Video transcript
Narrator: Talking together about what you are doing can help your child understand what is happening around her, and gives her a sense of why things happen.
Mum [Helping daughter do up the buckle]: That way. Now move your fingers. Move your fingers. Good girl.
Narrator: Giving simple instructions and using gestures helps your child understand what you’d like her to do. You can use everyday moments like this as opportunities for your child to learn.
Narrator: Everything is a learning opportunity.
Mum: Red flower. Do you want it? Yes? Say yes? Yes. [Gives daughter the flower] Say thank you.
Daughter: Thank you.
Narrator: When you are walking down the street, describe what you see – a flower, the street, the cars. If your toddler doesn’t understand, try using different words. Talking a lot is the best way to help your child learn language.
[A mother and her toddler son explore in the park together]
Narrator: Let your child show you the things he is interested in. Children love the fact that everything is new to them, and exploring the world is the best kind of learning.
Mum: It’s wood. Where are you off to now? Oooh, what does that feel like?
Narrator: Everyday objects are interesting to a curious toddler. Talk with your child about how things feel, their shape, their colour and where they come from.
[Another mother walking along the street with her son]
Mum [Pointing to the ground]: look at the brown leaf.
Son: Aaah!
Mum: That fell from the tree.
Son [Pointing up]: Aah, trees.
Mum: It fell down from the tree. Yeah. [Mum and son play in the park]
Mum: Are you going to put the shapes in the truck? Oh, wow!
Narrator: Everywhere you go you can introduce new words to your child. You can use action words like ‘push’ and ’put’ to explain the things you are doing and descriptive words like ‘smooth’ and ‘hard’ to describe objects. Remember, the more words your toddler hears, the more words he will learn.
[Mum and child count cars together]
Mum: Do you want to count the cars? We’ll start from here. Look, we’ll start from the white one.
Son: One ...
Mum: One ...
Narrator: Children love counting, so use your environment. Counting items, like cars, helps your child to learn about how numbers are used. Repeating things over and over again, will strengthen your child’s memory and help expand her vocabulary.
Son: ... 5, 6.
Mum: There’s 6 cars parked on the side of the road. You love cars, don’t you?
Son: Yes!
[Mum comes to watch her daughter drawing]
Mum: Did you draw? What did you draw?
Narrator: Showing interest in the things your child does is a great way to boost their self esteem. Asking her about her work gives her a chance to use the words she knows to tell you about it. Listening carefully, looking at your child, smiling and repeating what she says, shows that you understand and appreciate what she is doing.