Babies born during the pandemic are less chatty compared to babies born before COVID-19, according to studies done around the world. In one study, children who started school in 2020 needed more language support than in previous years. And in another independent study, researchers from Brown University in the USA used a wearable “talk pedometer” to measure the number of words spoken near the child, and how many words or sounds the child said. The researchers found that child language scores decreased sharply in 2021 and 2022.
The talk pedometer machine also noted when children and adults talked to one another in what’s called “turn conversations” – this is when people take turns to ask questions and listen for a reply. For example, a turn conversation is when you ask your toddler, “Do you want water?” What about milk? And then you wait until she takes her turn in the conversation by nodding or waving her hands or saying “Juice” or whatever..
These “turn conversions” are very important when it comes to developing language skills. They give a child the chance to think, decide and interact with adults. And turn conversations are very important for babies who are learning to talk because they help the baby learn how language works, and stimulate their brain development.
READ NEXT
Researchers have not pinpointed exactly why the pandemic has affected verbal skills, but obviously children stuck at home get much less interaction with teachers, friends and family. They get less turn conversations, and less exposure to a range of words and different accents and language patterns.
If the pandemic has affected how children learn language skills, what can parents do about it? These six tricks can make a difference, and they don’t take any fancy or expensive equipment.
Find a pair of objects that are the same shape, but different in as many ways as possible – such as size, colour and texture. For example, a small blue plastic fork and a large wooden fork. Or a small, squishy yellow fabric ball and a big, hard white plastic ball.
Set up a normal, everyday play situation for you and your child. Play with your two objects in the same way as normal, including them into the activities. For the best results, keep playing with the objects several times over the next few weeks so your child gets a chance to really examine the items. Play with the plastic fork and the wooden fork and let her see and touch them both. Talk about what you are doing, tell a story with the objects or just describe what you are doing with them.
So how does this playtime help your toddler learn new words? Toddlers learn words by connecting a certain noise to a certain object – they do this by looking, listening, comparing and contrasting.
So when you say “ I love this blue fork” your toddler instinctively tries to identify what makes that particular object a fork. When she hears the word “fork” several times used for several different items she looks ooks carefully at what is similar and what is different between the forks to understand what it is that makes them both forks.
You’ve made it easy for your toddler to compare and contrast the forks by giving her two forks that are different in just about every way – except for their shape. Because you have provided such strong contrast your child can work out that the shape of the fork is what makes it a fork.
Of course, children do learn what a fork is eventually – even if you do not play any compare and contrast games. It just takes them longer because they have to experience many different types of forks so they can get enough information to analyse.
You can encourage more word development by making compare and contrast part of everyday play. Say she brings you a ball… you can say, “Great! This is a pink ball. Can you find me another ball? A yellow ball?”
Your child’s excitement at her new comparison skills will send her toddling off to find another ball. When she returns, celebrate her accomplishments and send her off on another comparison mission. “What a big ball! Can you find a little ball?”
To increase your toddler’s language skills even more, let other adults play this game with your toddler – she’ll learn more words faster hy hearing different people talk, with different accents. She gets to compare and contrast how different people say the same words.
Watch your toddler as she chatters away to herself – what everyday objects does she point towards? Because hands are easier to control than vocal chords, small toddlers often use gestures to communicate.
These movements are an important part of developing language skills. Scientists are not sure exactly how it works, but they know that gesturing towards objects helps us build important connections in our brain about the way we speak and communicate.
So pay attention if your toddler starts gesturing towards one item more often. It might be pointing and reaching out with an open hand towards an object, or she might hold the item in her hand and show it to you. What your baby is holding every day is a guide to what she or he will start talking about next.
Also pay attention when your little one gestures and says a word at the same time – because this means he or she is getting closer to being able to combine two words into a simple sentence. So if your little girl says “Daddy” and points to a chair she will soon be saying “Daddy, sit!” or “Daddy, sit here!”
You can tap into this by having “turn conversations” with your toddler when you see her gesturing. For example, you can point to the chair and ask her, “Do you want Daddy to sit on this chair?”
Making gestures is such an important part of speech development. So when you are talking to your toddler, try pointing to the object you are talking about. Or hold it up to her and show her that you are talking about it. All this helps your child connect sounds to objects… and make her first words.
It’s easier for toddlers to learn nouns or object words like table, chair or spoon, because those items stay in one place. But it’s harder for them to learn verbs or “action words” like run, jump or wave. This is because when you jump or wave, the action is over in a few seconds.
This can make it harder for a toddler to work out how the action is connected to the word. So try acting out what you are saying to help your child understand what certain words mean. For example, try waving your hand as you say “Let’s wave bye bye”, or jump on the spot when you say “let’s jump up and down”.
Sing songs to your baby that include gestures – like the snapping hand gestures you make while you sing the Baby Shark song by PinkFong.
Gesturing helps your child connect words to actions. It also helps your toddler learn words when you gesture towards pages in the books you read aloud – even if your child is still too young to read or talk properly.
So next time you read a bedtime story, point to a character when you say their name. Or act out actions in the story with your fingers as they happen. This will help your toddler learn the story – and how words work together to tell a story or share emotions.
The next time you find yourself telling your little one you really want them to remember, try acting out the message as you speak.
For example, say you want her to stop sticking her fingers into an open drawer – because they can get crushed if the drawer shuts.
As you tell her what you want, pretend to shut your hand painfully in the closing drawer (or use teddy’s hand). Say “Ouch!” and grimace as if you are in pain. Seeing your “pain” can help her make the connection that it can be painful for her to stick her hand in the drawer.
Read Next
Text: Bauer Syndication