7 Activities To Aid Your Child’s Speech Development

Remember the first time your toddler started repeating your words? It felt almost magical, right? That's because kids tend to learn language and speech mostly from their environment - while listening to their parents speak. While it helps a lot, it does not necessarily have to be the only learning tool. As a parent, you can play a vital role in your child’s communication development.

Here are seven fun activities that will encourage your toddler’s speech development:

1. Interactive Storybook Reading1

Read stories from illustrated storybooks out loud to your child. Talk slow and pronounce words with clarity. Not only will this improve their vocabulary but it will also teach them how to say words and stimulate their imagination. That, in turn, will encourage children to ask more questions and understand the workings of life.

2. Sing-Along2

Sing rhymes and poems with the child. Not only is it a lot of fun but also encourages speech due to the presence of rhythm and rhyming words. That goes a long way in helping the child learn about the rhythm of speech.

3. What Am I?

This game involves describing a thing while the other person guesses what you are describing. For example, you can say “We eat with this”, and the child has to guess the spoon. Take turns so that the child gets to describe things too. That helps the toddler practice words as well as learn about objects.

4. Hand Puppet Talk

Use hand puppets to pretend to play with the child. Talk to them through the puppets and encourage them to do the same. You can even put-up shows for other family members and make a night out of it!

5. Flash Cards

For this, you can put pictures of everyday objects on cards, show them to the child and ask them to say what it is. You can also do this for different shapes on the cards or even different colors of the card.

6. Gesture Games

Play games that involve a lot of hand gestures and actions such as clapping, peek-a-boo, etc. When you sing songs such as itsy-bitsy spider, make a spider with your fingers. Wave hi as well as goodbye. All of this helps the child associate actions with the meaning behind them.

7. Name Game

Sit down in a circle with the children. Ask them to clap when their names are called. For an older child, you can ask them to clap along to each syllable in their name. For example, clap twice for Vivaan (Vi-vaan). That helps the kids learn proper pronunciation.

Here are seven fun activities that will encourage your toddler’s speech development:

1. Interactive Storybook Reading1

Read stories from illustrated storybooks out loud to your child. Talk slow and pronounce words with clarity. Not only will this improve their vocabulary but it will also teach them how to say words and stimulate their imagination. That, in turn, will encourage children to ask more questions and understand the workings of life.

2. Sing-Along2

Sing rhymes and poems with the child. Not only is it a lot of fun but also encourages speech due to the presence of rhythm and rhyming words. That goes a long way in helping the child learn about the rhythm of speech.

3. What Am I?

This game involves describing a thing while the other person guesses what you are describing. For example, you can say “We eat with this”, and the child has to guess the spoon. Take turns so that the child gets to describe things too. That helps the toddler practice words as well as learn about objects.

4. Hand Puppet Talk

Use hand puppets to pretend to play with the child. Talk to them through the puppets and encourage them to do the same. You can even put-up shows for other family members and make a night out of it!

5. Flash Cards

For this, you can put pictures of everyday objects on cards, show them to the child and ask them to say what it is. You can also do this for different shapes on the cards or even different colors of the card.

6. Gesture Games

Play games that involve a lot of hand gestures and actions such as clapping, peek-a-boo, etc. When you sing songs such as itsy-bitsy spider, make a spider with your fingers. Wave hi as well as goodbye. All of this helps the child associate actions with the meaning behind them.

7. Name Game

Sit down in a circle with the children. Ask them to clap when their names are called. For an older child, you can ask them to clap along to each syllable in their name. For example, clap twice for Vivaan (Vi-vaan). That helps the kids learn proper pronunciation.

Speech is a matter of practice. However, the development of the brain plays a crucial role in speech and language development. That is why parents must provide their toddlers with proper nutrition since 90% of brain development happens by the age of 6.

Adding a cup of milk with Junior Horlicks to your child’s daily diet can help in bridging this gap. It contains nutrients like Choline, Iron, Iodine, etc., which are known to support brain development, as well as calcium, Vitamin D, vitamin K & Protein which are known to support physical growth and development. It also contains nutrients such as Vit E, A, selenium & copper to support healthy immune function.

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