Lately, I have been working with several early intervention kiddos (ages birth to three) and giving lots of tips to parents on how to increase language in the home. A big part of this is altering the environment to encourage interaction. I would like to explore some tips and guidelines that I recommend to families to keep in mind when designing, organizing, and cultivating their play areas for their toddlers. It should be noted that these recommendations will vary depending on your family size, age and number of children, space available, and family culture. However, there are some things you can do to help encourage speech, language, and literacy in your home, that are worth a try.
1) Make it as easy as possible to avoid screen time. Do your best to limit electronics, especially in the same room as where the child sleeps. Have a place out of reach to keep your remote controls.
2) Make your books easily accessible. With toddlers, I would place all of the board books within reach so the child can bring you their favorite book and read it over and over again, or look at the pictures and flip the pages while alone.
3) Consider limiting the number of toys available at one time. This is something I encourage if a child tends to spend less than a minute with each of their toys. With fewer toys, a child is encouraged then to spend more time with each toy, increasing their attention, and providing higher quality language exposure and increased play concepts.
4) Before purchasing a new toy, identify 4 things the child can learn from that toy. For example, with a shape sorter, you may have the obvious concepts to learn for shapes and colors, but you can also teach language concepts such as: all, out, in, empty, fit; and expose your child to yes/no questions (e.g. "does it fit here?") and requesting help.
5) Place highly desired items in a clear container that the child is unable to open out of reach. This is all about creating the opportunity for verbalizing requests! For instance, your preschooler may love their Peppa Pig playhouse set, but maybe it creates a mess on the floor if your child has free access to it. The playhouse set can be placed atop the bookshelf.
6) Avoid items with batteries. Typically toys with batteries do not require much interaction with other humans. For many families, this is unavoidable if you receive them as gifts or if your child simply loves the toy. For any battery operated toys you do have, I highly recommend be placed out of reach. Your ears will thank me, but these are also usually quite motivating and can be used to encourage communication of preferences.
Of course, some of these recommendations will vary depending on your family's needs, but in general these are good guidelines for creating a play area. If you have any questions on if these tips are right for your family, or if you have any questions about your toddler's language development, please reach out! I am more than happy to assist you on your journey to improving your child's communication skills early on!
You can reach me by texting (321)- 209-1193 or emailing rachelhomzaslp@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
-Rachel
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