helps your child
It helps them to:
- Hear the language they will need to talk about what interests them. This will help them learn words more quickly
- Link the words they hear to what’s happening and understand their meanings
There are loads of opportunities to introduce language into this part of your routine. The more words your toddler hears, the bigger their understanding of the process will be.
Talk through all of the actions, from turning on the tap, to getting their hands wet, to rubbing in soap and washing it off and eventually drying their hands and turning off the tap. Use lots of action words like 'rub, rub, rub' and 'splash, splash, splash'Repeating words helps them to link the words to the actions
