HealthInfo Waitaha Canterbury
Tips for helping your child's communication skills
Age 1
- Get face to face with your pēpi (baby).
- Reduce background noise when playing and talking with your pēpi. For example, turn off the TV.
- Copy your baby's babbling and take turns in a conversation.
- Talk to your pēpi when doing things together. For example, bath time, mealtimes.
Age 18 months
- Spend time looking at picture books and photos and talking about what you see.
- Sing and do the actions for action waiata (songs).
- Talk about what you see when you are out and about. For example, shopping, in the car, on the marae.
Age 2
- Play with your tamaiti (child), join in with what they are doing or interested in.
- Make sure you are face to face when playing with your tamaiti. You may need to sit on the floor. This is so you can see what your tamaiti is interested in. It also helps conversation!
- Share your family's stories, waiata and poems.
Age 3
- Give your tamaiti plenty of time to speak. Focus on what they are saying, not how they are saying it.
- Have fun reading books. Talk about the story and characters and make it exciting, point to key words in the text as you read.
- Involve your tamaiti with lots of everyday routines. Talk about what you are doing and introduce new words. For example, “sweeping” when sweeping the floor.
- Add extra words to your child's sentences. For example, if they say, “my car”, you could say “that is right – it is a big car”.
Age 4
- When your tamaiti says something that is not clear, say it back for them so they hear it the right way rather than asking them to repeat it.
- Have fun with words and sounds. For example, make up games about words that start with the same sound, make up silly words that rhyme.
- Talk with your tamaiti about exciting things that are going to happen, to encourage talking about the future.
- Let your tamaiti choose books to share with you.
- Encourage your tamaiti to join in drawing and writing activities with you. For example, writing shopping lists, making special cards.
Age 5
- Look for opportunities to increase the number of different words your tamaiti uses, particularly around new experiences. Try to use a wide range of naming and describing words.
- Make your own books with your tamaiti. Write the story together.
- Play games that help with taking turns and concentrating. For example, What is the time, Mr Wolf?, hide and seek, snakes and ladders, memory match.
- Give your tamaiti plenty of opportunities to play with other tamariki (children). This is a great way to develop talking and social skills.
Adapted from Much more than words | Manuka takoto, kawea ake, Ministry of Education (2014) by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Page created July 2023.
SourcesReview key: HISCD-79694
