Language development for preschoolers is one of the most important parts of their early learning.
As a mom of twin boys that are late talkers, language development for preschoolers is stressful.
As I have continued to work with my kids, I realize that kids will learn and progress in their own time.
but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to do what I can to support them and help them learn.
Here are some of the ways that I have tried with my kids to help them develop their communication daily.
What language skills should a preschooler have?
Now before I get too far..
Realize that these are the goal.
If your child is not here yet, try not to stress out and worry about their development.
I’m that Mom that looks at milestones and thinks
“oh my goodness we’re not even close to this” and gets stressed out.
I included them because we need to have a goal.
We find out what our kids need to learn more of based on these milestones and then we can do activities that help them reach those milestones
If you are concerned about the language development of your child, then I recommend you get in touch with a speech therapist.
When kids are preschool age, which is considered between 3 and 5 years old, there are milestones to watch out for.
Preschool kids should be able to talk without a stutter or repeating syllables. The goal is to be able to speak clearly enough that a stranger can understand.
They should be able to say common words and sing many nursery songs.
Kids should be learning their colors, people, objects, and categories of objects.
The toddler and preschool years are when kids learn their first handful of words.
and connect their meanings.
For example, they can say mama when referring to mom, not a cup.
Kids start learning to copy others early on as well, which helps with the development of new words that they hear.
If you want to know more about language development milestones then tap here.
Keep in mind that kids learn at different rates, and stressing about what your child “should be doing” is not helpful for either of you.
There are many things you can do at home to encourage language development for preschoolers!
One of the best ways to encourage kids to talk is by engaging in cognitive play.
What is Cognitive Development in Preschoolers?
Cognitive development for preschoolers is learning to interact with the world around them.
Kids naturally develop cognitively through play and activities that they do every day.
Kids want to do what we’re doing
So when we encourage cognitive play…
They learn those skills a lot faster.
Cognitive play encourages problem-solving, creating, experimenting, thinking, and learning all the time.
Preschool language development, along with everything else, is best learned through play.
I know I think of worksheets when I think of learning…
But that’s not effective with young kids.
In cognitive play, kids learn:
- To asking questions.
- To develop an increased attention span.
- problem-solving.
- visual discrimination, matching, comparing, sorting, and organizing.
- understanding fact and fiction (or the difference between a truth and a lie)
- understanding cause and effect.
- simple reasoning.
These encourage communication as well.
But how do you and your child start cognitive play?
Engaging with them to encourage preschool language development
As you probably already know by now…
Kids learn by seeing and copying what others do.
Whether that’s a good thing, like learning to clean up their toys after they’re done…
or a bad thing, like learning their first curse word…
Kids will do what we do
Not do what we say.
When you get on your child’s level and engage in the play WITH them, they will watch and copy.
The more this is done, the more they start to do it on their own.
When doing activities together, talk about what you are doing.
Kids need to understand that words have a connection to their meaning.
Talk about everything throughout the day, and talk about the things they play with.
Extending the conversations with your child
As a mom of two late talkers, it can be hard to talk and ask questions when they are not responding.
But the more you talk…
The more they learn that engaging in good conversation is something they want to learn to do.
There is a little trick to extending conversations about the simplest things.
Avoid close-ended questions.
These are the questions that result in a yes or no answer.
For example: Are you playing with your doll?
Yes
Try asking open-ended questions instead.
For example: what is your doll doing?
She is cooking dinner!
Oh! What is she cooking?
And so on.
If your child isn’t talking yet…
Still ask the question!
Give them a few moments to answer,
And then answer your question while directing attention to what they are doing.
For example:
My son was playing with a dinosaur and rubber duck.
I asked him: “what is the dinosaur doing?”
Paused
And then said, “oh no! He is eating the duck?!”
Get animated and have fun!
We want them to learn and understand that communication is great
And modeling that enjoyment is a very huge part.
Test it out!
Pick up a blue toy and show your child…
Then say it’s blue.
They probably won’t care
Because you didn’t care
But if you pick up that same toy, get excited, and say “look! look! look! it’s blue!!!
Suddenly they get excited too
Because excitement is contagious
and so is boredom
What are some other ways to promote language development for preschoolers?
Here is one you have likely heard a lot…
Sing with your child!
Yes, songs are one of the best tools we have for preschool language learning.
Singing fun songs with energy, and encouraging them to sing along is a great way to encourage the development of new words.
Kids don’t care if you have a gorgeous singing voice.
They will love it anyway!
My kids love it MORE when I’m silly while I sing.
You can use YouTube to help you with this, but make sure to do it too.
If you are singing and dancing along, that is what they will learn to do as well.
Another way to promote preschool language is through make-believe.
Play with their toys with them and give them a story.
Or use dress up
Or puppets!
Puppets are a great tool to learn new words and how to communicate with other people.
The third way to encourage language development for preschoolers is by engaging in things they love.
If your child loves animals.
Then get books on animals and read together, or buy animal toys.
One of my favorites is acting like an animal!
Kids love this!
It encourages language and gets their body moving.
It’s a double win!
Expanding on a previous point, books are another amazing way.
You can get books from your local library
Or
Sign up for a book monthly subscription.
Either way, reading every day is amazing for your child in every way.
Remember that kids learn through seeing and engaging
Exploring the world, getting messy, and talking about it along the way is one of the best ways to help kids learn important language skills.
For a child to start communicating, they need to learn to see and copy,
And they need to learn that words are connected to their meanings (not random sounds).
So trying new things can be a great help!
Feeling new textures,
Tasting new tastes,
Smelling new smells,
Seeing new things,
And engaging all their senses when you play together!
But I know what you might be thinking…
That sounds really… really… messy
And I am not going to lie.
It is!
Kids are not very good at being clean!
Check out this post to get some ideas to make cleaning up easier.
More ways to encourage language development for preschoolers
- Building blocks
Building blocks is probably something you already have.
The trick here is if we talked about everything that is happening while playing with your child.
If they stack the blocks high….
“ wow so tall!”
If the blocks fall
“ oh no they fell down”
Kids need to understand words and their meanings before they will start communicating.
By talking about everything that is happening while you are playing with the building blocks,
And repeating that a lot
They will start to build those connections that they need
- STEM
STEM activities are amazing for helping kids to learn to think on their own.
which of the big parts of a cognitive play
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math
When giving your child a stem activity, you give them guidelines but that’s it.
They get the materials and a goal, and their creativity needs to do the rest
A simple stem activity for really little kids is making cards.
You give them materials to make the cards
And you tell them that you’re making a card
But they get to creatively choose the rest
When activities aren’t step by step,
Kids have a chance to use their ideas and creativity
- Art projects
Art projects are amazing for learning communication skills.
You can talk about the color that they’re using
You can talk about wet or dry paint
Same as with the building blocks just talk about everything that is happening
Use words to connect Words to the things that they are experiencing in real life
- Circle time
Circle time is very common for preschoolers but needs to be done in small amounts
Most kids don’t have a super big attention span, does sitting down for a long time can be frustrating
We don’t want any of this to be frustrating
We want our kids to enjoy learning and enjoy communicating
Things you can do for Circle time include:
- Reading a book
- talking about the weather
- a calm floor activity
- nursery rhymes and games
- and more
Get them involved in everyday tasks!
Lastly, get your kids involved and what is happening in their life.
Talk them through their day
Tell them what they’re eating and drinking
Show them the colors around your house
Be silly and sing
Do what you can to support your child’s learning,
And remember there are always professional resources that you can reach out to.
But your child will start to talk when they are ready.
I know it can be hard…
But try not to compare them to other children.
Young kids learn best through play and fun, not to stress and frustration.
So if you find that any Learning Time turns into stress and frustration, maybe it is time to re-evaluate what works for you and your family.
What is something that you’ll start doing with your child?
Let me know in the comments! I would love to hear from you!
