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Introduction
Our house is the best place for any skill development and learning. I always believe in the phrase “Learning starts at home,” and we as a parent/caregiver provide ample opportunities to improve any skill. One such important skill is Language development. Children have to strengthen it from their early stage by observation and continuous practice. Play is the best way to learn any concepts in a fun and simple way. We can do many interactive activities/games to develop language skills from the early stages of life. Are you interested in traveling with me and knowing various fun-filled activities for language development? Please scroll through
1.Active listening and talking
Active listening means we need to stay at the present moment both physically and mentally. We listen to our kids and reply them back, but we missed to be an active listener all the time. But active listening helps a lot with many skill developments starts with language ,listening, emotional and social skills and many more. Being an active listener helps the child to observe us and interact with us more. Active talking helps the child to grasp different words and they try to repeat and reply back. We can talk about daily chores, routine, Cooking, Cleaning and we have ample topics to talk with the child. Utilize every opportunity to talk with the child. Active listening and talking is the basic thumb rule for language development in kids.
2.Reading books
Books are our best friends for language development skills. We can start reading books from the newborn stage itself. Reading more books on various topics helps the child hear more words and helps with language development.
3.Flashcards
Like books, flashcards play an essential role in language development. Flashcards are not to introduce one single word, but we extend the conversion further and explain more on the particular image. While playing with fruits flashcards and learning the name, we can talk about various relative terms, which goes with the specific picture.
4.Rhymes and Music
Singing songs/rhymes helps children learn more quickly as they are fun play. Children enjoy the songs, and play-based learning is the best. Play different music and sing together, which is a great stress buster for us and an excellent learning resource for children
5.Storytelling
Storytelling is one of the no-prep activities for language development. Storytelling is a two-way, fun, and interactive activity. For young kids, we can narrate a story with various modulations in our voice which helps them to have an interest and understand the words. For preschool kids, we can take turns and have an interactive storytelling session. We can ask them to narrate a story; we can start a story and ask them to continue it.
6.Encouragement over correction
We all well aware it takes some time/years for a child to talk fluently and with a clear accent. So always encourage them to finish their sentence instead of interfering and correcting them at any age. Interfering stops their imagination power, and they may even stop talking later on. So, always encourage them and avoid correction.
7.Pretend play
Pretend plays are one of the best play-based learning methods. Kids learn so many different skills through pretend play. It may seem childish for parents to involve in their pretend play, but kids love to have us in their pretend play sessions. They tend to develop language skills, imaginary skills, logical thinking, etc., through pretend play.
8.Language development with kid’s current interests
Most of the kids have some current interest in anything. Some kids love vehicles; some others love kitchen items, animals. Create more interactive speech sessions based on their interest. For vehicle lovers, we can talk about various cars, parts of the vehicle, etc. For animal lovers, mention different habitats, etc. In this way, they get involved in the conversation/activity and tend to converse more.
9.Treasure basket
A treasure basket is one of the best tools for language development. Collect few items in/around the house and fill up the basket. Ask the child to pick up their favorite and talk few lines about the same. Great sensory and language development tool
10.Sticker books
Stickers books help with fine motor skills, imaginary skills and play an essential role in language development. We can ask the child to select any of their favorite pictures and talk about them. Or we can ask the child to paste few stickers to create a scene and narrate a story by connecting all the pictures.
11. Roleplay
Roleplay is the best no-prep language development activity for kids of any age. Pick up any role and converse by taking turns. Taking turns always creates more interest in kids and encourages them to proceed with the activity. We get to bond with the children during the roleplay session.
12. Finger puppets
Finger puppets help more with language development right from the early stage. As it is more attractive, kids love to play and talk more with finger puppets.
13.Family album
Family album is one of the no-prep tool for language skill in kids. Pull out the album and introduce various relations to kids and talk about them. A great source to know about relatives/friends and helps with language development.
14. Sign language
Last but not least. Language is not only about talking words and hearing them. It is the way of communication between two individuals. Not everyone in this world can use their mouth to speak; some can use their hands. One such powerful language is sign language. Understanding sign language is as important as learning any new language. Thanks to my Early childhood education course, I get a chance to learn about sign language and get more interested. As a result, my daughter and I learned a few basic sign languages over the pandemic period and felt so satisfied. She understood the importance of sign language and learned it with more interest. If possible, please let your kid learn sign language like any other new language.
Summary:
Language is the best source of communication. We can encourage the child to develop this skill right from the newborn stage. Kids observe kids hear; kids replicate. Talk more, converse, and interact more for great language development.