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.
Doing a sensory play activity together is great for using describing words.
Watch how this family does it in the video below.
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
As you make a texture board with your little one, talk to them about what they're doing and use as many descriptive words as you can. For example, 'It's a small pasta elephant!' or 'It's a fluffy piece of cotton wool.' By describing the look and feel of the things they're using as they use them, as well as doing words like 'sticking' and 'squeezing', you're helping children to link the words you're using to what's going on in front of them and in their hands.
