Infants begin learning to talk from their first day in this world. The early stages of infant communication involve random movements and sounds and are gradually interpreted as meaningful by the adults in their environment. This interpretation is an important step that assists a child with learning to control the environment by communicating in positive ways.
Parents or other adult care givers can assist an infant with learning to communicate by participating in the following simple activities:
A. Interpret the infant’s random acts as meaningful. For example, as the infant begins to reach toward desirable objects, the adult shows that this means they want the object by saying, "You want the bunny" and then move the bunny within the child’s reach. The same interpretation occurs when the child turns his/her head from food which can be interpreted as "No. I don’t want anymore." The same type of interpretation should occur for emotions, such as anger or joy and can be stated as, "You really like this Peek-A-Boo game!"
B. Play turn-taking games. Turn-taking games such as Peek-A-Boo or "I knock it off the tray and Mommy picks it up" teach infants that they can "cause" other people to do things. These games also teach turn-taking skills which are necessary for developing conversation at a later age. Additionally, turn-taking is helpful for teaching attention to a particular task. As long as the infant is playing this game with you, he/she is attending to another person and to the particular goal of the activity which may be as simple as gaining your attention or watching how you respond to his/her gestures or sounds.
C. Imitate sounds or actions of the infant. This demonstrates that communication is fun. It also assists the infant with learning to imitate you at a later stage of development. You may gradually note that the infant will begin to change a sound or activity and watch to see if you do the same. As with turn-taking activities, this builds attention which will later assist with conversational development.
© Parent-Child Services Group, Inc. 6/98
Lynne F. Harmon, MA, CCC-SLP
Permission to copy for educational purposes only