Talking games with your child
Talking is easy, but sometimes even very talkative people don't know what to say. Read some ways to get your child talking about what they see. When they get into talking, you might not get a word in.
Playing 'I spy'
How do you keep a child amused on a journey? It’s not always easy to read or draw. You can pass the time on journeys by pointing to the things you see out the window and say: "I spy a tree. I spy a blue car."
Once you encourage your child to copy you, they’ll soon be playing along.
Draw a picture
For older toddlers, drawing soon becomes second nature. You can ask your child to draw a picture of what they've done that day. What does it show?
Try talking about it, then writing what they tell you below the picture, add their name and then hang it on the fridge door.
Making a facebook
Toddlers love looking at photos of you, and they love looking at themselves. Choose some family photos and make a small scrap book. You can stick a few pieces of paper or card together or put a picture on each page.
As you go through your photo book, name the people in the photographs and say where the photo was taken. Or use the family photo album.
Noticing the same things
You can make your child’s world a place of discovery and build their powers of observation and memory. Show them something and ask them to point out something the same. For example, "This is my shoe. Can you see another shoe?" Imagine that – realising for the first time that shoes come in twos.
Pointing games
"Where's my nose?"; "Where's Daddy’s ears?" Your child gets a big buzz out of pointing to the answer. Then you can give your toddler lots of praise, with a big "Well done!" and a kiss for getting it right.
Information based on similar messages from Play Talk Read Scotland.