Toddler Speech / Language Tip 10: Appropriate Play

It is very important to focus on modeling appropriate play. That is, showing a child how he / she is supposed to play with something, instead of how they want to. Because remember play is an important language and cognition foundation.

Some examples of less than appropriate play are stacking /lining up objects, only knocking objects down and putting them back in their box. We want to show a child how to typically play with certain toys.

Work with whatever toys you have. We are just going to make sure that whichever toy you choose, your child looks like the demo picture on the toy box’s cover.

Make the modeling seem super exciting.. Get down to your child’s level, establish eye contact, and play! You can also give your choices on appropriate play : for example, “should we feed the doll? Or put her to sleep?”

You can also GENTLY correct a child’s inappropriate play. For example, if they are lining up cars ––“Oh look! We can also make the cars drive. Like this! VROOM”

For a printable checklist, more examples, and a tracking sheet / more ideas about one minute attention, download the "Toddler Parent Education Handout 10" on our Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.