It only seems like yesterday that I was bringing my second-born home from the hospital; before I know it, he’s going to be toddling off to pre-school. I know the year will fly by, and I’m therefore thinking of ways I can help him to prepare for life in the big wide world.
One thing I want to do is widen his vocabulary and improve his speech in general. I would like to share what I’ve learnt after looking into how to improve a toddler's speech.
Sing a song of sixpence
While I’m likely to go quiet if someone suggests karaoke, when it comes to nursery rhymes, however, I’ve been singing them at the top of my lungs. From ‘Old Macdonald’ to ‘Wheels on the Bus’, we spend our day singing like no-one’s listening. In reality, the neighbours can probably hear us, but they haven’t asked us to keep it down yet… Nursery rhymes are great for language development and they also help children to develop a vivid imagination so you can’t go wrong!
Books, books and more books
Far from being an outdated form of entertainment, books play an essential part in expanding your toddler’s vocabulary. They introduce them to lots of weird and wonderful words in a fun and interesting way and also help them learn colours, numbers and animal names. They’re great for special one-to-one time at any point during the day and don’t need to be reserved for bedtime. My toddler loves taking out his favourite stories and choosing which one he wants me to read so it’s good to have them in reach.
Be a chatterbox
Kids in creche interact with their pals constantly but if you’re a stay-at-home mum like me then aside from your little trips out and conversations with any siblings after school, you are their main companion. It is therefore vital that you chatter to them as much as you would if you were catching up with a friend over coffee. Lunchtime is a great opportunity to improve a toddler's speech - discuss what you’ve done that morning, talk about what they’re eating, and see what they’d like to do during the afternoon.
Document what they do during the day
My toddler is loving helping me around the house at the moment and I’m certainly not complaining! However, I’m also taking this as an opportunity to describe everything he does. For example, I name all the foods he helps me to put in the cupboards, and I tell him what each item of clothing is called as he helps me empty the tumble dryer. Everything definitely takes a lot longer when he’s being my assistant, but he loves it and I know it’s beneficial too.