Whether you're face-to-face at the dinner table, or on a day out in the park, letting your little one take the lead in a conversation is a great way to boost their language learning.
Learning to spot what they're focussed on - perhaps a tree, or the chimneys on houses - and chatting with them about that object is important, whatever age or stage your child is at. This film shows how you might do this on a walk.
How can you follow your baby or child's lead on a walk?
- Firstly, try to spot the ways your child shows they are interested in something - it could be pointing, babbling, using single words or making gestures. they might even pick up something and hand it to you.
- Talk to them about what has their attention. You could teach them new words by naming things and then expand on the idea with more detail, suitable to their language level. If they're interested in a tree, you could say, 'Yes, it's a tree. It has lots of leaves.'
- Adapt to their level. You might ask some simple questions like 'Can you see any birds in the tree?'
- If you talk about the things they are interested in, you are helping your child to learn words more quickly. This is because they are more likely to pay attention to your words and make connections between your words and what they're seeing, hearing or feeling.
This idea of both paying attention to the same thing is sometimes referred to as 'joint attention' or 'shared attention'.
Engaging in something your child is interested in also benefits their social skills, as you share eye contact and bond with one another over that thing.
While there are lots of ways to create joint attention in your day-to-day routine, you might find it helpful to try specific activities or games with your child. A listening walk is perfect for discovering what grabs your child's attention, for example.
