It is quite a known fact that no matter how hard a parent wants to get the child to learn to speak… all they want to do is to play instead. No problem. There are certain toys that can help your child to learn how to speak without having them to even know that they are involved in a lesson.
So pick up the following 5 types of toys that help your child learn to speak and before you know it you will have a talkative toddler on your hands!
1 – Forget Gender Specific Toys
Speech language pathologist Katie Yeh recommends not worrying about gender when you purchase toys for your child. When your children play with toys that are not traditionally considered “right” for their gender, their problem-solving skills are boosted. This also drives expression as children yearn to communicate their new experience. A study titled The Impact of Specific Toys on Play surprisingly showed that construction toys and vehicles created the “highest quality play among girls”.
2 – Nesting and Stacking Toys
When your infant or toddler learns to stack and nest, their organizational and recognition skills are boosted. Fine motor development surges, and your children learn concepts like full or empty, simple counting and problem solving. The cognitive boost that your child receives from these thinking and planning types of games also drives communication skills.
3 – Simple Wooden Blocks
Aside from being simple, versatile and appealing to both boys and girls, blocks of different shapes and sizes can help your child learn to speak. Blocks with letters, numbers and animals painted on them automatically arouse your child’s curiosity. They want to know what those things are, and how to say them. Even blocks of varying shapes, sizes and colors without any symbols on them still improve communication skills, problem solving, science and math principles.
4 – A Toy Cell Phone
Some parents hesitate when they have to give their child a toy cell phone. However, mobile communications are here to stay, and probably the wave of the future for the next several decades. And when your child “talks” and works a toy mobile phone her social skills, creativity, turn taking and speech practice all improve. You can also sneakily get your child to partake in language boosting exercises with their toy cell phone, when they may not perform the activities otherwise because they feel they are being forced to.
5 – Toys and Books That Sing
This one is really a no-brainer. The research showing the positive impact of music on children learning to speak is plentiful. Children are little mimics, since they learn by copying the behaviors and actions they see in their environment. Singing books and toys instinctively appeal to your child’s need for communication, while they simultaneously boost her ability to communicate effectively.