Toddler Speech / Language Tip 8: 1- Step Directions

Ability to follow 1-step directions is receptive language - or understanding of language, as well as being aware of the environment, and participating in a reciprocal interaction.

One of the best ways to get a child to follow a direction is to model it yourself, and make the modeling seem super exciting.

Get down to the child’s level, establish eye contact, and use the excited voice. “Let’s throoooow!” (Throw). “Yayyy!!”

Or “Let’s caaatch! (catch) yay!” Or “Time to cleeeeeean up! Put in! Yay good job! Put in?

You can also give your child a choice as to which direction to follow. This makes her feel more in control, which makes her more likely to follow.

For example “Should we put it in this bag? (demonstrate but don’t quite put it in) or this box? (demonstrate but don’t quite put it in).”

Finally, you can also hand over hand cue – or show your child how to do the action, using your hands to gently guide theirs. For example – “catch! See! Like this!” (take child’s hand and model the catch)

For a printable checklist, more examples, and a tracking sheet / more ideas about directions, download the "Toddler Parent Education Handout 8 " 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.