My child is only using a few words to communicate
What is Communication?
Communication is exchanging information by speaking, writing, signing, using symbols etc.
Learning to communication is a complex process. Children learn to communicate from those around them in everyday situations. They may communicate in many different ways, for example your child may lead you by the hand to something they want, or they may point or gesture for an item. If your child does this, they are still communicating with you and they are letting you know what they want.
Children need to hear a word many times before they understand and use it themselves. A child may take some time between understanding a word to using it for themselves. It is common for children to understand words that they are not using yet.
By the time a child has up to 50 words, they start to put some words together, e.g. ‘bye mummy’ ‘more bubbles’ etc.
How can you help your child say more words and put more words together?
Playing
Children learn though play, so the most natural way to learn language is by playing with them.
Please see advice below on how you can make the most of playing opportunities with your child.
Questions
Reduce the number of questions you ask your child, instead model new words for your child to hear. You can do this by naming things they are playing with and repeating these words many times. E.g. ‘book! It’s a big book!’
Expanding
Expanding what your child has said is a great way to show them that they can join words together. If your child says ‘car’, you could expand this by adding a word next to it, e.g. ‘yes, fast car’ or ‘blue car’.
Create opportunities
Place some toys out of reach or in hard to open boxes, this will give your child the opportunity to come to you to seek help. This will give your child a chance to communicate with you.
Offer choices
During everyday routines (like washing, dressing and meal times) offer your child some choices. This could be whether they want a banana or a yoghurt or whether you wash their feet first or hair first. When you offer these choices, you are modelling words for them. They may respond by grabbing or pointing to the item. If you child does this, take this opportunity to model the word again as you hand it to them.
Be the narrator
Simply talking out loud, talk about what you are doing and what your child is showing interest in or playing with. Comment on what your child is doing e.g. ‘wow you are building a tower’ or ‘you found a dinosaur!’.
We would recommend discussing any of your concerns with your child’s school or Health Visitor. If you still have concerns, then you can complete a referral below:
- Talk with me | GOV.WALES
- Talk with me Top 10 Tips Poster
- Tiny Happy People
- Afasic
- Register for What Works - Speech and Language UK: Changing Young Lives
- Help for Families - Speech and Language UK: Changing Young Lives
- NAPLIC | DLD Bubble Toolkit - NAPLIC
- The Communication Trust
- Marzanos Six Steps to Teaching Vocabulary - Driver Youth Trust