Language skills are arguably one of the most important facets of a child’s learning and growth. Indeed, language helps us connect with the world around us and understand our own thoughts and feelings too. If you are a busy parent or if you feel you don’t have the right qualifications or resources to help kickstart your child’s language skills, don’t despair. We have specially curated 7 simple home activities that you can do to develop children’s language skills in a fun and engaging manner.
Introduce rhymes
When you think of rhymes, you think of popular authors like Dr. Seuss who popularized them for young children. Apart from having fun characters, rhymes like these can help children with getting their phonetics right. This is an important tool for later language use like spelling and pronunciation.
Sing Songs
Each and every culture has its own songs. Singing songs not only helps build bonds with community members but helps children expand their vocabulary. What’s more, you can incorporate religious teachings in a fun manner by singing hymns. This helps instill good values alongside language skills.
Bedtime reading
Reading is considered the bedrock of any language development. Most children love stories and even more so when it is read out to them in dramatic voices by their caregivers. If your child isn’t too enthused, consider pairing story time with bedtime or naptime. Soon, they won’t fall asleep without a good story!
Labelling Objects
Object labelling can be as simple or challenging as you want it to be. You could write down or print out common household objects on pieces of paper and ask your child to match the words to the objects. This can help them in reading words and building up their vocabulary. To make it fun, you could even make a game of it by timing them or giving them a prize in the end!
Word games
Word games come in all shapes and sizes. Start this simple word game by saying a word. Your child has to make another word starting with the ending letter of that word and so on. This verbal game requires them to think of spellings which can be notoriously tricky. You can even play a game while driving to run errands.
Join the Dots
In this activity, children will join dots to form alphabets. It’s a great activity for young toddlers especially as it helps build motor development in tandem with improving language skills. What’s more, you can practice this same activity in older children for cursive alphabets to improve penmanship.
Fantasy Play
Finally, fantasy play can be absolutely any game that requires the child to pretend to be someone else. For example, they could pretend to be a shopkeeper selling flowers or a teacher teaching a class. The key during such activities is meaningful interaction that helps your child speak in extended syllables. The element of free play ensures that they don’t get bored. Don’t be afraid to correct their grammar or pronunciation as you see fit.