Teach your child new words

Parents can help toddlers learn new words by:

• Repeating the names of things over and over again, using simple words and short sentences. Tell your child what you are doing and what your child is doing. Don’t use baby talk.

•  Letting your child get things for you. Name what you want and ask your child to go to other rooms to find it.

•  Going for walks and taking along a bag to collect leaves, rocks, flowers, and/or pieces of wood. When you get back home, look at these and name them.

You can play this learning game another way:

•  Choose some things she might enjoy feeling, and put them in the bag. Examples would be a smooth rock, a rough rock, a piece of wood, a small stuffed animal, some pieces of cloth, a feather, and so on.

• Be sure the things you put in the bag are not sharp or dangerous.

• Close the top of the bag, leaving a hole just big enough for the child’s hand. Ask your toddler to reach in and find something.

•  Ask your child to guess what she is touching – without looking or pulling it out of the bag. If she can’t figure it out let her peek.

•  Ask her what she has found and help her learn to say, “I found a rock” or “I found a leaf.”

•  You can take turns reaching in the bag and guessing what you’ve found.

•  This is a good game for two or three to play together. Your toddler can help you change the game by putting different things in the bag.