Engaging in Early Language and Literacy Activities: Toddlers

Submitted by Dr. Noëlla Piquette noella.piquette@uleth.ca noellapiquette.consulting@gmail.com

Noëlla is a Professor in Education and Registered Psychologist.

This entry will provide parents and caregivers with an overview of oral language development, pre-reading development, and pre-writing development for the toddler stage.  Generally the sequence is the same for most children, but the pace of development will differ from child to child.  Parents and caregivers should respect and support the unique pace of each child’s development. During this stage of development, your toddler will experience a great growth in language and literacy.   This is a time when young children develop their use of language to communicate their needs and wants.  It is also a time of experimentation with language; toddlers benefit from supportive environments where mistakes are viewed as opportunities to learn.

Oral language development, pre-reading development, and pre-writing development are fostered by parents, family members, and caregivers.  This development depends not only upon what is done with the young child, but is also dependent upon how the adults carry out the literacy activities.  Language experiences that are enjoyable for the child and the adult encourage the young child to experiment with language, learn from the language play, and anticipate more language activities.

Play is the most natural way for a child to learn.  Play is increasingly is recognized as an important means of promoting literacy. The bonus is that the toddler can play to learn and the adult can play with the toddler to help them learn. The enjoyment factor is also quite motivating. The child in a library, play center, or in a home that has created centers such as restaurant, hospital, building blocks, sand tables, and puppet theatre is engaged in play that supports and encourages literacy.  While the child is actively playing and experimenting with the materials in each center, the youngster is also experimenting with language through interactions with peers and adults.

Oral language is a critical foundation for reading, writing, and spelling; language is needed in order to learn and to think. Conversations help the child to cultivate thinking skills; the young child hears what has been said, develops an understanding of what was said, uses language to develop a response, and then verbalizes the response.  Research suggests that the young children’s ability to use language, to listen to and understand the meaning of spoken and written words, is related to later literacy achievement in reading, writing, and spelling. Engaging in playful, meaningful activities can be quite beneficial.

               Remember to SEE as you engage in activities with your toddler.

S – see what your toddler looks at and reaches for. Listen carefully to what your toddler is trying to tell you before responding. Look for new skills that your toddler tries and celebrate the efforts and the accomplishments. Notice when your toddler is ready for a change of activity.

E – engage in the conversations and play situations that your toddler has initiated.  Join in with games, stories, books, and activities, following the lead of your child. Demonstrate and express the enjoyment you experience while engaged in these activities.

E – extend oral language by using the your child’s current understanding as a bridge to a new and deeper meaning.  Introduce new words and/or materials that build upon what the child already knows. For example, after putting on the toddler’s mittens, show the child your gloves, use the word gloves, and talk about how gloves are different than mittens.  Encourage new skills and be supportive of new learning opportunities.

Oral Language Development

A toddler’s receptive vocabulary will be larger than the expressive vocabulary.  Most of the words understand will be associated with objects; blankie, teddy, bottle. At this stage, the child  begins to use single words and may make up words for objects, venturing further into the world of oral communication. The toddlers will continue to increase and begin to include adjectives such as big, little, cold.  At this stage, two word phrases will be used and understood; the child will say “me do” or will know how to “wave bye-bye”. Over the next twelve months, the child’s vocabulary increases to include more nouns, adjectives, prepositions, and action words.  Phrases will increase from two words to five words and the child will be able to maintain short conversations.

Activities with your Toddler:

·       Make comments about the activities your child initiates.  The purpose of the comments is to encourage your child to engage in conversation. Extend the conversation with phrases or questions such as, “What are you making?” or “How did you… ?”  These questions show your interest and require the child to put actions into words.  Listen to the child’s responses, restate what was said, and then extend the phrase. 

·       Acknowledge and label your child’s emotions.  Talk to your toddler;  “I can see you are sad.”, “That made you happy.”,  “You were frightened by the loud noise.”  Hearing the words for the emotions will help the young child connect the feelings with the correct labels.  This will enable the developing child to be specific when talking about feelings.

·       When talking with your toddler, it is important to listen carefully to the child’s language before you offer a response.  It may be necessary to interpret the child’s message by observing their gestures or word attempts. Try to match words to what the child appears to be telling you. The child says “Mo, mo,” while tapping the refrigerator door. “Would you like more milk?”

·       When talking with your toddler, be face to face and make eye contact.  This demonstrates to your child the importance of their verbal interactions with you.  Your facial expressions and the sound of your voice will provide your toddler with information that supports your words.  Engage in conversation like activities as you talk with your child. 

·       Ask your child questions that may be answered with a gesture or with one word; “Where is your high chair?”,  “Let’s put on your sock.  Where is your foot?” Respond to the gesture or word by affirming the child’s response with a phrase or sentence. “Yes, your high chair is by the table.”, “This is your foot.  It is your left foot.” Expanding your response will help increase your child’s vocabulary by hearing the new words within a familiar context.

Pre-reading Development

As the infant approaches toddlerhood, the reading experiences will become more interactive. The adult and the young child will engage in dialogue regarding the storyline, characters, and setting.  The youngster will ask one or two word questions about the pictures and make simple comments about the stories and characters. The young child will begin to request favorite books be read several times, which will enable the child to fill in missing words in rhymes and chants, turn to favourite pages or pictures, and may begin to ask about words or letters on the page.  At this stage, the child may begin to demonstrate reading behaviour by holding books and mimicking adult reading.

Activities with your Toddler:

·       Use expression when reading out loud. The expression you use will help your child develop an understanding of the story events and characters. Use different voices for the characters, vary the volume of your voice, and use facial expressions that match the events in the story. 

·       Read books that relate to current events in your child’s life.  When your child is learning how to put away their toys or use the toilet, read some of the children’s books that are written specifically for that purpose.  Relate the events and the characters in the books to your child’s experiences.

·       Read the books your toddler asks you to read and reread.  Be sure to include the title of the book and to point to the words as you read the title.  Encourage your toddler to help you read by chiming in with story parts that the child knows by heart.  If the book contains rhyming words, pause and encourage your child to fill in the missing rhyming word. Even when you are weary, continue to demonstrate pleasure in the reading experience.

·       Read and act out nursery rhymes and poems. Nursery rhymes such as Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet, and Jack Be Nimble have simple story lines that the child can act out, developing an understanding that rhymes and poems tell stories.  It’s also a lot of fun.

·       Use wordless picture books and encourage your toddler to use the pictures to tell the story.  Listen to the story line the child is developing, ask encouraging questions, and provide comments that show your delight in the child’s story. This will aid the toddler in the development of the concept of story.

Pre-writing Development

As a toddler, they will continue to develop fine motor skills that will support writing activities, using writing instruments to make marks on surfaces, creating an understanding of print and its uses. Interest in books, stories, writing instruments, and drawing continues to develop, fostering the foundation for writing. Your toddler will begin to use circles and stick marks to imitate print and wavy lines to imitate handwriting, will be able to differentiate between drawing a picture and writing, and will attempt to form and use some letters. Frequent exposure to the young child’s name will often lead to the youngster to recognizing the first letter of the name.  The toddler will then begin to print the letter, and in the child’s mind, that letter is the full name.

 Activities with your Toddler:

·       Help develop grip for holding writing instruments as well as actual ‘writing’ activities.  Encourage fine motor development by helping the toddler with zippers and buttons, and to practice using a spoon and a fork.  In addition to strengthening the child’s grip, eye-hand coordination and developing a sense of handedness will occur. Celebrate the accomplishments along the way to mastery!

·       Play with a variety of puzzles; wooden puzzles, puzzles with larger pieces, letter puzzles, number puzzles.  Talk about the picture the puzzle will make and the characteristics of the puzzle pieces by using words such as straight, rounded, large, and small.

·       Play with blocks of various sizes. As your child manipulates the blocks the child will be developing fine motor control as well as developing eye-hand coordination.  Use vocabulary to describe placement; on top, beside, under.  For blocks that have letters or numbers, draw these features to your child’s attention and provide the proper label. 

·       Provide your toddler with play dough, markers, paint, paint brushes, paper, and age appropriate scissors.  Help your toddler learn the proper methods for holding the tools.

·       Paint pictures in different locations using a variety of painting tools.  Use water and paint brushes to paint on the sidewalk or draw in the bathtub using bathtub crayons.

Including culturally specific language activities for the toddler:

·       Tell stories in the language of your origin.  Use these opportunities to encourage your child to join in with familiar or repetitive story parts.

·       Go for walks and provide names for what is observed; culturally specific words to match what is seen on the walk.  When you return home, create pictures that represent the experience.  Provide appropriate labels for the pictures.

·       Make up simple songs or chants for daily activities, singing songs or listen to songs in the language of your origin.  Dance to the music, make up dance steps or use some of the traditional dances. Children enjoy singing and it is a pleasant way to learn the language.

·       Read books that are written in the language of your culture or create books in the language of your culture. 

 Summary

When adults engage the young child in meaningful conversations, encourage questions, provide answers, share stories and written materials, the child is given opportunities to expand their understanding of the world through language.  As a community strengthens the child, so too is the community strengthened. The young child who has been supported by people in the community to become a confident speaker, and an emergent reader and writer will have set for them a firm foundation for continued learning. On a final note, literacy development is a process, one that evolves over time and in many contexts.  It is a journey that actively involves the child, parents, caregivers, and community members.  Have fun! 

  References

 The Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning. (2007). Early learning for every child today: A framework for Ontario early childhood settings. Toronto, Ontario.

National Early Literacy (2008) Developing early literacy. A scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention: Report of the national early literacy panel.  Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office

Whitehead, M. (2010). Language and literacy in the early years 0-7 (4 ed.). London, England: SAGE Publications Ltd.