Making time to chat with your baby throughout your daily routine is important for your baby's language and communication development.
These daily events are so important because they provide opportunities for repetitive learning in a natural environment.
There are loads of ways you can make your routine fun and interesting for your baby. This will help them stay engaged and pick up language quicker.
Check out Dr Guddi Singh's list of activities that you can slot into your daily routine in the video below.
Why are daily routines good for language learning?
- By repeating daily routines, babies and children can begin to make sense of the world around them.
- Repetition helps build language skills.
- By saying the same words or phrases each time you perform an action, you can build and reinforce your child’s understanding of them.
- Using everyday routines, you can help your child learn specific words and phrases without needing any special toys or materials.
- The best learning opportunities are the ones that are the most interactive and the most fun, so get creative with your routines.
- Having a bath, changing a nappy and getting dressed are all new and exciting for a baby - the language is too.
Guddi Singh's 3 ways to make language learning fun
1. Fun at bath time
Bath time is a great opportunity for your baby to hear new words.
Give baby a bath and imitate the sounds of the water. Wash different body parts and call out their names.
Using descriptive words like 'splash' whilst splashing the water will help your baby begin to link words and their meaning.
Fun activities like this will help baby focus on sounds and learn new words.
Watch the full video about making the most of bath time chat.
2. Cooking time
When you are cooking or preparing a snack, chat to your baby about what you are doing. Try and repeat key words, like 'cut'.
You can talk about the colour, taste and texture of different foods. Let your baby explore the food with their hands and mouths - don't be afraid to get messy!
Why not continue the fun at dinner time? It's the perfect opportunity to bond and develop their communication skills during a busy day.
Check out our video about bonding with your baby at dinner time.
3. Routine treasure hunt
Hide an item of baby's clothes or another object linked to your routine around your house.
Take baby on an adventure to find it and have fun finding the toy together.
This is a really great way to help increase baby's vocabulary and add a bit of fun and mystery to a part of your routine.
Once you find the item, why not describe it and show baby how it is used.
Baby's learn best when they use more than one their senses, so letting them hold the item and play with it is an easy way to boost brain connections.
Why not watch our video about how to have a simple but fun treasure hunt at home?
Top routine tips around Tiny Happy People
