Eliciting Early Language
Facial and Mouth Movements
Children love to play with their face and see the different ways they can move and make different expressions, especially following their adult caregivers. The following activities are often best done in front of a mirror so your child can see what they are doing. Give them a mirror and they will be enthralled in themselves! Always keep good eye contact with your baby. Are they looking back at you? Are they interested in what you're doing? Encourage eye gaze by looking at them!
Examples
- Tongue: Stick out your tongue, stick it out and move it side to side, up towards your nose, and then down toward your chin.
- Open and close your lips; blow kisses and make fish faces
- Blow bubbles
- Pull faces
- Close and open your eyes, and wink
Sounds and Noises
Now is the time to have lots of fun playing around with your voice and making different noises. Babies are very curious about these noises coming out of them! That's why they often make a lot of noise! They simply are playing with these new sounds; because they like the way they sound and they like the way they feel. Copy each others noises and expand on your child's.
Examples
Examples
- Make animal noises while playing with toy animals or looking at animal books.
- Make vehicle noises e.g beep-beep; brmmm; toot-toot.
- Say ‘oh-oh’ while building blocks and knocking them over.
- Make coughing and sneezing noises.
- Hum songs.
- Say ‘wheeee’ while sliding or swinging.
- Say ‘mmmm’ while feeding a toy.
Gestures and Actions
Try and use gestures as much as possible throughout the day. Not only are these effective for encouraging imitation, but if your child learns to use actions and gestures it will increase their communication skills.
Examples
Examples
- Wave goodbye - to people, to toys as you put them away, to pictures as you turn the page.
- Clap your hands to music or when your child achieves something (e.g. manages to stack 3 blocks on top of each other).
- ‘Knock’ on flaps in books, before you open them.
- Encourage pointing by pointing to e.g. birds in the sky, or by putting things in funny places (e.g. put their favorite toy on top of your head) and then point to it.
- Every time you talk about an animal you could make a gesture for it (e.g. ‘duck’: open and close your hand like a duck’s beak; dog: pat the side of your leg like you’re calling a dog; fish: wiggle your fingers like a fish swimming).
- Think of your child’s favorite things and make up a gesture to go with each (e.g. when you talk about cars you could ‘drive’ a steering wheel; ball: make a round shape with your hands; drink: make your hand into a cup shape and pretend to drink.)
Imitation of Daily Activites
Involving your child in daily activities can lead to some of the first types of physical imitation.
Try to have your child with you when you do your usual daily ‘chores’. Make them fun and after your child has watched you, let them try to help you.
Examples
Try to have your child with you when you do your usual daily ‘chores’. Make them fun and after your child has watched you, let them try to help you.
Examples
- Wiping the table – you wipe a little bit, then give your child a cloth too, and wipe alongside them.
- Vacuuming – you do a little and then help them to hold the nozzle for a bit.
- Shopping - you grab an item, and ask them to put it in the cart or help unload the cart.
- Even talking on the phone! Watching your child imitate your telephone conversations can be one of the most wonderful things you will see!
Play
It is important to follow your child’s interests, but also to remember to show your child different things – they can’t develop an interest until they realize that interest is an option. Imitation of play also helps your child learn skills of imagination, turn-taking, and role-play.
The most important thing to remember during play, besides keeping it fun, is to play and talk on your child's level. That means that if your child is currently not talking, you shouldn't be talking in full sentences to them. "Play talk" with a child who has no language yet should consist of one to two words at most from the adult (mostly labeling). Once your child begins talking, you increase your child's language skills by adding one to two words to what your child has said; expanding on what your child has said. Repeat and expand on what your child says. If your child says “juice”, you can say “more juice”, “juice please” or “juice gone”. This shows your child how words can be put together to make short sentences.
The best way to work on play imitation is to watch what your child is interested in, copy what your child does, and then extend the play by doing something new to what your child is already doing.
Examples
The most important thing to remember during play, besides keeping it fun, is to play and talk on your child's level. That means that if your child is currently not talking, you shouldn't be talking in full sentences to them. "Play talk" with a child who has no language yet should consist of one to two words at most from the adult (mostly labeling). Once your child begins talking, you increase your child's language skills by adding one to two words to what your child has said; expanding on what your child has said. Repeat and expand on what your child says. If your child says “juice”, you can say “more juice”, “juice please” or “juice gone”. This shows your child how words can be put together to make short sentences.
The best way to work on play imitation is to watch what your child is interested in, copy what your child does, and then extend the play by doing something new to what your child is already doing.
Examples
- Toy car: Your child is pushing the car. So you could sit alongside, take your own car, push it near your child’s, and then drive it up a sofa leg or up a ramp.
- Teddy: Your child is touching a teddy, you pretend to feed it toy food, or pretend to put the teddy to sleep.
- Ball: Your child is throwing a ball. Show your child how to kick it or roll it.
- Blocks: Your child is making a tower. You take some blocks and do the same. Then next time use the blocks to make a road and drive a car over.
- Your child has a spoon or a stick they are holding. You could show them how to tap it on a pot to make music.
- Sing songs and rhymes, especially those with actions or lots of repetition
First Words
Move into real words by labeling your child's favorite objects and saying fun action words together along with the action
Examples
Examples
- “pop-pop-pop” while popping bubbles.
- “splash” while dropping things in a bucket of water.
- “bang-bang” while hammering or drumming.
- “jump-jump” while jumping.
- “up-up” while walking up steps or flying a toy aeroplane into the sky.
- “go” for races or throwing a ball etc.