5 toys to use with young children to elicit language and build vocabulary skills

PLAYDOUGH:

Great for children to use their imagination and make things out of the play-dough.  You can incorporate several action words when playing with the play-dough.  You can build communication by having the child request "my turn", "more", "again".

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BUBBLES:

Using bubbles is a great way to engage children and work on requesting.  You can focus on one word utterances such as "pop", "blow", describe the bubbles "big, "small", "up", "down", "fast", "slow".  You can use these to expand utterances such as "big bubble!"  I also use a lot of songs with bubbles to increase language development through music.

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WIND-UP TOYS:

​Wind-up toys are great for building communication skills.  Working on requesting such as "help".  You can work on describing the wind-up toy and what it's doing using action words.  It's good for establishing joint attention and understanding cause/effect.

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PLAY BARN:

Barns are so fun and engaging for little ones.  Use all the interactive pieces on the barn.  You can work on spatial concepts such as "on, off, under, in front of, next to".  This one plays music, so kids are instantly motivated by that!

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WORDLESS PICTURE BOOKS:

Wordless picture books are great for children to use their imagination and work on story telling, inferencing, predicting, critical thinking skills, sequencing a story, story comprehension, building vocabulary and more!

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