My son turned two years old in May and he’s still not talking a lot. He has less than 20 words in his vocabulary and I’ve only heard him put two words together (like “Bye Dada”) a couple of times. Some friends and family are recommending that I take him to a speech therapist to see if something is wrong with his development although I’ve already talked to a specialist who said it was too early to be concerned. I just think he is just a quiet little guy with a big imagination who enjoys playing with his toys. When I’m watching him play, I can see that he is learning a lot through play. He often knows how his toys work better than I do! He’ll play farm and make the animal noises when each animal comes into the barn. He’ll kiss the Little People goodbye when they leave their little house. He carefully lines all of the toy vehicles up so they each take turns crossing the imaginary street. I can see that he is learning and developing new skills as we’re encouraging learning through play.
Encouraging Learning Through Play:
Through play, children can be introduced to letters, numbers, colors, greetings, manners and more. In fact, you can support your baby’s early learning and development through everyday interactions and activities. Have you visited the Fisher-Price Playtime Guide? It is loaded with fun activity ideas for babies through preschool aged children.
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn toys are an excellent way to teach your children first words, shapes, numbers and more. The Click ‘n Learn Remote (also available in French) has many ways to engage your baby in play:
- Learning the concept of cause and effect with buttons that have different responses. For example, there is a button that when pressed says “Volume Up” and one below it that when pressed says “Volume Down”.
- Songs to sing along to are a fun way to boost vocabulary plus an excellent opportunity to practice those fabulous dance moves!
- Learning numbers through the numbered buttons on the remote – each button has its own name!
- Introducing colors and shapes with different buttons on the remote.
Basic activities can also be turned into little games. For example, one of my son’s favourite activities right now is washing his hands. Cute, right? He is learning to follow directions like – First you turn on the light. What comes next? That’s right! You move your stool in front of the sink. Now you can turn on the water but not this way because the water is hot. Now dry your hands. It’s time to put your stool back in the corner. Don’t forget to turn the light off, etc. By the time we get through the entire routine he is so proud of himself that he claps and makes sure anyone else in the area is cheering him on too.
Can you tell us about a fun activity you play with your child to encourage learning? Let us know in the comments below.
*Disclosure: I receive special perks as a part of my affiliation with the Fisher-Price Play Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada. The opinions in this blog are my own.
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My daughter goes to developmental therapy 3 times a week. And every time I stick my head in to watch her, she is always playing with her therapist. I was curious so I asked one how the therapy works. They said they often use playing as a therapy to help develop certain physical, mental or communicative skills that the child needs to learn. It is quite fascinating how it works. And yes it works, because my daughter is improving a lot! So yes, Play encourages so much learning and I am all for playing with my kids!
That’s really interesting, Amber! It is amazing how much little ones can learn through play.
Yep, I fully believe ppl learn better when they’re enjoying themselves.
Love, love, love anything made by Fisher-Price! Their products always offer a great opportunity for learning in a totally stress-free, play-based manner.
{PS Your son is totally adorable!!}
Thank you, Monica! Yes, Fisher-Price toys are always so well made. It’s a brand I know I can trust.
We are definitely fans of Fisher Price over here, they make awesome products and stand behind them. When we are in the grocery store, I encourage my son to find “kindergarten” words he can read!
That’s a great idea in the grocery store! Yes, Fisher-Price toys are a big hit over here too. My mom actually has a lot from when I was a child.
I think that you are probably correct as far as your assessment of your son. It has become a common practice to go overboard with making diagnosis’s of anything that doesn’t fit neatly into a “norm”. Some children just don’t feel the need to talk a lot. Our oldest son, is practically in the genius range, and hardly said 5 words before he turned 4. Turns out he was just absorbing everything around him, and didn’t feel the need to compete with his younger sister, who spoke in complete sentences by the time she was around 15 months old.
As the mother of 10 grown children and the grandmother of 19, Fisher Price has always been a favorite brand!
Thank you for sharing your story. It makes me feel better knowing that my son isn’t the only one taking his time.