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My Everyday Household Items That Get Toddlers Talking (from a Speech Therapist)
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items You don't need another $40 toy. The objects that pull the most words out of late talkers are already in your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. These are the items I tell parents to pull out first, cheap, familiar, and loaded with verbs. Each one l...
Pulls out: spray, wet, stop, more, again, water, all done. Hand it to your toddler and let them spray the bathtub wall, a plant, the sidewalk. The control they get over a spray bottle is the same reason they'll say "stop" and "more" to keep the game ...
Spray Bottle
Pulls out: bang, loud, stop, more, hit, drum. The appeal is obvious. The language opportunity is less obvious: cover your ears and say "too loud! stop!" Then wait. Most toddlers will hand you the spoon and wait for you to say "go" before they start a...
Giant Wooden Spoon
Pulls out: bang, loud, stop, more, hit, drum. The appeal is obvious. The language opportunity is less obvious: cover your ears and say "too loud! stop!" Then wait. Most toddlers will hand you the spoon and wait for you to say "go" before they start a...
Pots
Pulls out: in, out, up, down, big, little, more, uh oh. Stack them. Knock them down. Hide a cheerio under one. Prepositions (in, out, up, down) are what late talkers need to start combining words, "ball in," "up me," "out now." Cups are the fastest w...
Nesting Measuring CupS
Pulls out: in, out, push, pull, go, stop, ride, whee. Put your toddler in it, push them around the kitchen. Before each push, wait for them to say "go" (or sign it, or even just look at you expectantly). Most worried parents of late talkers are unkno...
Laundry Basket - Amazon.com
Pulls out: in, out, open, close, hide, boo, knock knock. A box is a house, a car, a hiding spot, and a drum. For language, the most useful use is hide-and-seek: your child inside, you knock, they say or sign "who?" or "come in" or just knock back. Tu...
Cardboard - Moving Boxes - The Home Depot
Pulls out: squeeze, open, close, got it, uh oh, more. Give your toddler tongs and a bowl of chunky objects (pasta, blocks, socks) to transfer into another bowl. The squeeze motion builds the hand strength speech shares with fine motor, and the repeti...
Kitchen Tongs and Bowl of Items
Pulls out: in, out, match, same, more. One object per cup. Variations: hide a car under each cup and ask "where's the car?", or sort by color, or drop pom poms in if you have them. The muffin tin is a container for a dozen different language games, w...
Cupcake & Muffin Pans with small itmes you already own
Pulls out: pour, fill, empty, more, water, wet, splash, uh oh. Bath time is the single highest-yield 15 minutes of the day for late-talker language because your child is contained, happy, and watching you. A $4 set of stacking cups at the bath turns ...
Stacking Cups Bath Toys
Pulls out: open, help, please, in, out. Put a desired snack or small toy inside. Hand it to your toddler. They want it, they can't get it, they have to communicate. "Help" and "open" are two of the highest-leverage words a late talker can acquire bec...
Freezer Bags
Pulls out: open, help, please, in, out. Put a desired snack or small toy inside. Hand it to your toddler. They want it, they can't get it, they have to communicate. "Help" and "open" are two of the highest-leverage words a late talker can acquire bec...
VITEVER 16 Pack 4oz Small Reusable Containers
Pulls out: on, off, light, dark, find, up, down, more. Turn off the lights, turn on the flashlight, point it at things and name them. The novelty keeps attention on the object you're naming, which is the biggest predictor of whether that word sticks....
Flashlight - Amazon.com
Pulls out: ball, go, throw, roll, kick, my turn, your turn. Rolling a ball back and forth is the purest turn-taking game there is. Before each roll, wait. Late talkers produce words when the routine stops and they're the one who has to restart it. Ba...
Balls For Toddlers - Amazon.com
Pulls out: bubble, more, pop, up, blow, all done. Yes, bubbles are technically a toy, but they cost $2 and most homes have them. Bubbles are on every SLP's list for a reason: they produce 10-second episodes of intense joint attention, over and over, ...
Bubbles for Kids - Target