Teaching Toddlers To Say 3 Word Phrases

January 15, 2021 Stephanie Keffer

As your toddler’s vocabulary grows, they will begin to combine more words to speak in increasingly complex phrases and express more diverse ideas. Toddlers generally say their first phrase with three words or more sometime after their second birthday.

As they become more proficient at imitating longer phrases, the next step is to encourage them to use these phrases on their own.

Speaking in longer sentences is exciting for both you and your child — as this skill develops, you will be able to engage in more meaningful conversations and share more ideas with each other.

Teaching 3 Word Phrases - Speech Therapy Tips

Tip 1 - Be quiet and wait for your child to talk

If you want your child to use longer phrases independently, it is imperative that you practice being quiet yourself in order to give them a chance to speak! It’s simple, but simple doesn’t mean easy! Waiting is one of the most powerful things that you can do to help your toddler get comfortable using phrases with three words or more.

When you speak to your toddler, it may take several seconds for them to comprehend your words, think about responding, and then actually do it. Train yourself to wait after you speak. Count to 5 or 10 in your head, and you may be surprised by how your child responds. Culturally, we usually avoid prolonged silence in conversation because it makes us uncomfortable. Your toddler has likely already picked up on this, and you may be surprised to find that when there is silence to fill, your toddler will happily fill it!

Tip 2 - Model short and grammatically correct sentences

Another great way to encourage your child to talk in longer phrases is by using similar-length phrases yourself. At this stage, it is important that the sentences you model for your child are grammatically correct. It can be hard to say what you want to say using grammatically correct sentences with only three words. In this case, you are better off saying the whole sentence with proper grammar than sacrificing grammar to keep your word count down.

For example, tell your child, “I want an apple” or “I want to eat an apple” instead of “I want apple” or “I eat apple.” Your child will still be able to pick up on the most meaningful words in these slightly longer sentences, which are still significantly shorter and less complex than saying something like “I’m really hungry so I think I’ll grab an apple to eat.”

Of course, you can still speak in complex sentences to your child as well, but when you are modeling for them what they might be able to say, it is best to break things down to the level you are targeting.

Tip 3 - Continue to encourage all forms of communication

Last but not least, never stop encouraging all forms of communication from your toddler. Just because your child starts saying phrases with three words or more doesn’t mean they’ll stop communicating with two-word phrases, single words, or gestures. These are all valid and effective forms of communication, so keep practicing these other levels of communication with your toddler, including learning new words to expand their vocabulary. Most importantly, keep your communications positive and celebratory to avoid frustrating your toddler. Communication should be a fun two-way street!

Download our at home guide to teaching toddlers to talk in short sentences - 3 fun activities ↓

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Teaching Toddlers To Use 3 Word Phrases - Speech Therapy Activity

Throwing a Ball

Materials:

Balls, bean bags, stuffed animals or other soft toss-able toys that your child knows the label for. Pick at least 2 different types of toys to keep it interesting.
At least 1 second adult or older sibling to help catch the ball

Set-up:

Make space either indoors or outdoors for your group to toss the ball. Choose a space where objects can fly around and not break things.

What to do:

In this activity you will help your child learn to say a 3-word phrase “throw ball (to) PERSON” Set up the game, model the types of sentences you want your child to say, and don’t forget to wait. When your child starts using 3-word phrases, they still will use 2-word phrases sometimes. When your child says a 2-word phrase, say it back to them with ONE additional idea and then wait. Chances are, your child will say it again with all three ideas.

Stand in a group. You will be modeling the phrase using the word “throw”, the object label, and the person’s name over and over again. You will say, “I throw the ball to Papa!” Then, Papa will say a sentence too (“I throw the ball to Henry!”) Change the toy every now and again so that your child can hear different objects in the same sentence (“I throw the bear to Papa;” “I throw the bean bag to Isabelle.”

After you have modeled a few turns, give your child a turn. Ask, “what do you want to throw?” and let them choose from what you have. Next, ask “who do you want to throw it to?” and allow your child to point. Then model the sentence for them while you start to hand them the object (“You throw the bunny to Daddy!”) Pause a moment and see what your child says. If they say a 1-2 word sentence, repeat it back to them with a 3-word sentence before handing them the toy.

What to say:

When playing ball and practicing 3 word phrases with your toddler, it might sound like this:

You: Oh, you want to throw the cow to Papa. [pauses for up to 5 seconds while looking expectant and holding the cow]

Child: Cow Papa!

You: Throw the cow to Papa! Okay, here we go! [hands child cow]

Download our at home guide to teaching toddlers to talk in short sentences - This activity + 2 more! ↓