How to Encourage Kids to Talk

One of the questions that I am asked most by parents and teachers of toddlers and preschoolers is "how can I get Tommy to talk more?"  Some of my answers are listed below:

• Create situations to encourage talking.  For example, I was recently in a preschool classroom during breakfast time.  The teacher gave the children a bowl of cereal with milk, a cup of fruit, and a cup of milk.  She gave all of the other children a spoon.  I told her to withhold the spoon from the child that I was working with.  He looked around at all of the other children eating with their spoons and realized that he did not have one.  He started to point, and the teacher modeled "spoon".  Just like magic, he said, "spoon".  You can do this with lots of situations all day long to encourage language.

• When I was an early intervention SLP, I worked mostly with parents.  Many of them did not have a lot of time throughout the day to just sit and work on language.  I would often tell them that if their child did not ask for anything else during the day, to have one thing that they made the child ask for and to make it nonnegotiable through the day.  An example would be placing a favorite toy on a shelf where the child can see it but not reach it.  When the child points or looks at the toy, the parent models the word.  When the child asks for it, he gets it.  If the child is using signs, that is fine, too, just so he makes an attempt to communicate to get what he wants.  Another thing to remember is to never let your child grab something from your hand without saying the word to get it.  If he tries to grab a car out of your hand, model "car" until he says "car".  Then give it to him.  Seize every opportunity to get him to talk!

• Talk, talk, talk.  Parents and teachers need to talk all day long.  Talk about what you are doing.  Talk about what the child is doing.  Talk about what the dog is doing.  It may seem silly and sometimes like a daunting task, but it gives the child lots of language paired with actions.  During the bedtime routine, you may have a dialogue like this, "Let's brush your teeth.  Open your mouth wide.  Brush, brush, brush!, etc."

• Read, read, read.  We often tell parents at our preschool that if they do not have time to work with their child on anything else during the day to read her a book before bed.  Many skills can be addressed through reading a book.  Children learn new vocabulary, they can point to and name pictures, answer questions, count, name colors, learn book handling skills, and on and on.  While iPads and computers can be useful tools in your child's education, I recommend reading a "real book" with your child.  They need the interaction with you, and they need to learn to know that books have a cover, back, and spine, and to turn the pages.  

There are many other things you can do to help your child talk, but these are great starting points.  Most children with a language delay just need a little encouragement and interaction, and their language skills will blossom.