Teaching a Toddler to Talk

Most new moms are so excited when their little one starts to babble and they want to know ways of teaching a toddler to talk especially because it can get frustrating at times as they get older and you want to understand them.

Not being able to understand your toddler can be frustrating for your toddler as well as yourself. Teaching a toddler to talk can be difficult but the more you repeat these steps, the quicker it’ll happen.

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Talk To Them

Start talking to your baby even before they understand what you are even talking about.

Explain the world around them, point to things and say their names. This will show them that things have names and you can show what it does so by the time they are toddlers they have an understanding.

Talking to them is their first learning device. Talking to them like little kids even as babies can be beneficial.

If you just never talk about things around you then they will never know. Even things as simple as when you are on a walk point to a tree and say “look a tree…tree” point again and say “tree”.

Read to Them

Showing them books and reading to them in an interactive way is also a great way at a young age to get them to start talking.

Pick short and rhyming books. My kids loved the Llama, Llama series and eventually we read those same books over and over that they knew the books by heart and could repeat them back to me just after a few months (in their own way of course: toddler talk)

Play Educational Games

Playing fun and interactive games is also a great way in teaching toddlers to talk.

Interactive games like ABCMouse is helpful in early learning development because there are a ton of games starting as young as age 2 that are developmentally appropriate for that age.

Ask Them to Repeat You

Asking your toddler to repeat what you say is a vital way to help them understand and comprehend.

Even as preschoolers and you want them to do something, chances are they aren’t listening when you say it the first time.

You have to get them to look at your eyes and then say the phrase or request then ask them “what did I just say” and have them repeat it to make sure they understand.

Same concept with teaching a toddler to talk. If you are around your house and you see a blue ball, grab the ball and show it to them (making sure they are watching) and say “blue ball…can you say blue ball?” and see if they repeat it.

If they don’t that’s okay don’t get frustrated. Just keep at it and they will eventually start.

Repetition is Key!

Repeating yourself can get exhausting but that is the sure fire way in teaching a toddler to talk.

Repeating yourself in short simple sentences though.

Toddlers don’t need lengthy paragraphs to get lost in translation. They won’t understand. Short and simple and have them try to say it.

The more you repeat something the more they will remember and it will stick.

With my youngest I would walk around the house and point to things and say “pink” or “blue” or whatever color the object was that I was pointing at.

Eventually she would start to repeat me when I would point to the pink ball and say “ink” and I praised her for it. Which is my next point.

Praise

Give them all the praise in the world when they do say the word or phrase you are having them learn or repeat.

Act like you just scored tickets to your favorite concert ever, thats how excited I need you to be about the fact that your toddler just say “pink ball” or whatever you had said.

That praise and excitment will excite them and make them want to get that same reaction from you so they will keep it up.

Educational Shows

Watching educational shows can always help kids because they are the pros of repetition and pointing out what shape and color things are.

Our favorites to watch are Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. I have a full review of how PBS helped me with my kids you can read here.

But these shows are helpful because they have songs and they repeat those songs over and over and they are catchy!

Kids love the songs and music and it will help them learn quickly because it is engaging as well as repetitive.

Seeking Help, But Don’t Stress

Now if there are some developmental delays in speech, don’t hesitate to seek some professional help. But also don’t rush into it either. Give them time, each child goes at their own pace.

For example, when my youngest had just turned one and she wasn’t quite speaking understandable words yet other than “mama” and “dada” and a few other simple words, my pediatrician told me she might need speech therapy.

I was stunned, I was mad and I was confused. She had just turned one and she was already telling me she might need speech?!

I was baffled and sort of blew her off (which I’m not recommending but you know your child best) and I knew eventually (especially with an older sibling) that she would start speaking more words and short sentences.

And she did. about 6 months after that she started learning more words and phrases and ended up completely fine.

So my advice is, if you child is over 2 and still isn’t saying more than 3-4 words, then yes maybe look into seeking professional help, but that is completely your choice mama. You know your kid best.