Teaching Verbs Helps Toddlers Say Sentences
Your toddler’s ability to learn verbs is an essential foundation for speaking in more advanced phrases or sentences. Research shows that the number of verbs in a child’s vocabulary is a better predictor of overall speech and language skills than the number of nouns.
That said, we know that verbs typically emerge later than nouns in toddlers’ speech, and they can be a bit harder to learn. So let’s work on encouraging them to say at least 10 different verbs.
2 Tips for teaching verbs to toddlers
Tip 1 - Teach verbs during your daily activities
A great way to start is by helping your child learn new action words for things they do every day, such as brush, wash, put on, wipe, eat, and drink. Say the word for the action over and over again as you do it in your daily routine. For example, “It is time to brush our teeth. I will brush my teeth. You can brush your teeth. Watch me brush. Now let me see you brush. Brush the front teeth, brush the back teeth, brush your top teeth too.” It will take time for your child to start saying a new action word without your prompting, so this repetition is key.
Make it a little game for yourself to see how many times you can use the target verb in one minute. To track your toddler’s progress, keep in mind these three steps for learning to say new verbs:
First, your child listens to you label an action during an activity. Your child doesn’t imitate the word.
Next, your child imitates an action word after hearing you say it.
Finally, your child describes what you are doing by saying the action word on their own, without your prompting them.
Remember, every toddler will take a different amount of time to work through these steps.
Tip 2 - Three activities to learn new verbs
Here are a few activity ideas to help your child learn new verbs. The first is to play in water, which is highly motivating for many children. During bath time, your toys can swim, jump, float, or splash.
Play-Doh is another great activity for teaching action words. You can talk about cutting, rolling, squeezing, or poking the Play-Doh.
Finally, many children’s songs have corresponding dances — another perfect opportunity to practice verbs. For example, the song “If You’re Happy and You Know It” prompts you to act out what the song says, and the actions are repeatedly labeled. If you’re happy and you know it, “clap your hands,” “stomp your feet,” and “smile.” YouTube offers a variety of action songs for toddlers, which you can find with a simple search for “Toddler Action Songs.”
Tip 3 - Offer a choice of two actions
Toddlers love to feel in control. To foster a sense of independence while helping them learn new verbs, offer your toddler a choice of two things they can do. For example, you might offer your child a choice of two ways to move through space: “Do you want to walk or jump?”
If they say back what they want to do—for example, “jump”—you should respond positively and repeatedly say “jump” as you jump.
If your child starts doing one of the actions without saying anything, you should still celebrate their response and repeatedly name the action they are doing.
If your child does not respond at all, you can choose for them. Then, repeatedly model the action word for them as you do it.
If your child requests to do something other than the options you gave, you can use the activity they requested as a reward after completing one of the options you gave. For example, “First, we are going to brush your teeth; then we can listen to music.” All the while, you should repeat the action words as you do the actions.
Download our PDF guide to teaching verbs - 3 at home speech therapy activities ↓
At home speech therapy activity for teaching verbs to toddlers
Play Cooking
Materials:
cooking materials. If you want to use real food, you’ll need:
boxed pudding mix
bowl
mixing spoons
measuring cup
milk
spoons
bowls to eat out of
If you want to use pretend food or use a mud kitchen, have pretend versions of these things.
Set-up:
Set up your cooking area with the cooking supplies, a stool for your child, and clothing that is okay to get messy.
What to do:
In this activity you will be helping your child learn to say and understand action words by emphasizing the action words “open,”, “pour,” “stir,” and “scoop” while you are cooking.
While cooking together, say the words that go with the actions that you and your child are doing. While you are pouring the pudding mix, say “pour!” Then pause, pour again, and repeat “pour!” The third time, hand your child the measuring cup and see if they say “pour.” If they don’t say it, you will say it for them (“pour!”) Repeat this for pouring the milk, stirring the pudding, and scooping into bowls.
Make sure that you say each action word at least three times while you are modeling the action. Remember, even if they don’t say the action words a lot, you are still helping your child learn to understand new words.
What to say:
Here’s what you might say as you practice teaching your toddler verbs:
“open” while opening the pudding package
“Pour” when pouring the mix into the bowl
“Stir” to stir the dry mix while it is in the bowl (not functional, but still fun!)
“Open” when opening the milk
“Pour” when pouring the milk into the measuring cup and again into the bowl
“Stir” when stirring the milk into the mix
“Scoop” when scooping pudding out of the mixing bowl to put into serving bowls
Download our PDF guide to teaching verbs - 3 at home speech therapy activities ↓
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Created In Collaboration By:
Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP
Stephanie Burgener-Vader, MA CCC-SLP
Melissa Sartori, MS CCC-SLP
Yvette Faire-Bostick, MS CCC-SLP
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