Set Up For Success!

One simple tip to help your child communicate their wants/needs: choose activities in play with ample opportunities to request! 🙋🏻‍♀️

Requesting is a fundamental aspect of communication. As parents, we often anticipate what it is that our children want/need and sometimes we forget to provide room for them to express it. 🗣️

Try setting up your play in a way that is both motivating (/high interest) to your little one AND gives them lots of opportunities to make requests (even the same request over and over is great!). And if they don’t initiate the request themselves, this will give YOU the chance to PROVIDE A MODEL of the correct language (or even model expanding like I did in the video) over and over again! Using gestures/signs with the verbal model can be supportive as well. 👍🏼

Once you’ve given some models, be sure to leave space for your child to try it! For example, you might pause/wait before you speak to see if they initiate, or you could even see if they can fill-in-the-blank (e.g., if the model was “more water”, then next time, try “more....” with a look of anticipation to see if they will fill in “water”). 👀

Other tips to encourage requesting:

1) Use toys with multiple pieces (e.g., legos, blocks, etc, and only provide a few at a time. Hold back some of the pieces to encourage a request for more!

2) Use containers/toys that are tricky for little hands/require assistance to open/use, thereby increasing the need to request for help!

3) Use “people games” like peek-a-boo, tickle monster, etc, and encourage a request in order for the activity to continue!

Does your little one struggle with requesting?! I hope you’ll try these tip and let me know how it goes! 👏🏼