How to talk to a 2 year old: more ideas

The Teeny Talker groups that we do are designed to encourage spoken language development in two year olds. Last time we looked at some ideas to help at home. Here is Part 2 of the ideas from Talking Matters


More ideas to develop language:
Pretend play is great for developing language and social skills. Two year olds are happy to be alongside you, copying the things they see you do every day. They could “cook” with a wooden spoon and some plastic bowls while you make tea, or “peg” some socks on the edge of the basket as you hang your clothes on the line. They can also pretend to look after teddies or dolls, copying the things you do with them such as feeding and bath-ing. These activities which children see repeated over and over are great for teaching action words and func-tions.
Talk out loud as you do jobs about the house. Talk about what you are doing and what you are using and your child will learn all kinds of things. “I’m cutting the carrots, chop, chop, chop” “I need something to mix the gravy, what could I use, spoons are good for mixing”
Sorting and tidying are great ways to practice concepts such as size, shape, colour and position words. As you sort the washing you could talk about size. “here are the big socks and here are the little socks. Daddy’s socks are big and yours are little.” Picking up toys could be a way to develop colours, “here is a red block, let’s pick up all the red blocks first.” Putting away the dishes could help develop concepts of shape, let’s put the square containers here and the round ones here.” and position “let’s put the cups up the top and the pans down the bot-tom.” Bathing and dressing are great for learning to combine words, “arm in, leg in” “wash your face, wash your tummy”.
While many skills can be taught as you go through the day one thing that is really worth setting aside a few minutes each day for in a busy schedule is to read to your child. Those few minutes will pay off in the long term with more success at school and with your child developing a love of reading and learning.

Answering simple questions for toddlers
As children grow older, their ability to answer questions develops. Responding to questions helps us to share information, develop relationships, learn from experiences and demonstrate our knowledge.
Blank, Rose and Berlin were researchers that looked at the types of questions teachers asked year one children in the classroom and then classified them into 4 different levels from concrete to abstract. Level one questions are about concrete items and are the first types of questions children learn to answer. Level 4 questions are the most abstract on this scale and are typically consolidated after a child starts school. By understanding the different levels of questions we can:
 Simplify questions when needed to help our child understand
 Expose the child to more complex questions to stimulate their development
 Help prepare our child to answer the types of questions used in educational settings
Level one is the simplest of the four levels of questions and begins to develop in toddlers. Most children are able to consistently respond to this level by the age of three years. At this level children respond to their senses and talk about the things they see, hear and touch immediately in front of them as they answer these early questions.
Level one questions include:
 Choosing objects “Show me the...”
 Naming objects “What is this?”
 Copying actions “Do this...”
 Naming actions “What is he doing?”
 Naming things seen or heard “What did you see/hear?”
 Matching objects “Find one like this”
 Repeating sentences “Say this”
To help a very young child learn to answer questions:
 give lots of practice with one question type before moving on
 keep your questions short, just three or four words to begin
 give only a few choices, two or three pictures or objects to start with, and add more as your child learns
If your child does not know the answer you can:
 give them a choice “Is is a duck or a bear?”
 guide their hand “Let’s find the duck together”
 model the answer “It’s a duck, you say it…What’s this?…It’s a duck”
Try these activities to practice level one questions:
Peekaboo Have some familiar dolls, animals and teddies and a cloth such as a tea towel or small blanket. Ask your child to close their eyes, hide one toy under the cloth and then ask them to open their eyes and say “Who is it?” Take the cloth off and say “Who is it?’ Hide the toy again and ask “Who did you see?” Make a peekaboo picture game by taping some coloured paper flaps onto a piece of cardboard and sliding photos of family members under the flaps for your child to open and name.


Answering simple questions for toddlers
Try these activities to practice level one questions:
Surprise box You can use plastic containers and recycled boxes or buy a few brightly coloured gift boxes to use in this activity. Have a number of small familiar items that will fit in the boxes. To begin with let your child see the items, touch them, talk about them and tell your child their names. Ask your child to close their eyes and hide an object in each box. Help your child to open the box and ask “What’s this?” When your child can do this easily find some new items to hide without showing your child the items first.
Feely bag Use a cloth bag such as a library bag or pillow case and choose a number of familiar items to put inside it. Begin by showing your child the items. Talk about them and name them as you put them in the bag. Help your child to put their hand in and find an item. Let them pull it out and ask “What did you find?” When they can name the items easily put some new items in the bag without showing them first and see if your child can name them.
Books There are lots of ways to use books to practice these types of questions. Early board books with clear pictures of familiar objects can be used to practice “Show me a ...” Use flap books to practice “Who’s/what’s this?” Open and close the flap then ask “What did you see?” Use animal and vehicle books and make noises for your child and ask them to “Point to what you can hear”. Use picture books of children playing or doing daily activities to practice “What is he/she doing?”
Card games Matching games such as lotto games and snap games with pictures of familiar items can be used to practice several different types of questions. If you don’t have these games you can make your own from photos, clip art or junk mail (Remember you need two junk mail catalogues that are the same)
 Place one lotto board or cards on the table. Hold up a matching card and ask your child “Find one like this”.
 Place three or four cards on the table, name and talk about them then turn them face down. Turn one over, count to five then turn it back down. Ask your child “What did you see?” Once your child able to do this repeat it with new pictures without showing them first.
 Use some pictures of things that make a noise, look at them and talk about their names and the sounds they make. Place them face down, pick up one card but don’t show your child the picture. Make the sound, ask “What did you hear?” and see if they can guess which card you have.
Sound makers Collect a number of things from around the house that make sounds such as squeaky toys, rattles, small bells, musical or noisy toys, crunchy paper or plastic, shakers made from plastic bottles with different things inside. Look at them, listen to them, talk about them and name them for your child. Ask your child to close their eyes, make a sound then hide the item as in the mystery box, peekaboo or feely bag games above. See if your child can tell “What did you hear?” and then find the item.
Animal noises Collect a number of toy animals and talk about them together, name them and talk about the sounds they make. Older children can use picture cards or small plastic zoo or farm animals. Ask your child to close their eyes, hide an animal as in the mystery box, peekaboo or feely bag games above. Make the animal’s noise and see if your child can tell “What did you hear?” then find the animal to see if they were right.
Photo albums Use photos of family, friends, familiar items and daily activities in photo albums or slide shows to help your child practice “Who is this?” “What is this?” and “What are they doing?”
Puppets Use puppets or large dolls or toy animals to practice “Do this...” and “Say this…” Make the puppet clap hands, wave or blow a kiss and ask your child to copy. Make the puppet say “hello” or simple sentences and ask your child to copy. Gradually make the actions or sentences more difficult.


Talking Matters offices are located at the Elizabeth East Shopping Centre, 53 Midway Road, Elizabeth East.  We also have an office in Kapunda for families in the Barossa/Mid North area. http://talkingmatters.com.au/