Grab your four bunnies and take off on the path to be the first to capture the carrot. Oops, it’s not that easy. Take your turn, pick a card and see if you advance 1, 2 or 3 spaces unless you get the “click the carrot” card. Then you get to turn the carrot until it clicks and the bottom drops out from under a space on the path. It’s a good thing that you have four bunnies in case you lose one through the hole. Believe it or not, kids love to pick the carrot card, even though they might lose a bunny and definitely don’t advance. It’s just plain fun to click that carrot and see who might drop off the game! Strategy comes into play when a risk-taker advances just one bunny while another child will play it safe and keep several bunnies on the path in case one is clicked off.Fun, engaging games, like Funny Bunny, encourage lots of social language, as kids discuss strategy, cope with winning and losing, explain to others how to play the game and learn to take turns and negotiate.
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Step back in time with this classic, the Three Pigs, and bring on the fun! The chubby pigs are the perfect size for a toddler’s hand to squeeze and let out a squeak. They can hide in their color-matched soft homes with plenty of doors and windows to open and close to teach early prepositions like “in,” out,” “ back” and “front.” Kids love to stuff the big bad wolf (and all the pigs for that matter) down the chimney and watch him magically appear inside the house. Carry on little conversations with your pigs as your toddler chooses one to speak for too.
Language enhancing toys have lots to describe. Babies and toddlers’ receptive language (understanding) has been outpacing their expressive language (actually saying words) as they hear and store new vocabulary words. But at 1 ½ years, they are entering the stage of their “vocabulary explosion” when they can actually learn several new words a day. As you are playing with your child and describing her action with the toy, your job is a lot easier when there is a lot to describe in terms of texture, sounds, color, size, and shape. Point out the straw, stick and brick houses, shiny, smooth and soft surfaces, big, little and medium—sized houses, match the colored houses to the pigs and talk about shapes.
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Kids three years and up want a little challenge in their games—not everything left to chance! Diggity Dog
s magnetic nose. See if the color on the underside of the bone matches your dog and collect all three before heading home to win. There’s just enough action to keep little hands busy and skill required to keep minds churning. Playing Diggity Dog involves auditory memory (remembering the number of barks), visual memory (remembering where your colored bones are), counting, and conversation negotiating turn-taking and discussing strategy. These are all skills that contribute to language development.
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Get past the guard, drop down the drawbridge and roll up the door of the Folding Castle Play Set and you are in for some fun. The king and queen preside over the castle while the knight can stand guard in the towers, slide open the gate to lock the enemy in jail, hide under the stairs, or chase along the top of the wall. The horse provides an escape or can stay in his stable. Kids love being in charge of the action, which stimulates story telling and builds the foundations for literacy and writing.
Always let your child be the director of the action, not you, the parent. Research shows that parent involvement in pretend play can raise the level of language, but be careful to be a willing participant and not lead the play—that’s your child’s job! Don’t rob her of the opportunity to investigate new ways to use the doors, hiding places and stairwells. This builds language skills as she generates her own stories. The castle is so flexible, that a new story can be told each day as your child invents characters and themes.
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Buy New Wooden Folding Midevil Castle Toy by Melissa and & Doug now
Language enhancing toys have moving parts and opportunities to change the action and therefore the story. Kids can’t wait to enter the Tree House Play Set by Melissa and Doug, traveling up the staircase before someone on the third floor pulls up the drawbridge, relaxing on the swing, pulling a bucket up three levels, letting down the ladder to escape, resting on the hammock or tricking someone crossing the bridge’s trap door! The six moving parts, including pulley-operated systems provide for lots of imaginative play and adventure. With plenty of room to navigate, the tree house accommodates children or siblings of differentages, creating multi-layered stories together and building language skills.
I’ve seen children get inventive, hoisting up characters in the bucket, sending the enemy to the “dungeon” below the trap door and use the swing as a bed. There is no end to imaginative play with this tree house. The set comes with a boy and girl who have been assigned various roles such as princess and prince, but children can’t help bringing additional playmates to the house such as pirates, dolls or critters to joint the action. It adds to the complexity of the story.
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What toys encourage language development? Look for toys that have flexibility—ones that can be used in many different ways. They inspire your child to be creative and use his imagination. Something as simple as a puzzle should have more options than just placing pieces in the intended slot.
Chunky Puzzle Farm Animals, Safari Animals and Dinosaurs by Melissa and Doug have thick enough pieces that the animals can “stand up”, move around, get a bite to eat or roam on the floor at a pretend zoo or farm. I hear far more language from a child as he pretends with the animals and lets them loose!
The puzzle pieces from Vehicles can go for a sail on the sea, line up on the train track, fly overhead or race down the road with narrated sound effects. Now your child is naming the pieces as well as expanding his vocabulary through pretend play, using verbs, pronouns and prepositions.
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Rub a dub dub, who let the pirates in the tub? Your little mate will love the floating, squishable pirates who can squirt water from their mouths and spray enemies with their cannon. Choose from the 38 pieces to construct your island with pirates, a treasure chest, palm trees or birds. Set it afloat and you can start on your raft—sails, pirates and barrels of goodies can be included. Don’t forget your map and compass to keep you on track. Climb onto the floating island and hide out in the cave. Have I mentioned that the octopus and shark are on the loose? Don’t forget to decorate the tub with the foam puzzle pieces that stick and float, building the big pirate ship, compete with sails, steering wheel, lookout and flag.
With all the interchangeable pieces that fit into slots on the floating islands and raft, your child’s pretend play can expand and change with his imagination. Every bath time can be a different story line. All of the pirate accessories stimulate his imagination to create his story. Research has linked pretend play with language development and practice in story telling prepares your child to eventually write creative stories.
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At around 3 months of age, babies can see most colors and are interested in looking at a book just like a toy. Bright colors against a contrasting background (especially white) attract their attention. Throw in a good dose of rhythm, rhyme and beat and you will fascinate them with your reading. Here are a few of my favorites to start out your library:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? And Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? By Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle. I haven’t met a 3 month old who hasn’t listened intently to these stories, examining the bright colorful collages of each animal as I flipped the page.
Peek-a-Moo by Marie Torres Cimarusti. This big peek-a-boo book reveals the sound and inviting face of each barnyard animal as you turn down the flap.
Butterfly Kisses by Sandra Magsamen. The simple text and pictures grab your baby’s attention as bees buzz, birds sing and monkeys play. But, keep your eyes and ears open for a surprise visit by the butterfly finger puppet delivering a kiss and perhaps a tickle.
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. This is a wonderful bedtime tale of a little one and his parent declaring the immensity of their love for one another. The endearing illustrations tell the story too.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Rosemary Wells. Sing the lines of this nursery rhyme as you page through the heart-warming illustrations of a little bunny preparing for bed—bathing, getting on pajamas, having some warm milk and even gazing at the stars before hopping in bed.
Baby Talk by DK. We know that babies like to look at baby faces so play peek-a-boo with this book, revealing darling wee ones narrating the action with “yum, yum,” “hee, hee,” and “boo hoo.”
Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton. Things are going well when the cow says “moo” and the sheep says “baa” but who said pigs can sing “la la la?” Sandra Boynton’s books have all the requisite beat, rhythm and rhyme to keep your baby’s interest.
Fuzzy Bee and Friends by Priddy Books. Here’s a soft book with lots of textures, wings to flip and legs to crawl. The text has some spunk too.
Here are some of my favorites, old and new for your preschooler to encourage language through a great story:
The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens. Check out my review. Kids love this book for the zany antics of the prairie dogs with their fuzz and the wild vocabulary and comical alliteration.
Clancy the Courageous Cow by Lachie Hume. This is a new book with a clever story about being different, discrimination, and grace. There is lots to talk about as you encourage your child to predict what will happen, talk about feelings, solutions, and how to react to someone who is different.
Amos and Boris by William Steig. This is a clever book about adventure, rescue, friendship, and sacrifice. It is packed with good vocabulary. Try other books by this author.
Picnic at Mudsock Meadow by Patricia Polacco. This isn’t just another Halloween book, but a clever story of competition, courage and finally friendship. The illustrations are magnificent with their detail and action. Lots of predictions can be made based on these beautiful drawings.
Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andrede and Russel Ayto. This is every little boy’s dream, to uncover a pirate captain in a closet and set sail with him. Of course they encounter the ferocious pirate dinosaurs and a battle ensues. The illustrator has created beasts with “tonsils wobbling ferociously at the back of his throat” who have a whimsy about them who draw us in to a tale created in a little boy’s mind. Talk about what you would do if you met a pirate in the closet?
I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe is a lovely tale about self-esteem, listening to criticism, acceptance While the little cricket was wishing he was a butterfly, after the frog at the edge of the pond told him he was ugly, the ladybug wisely replies, “…you must learn to be content with what you are and not mind what a silly old frog tells you.” Friendship finally brings acceptance. There are many themes to talk about with your child after reading this story that relate to her life—teasing, feelings, self-worth, friendship and acceptance.
The Featherless Chicken by Chih-Yuan Chen. In this playful tale, a featherless chicken is trying to part of the gang of artfully adorned chickens. Finally when he acquires a costume of leaves, silverware and a fish can, he looks good enough to join the others. This is another story about fitting in, being transparent and having a roaring good time!After reading this book, it would be fun to make a collage costume for your own featherless chicken.
Edwina, The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She was Extinct by Mo Willems. Loveable Edwina meets her match with the incorrigible Reginald who is trying to convince her she is extinct. This story is about winning over a bully with kindness. Talk about ways to show kindness to those who are nice and not nice to us.
Chuck Lends a Paw and Funny Bunnies on the Run by Robert Quakenbush are full of laugh-aloud consequences for the antics of bunnies and mice. You can use these books to ask questions like “Why did that happen?” since there is a reason for all the catastrophes in the stories! These are early readers but can also be used as read-alouds.
Give this lovable guy a push and he gladly rocks and rolls just out of reach so your baby chases after him, exploring and discovering his wobbly gait. Each nudge brings on one of 5 entertaining sounds to make your baby smile. The friendly face with bug eyes and dimples, two antennae just the right size for nibbling, a colorful neck to stretch, a handfull of colorful textured rings, butterflies and ladybugs to describe and beads moving to the action all qualify this as a great toy to encourage language development.
This Tiny Love Activity Ball has all the elements for stimulating language–lots to talk about concerning, color, texture, sounds and activity. Parents can describe the bright colors, patterns of stripes and polka dots, plenty of textures such as soft, hard, bumpy, and smooth and sounds that accompany movement whether rocking or yanking on his head and feet. Remember to follow your child’s focus of attention and describe what she thinks is interesting, not you! If she is chewing on the antennae or playing peek-a-boo with the ladybug, that is what you want to be talking about. Research shows that children take in more language when we are talking about what they are interested in. Isn’t that true of us adults too?
