By Mitch Pinkney


Express yourself: talking tips for toddlers


During the toddler stage, providing a language-rich environment is crucial. As toddlers often struggle with expressing themselves, helping them to develop their vocabulary and communication skills is paramount. Here are five practical ways to support our toddlers as they become confident communicators.


Time for rhyme


Rhythmic, repetitive nursery rhymes help familiarise toddlers with verbal patterns and vocabulary while allowing for vocal exploration. They help young children sing along and build their word banks without even realising it! Enhance your singing sessions with the following...


1. Incorporate props – to bring excitement to rhymes such as ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ or ‘Five Speckled Frogs’


2. Keep set-ups simple – to avoid information overload 3. Point to objects – e.g. star, sky, frog, log as you sing to link words to their meaning


4. Pause at the end of sentences – to let toddlers fill in the missing word


5. Encourage reenactments – and watch the little ones bring the rhymes to life!


Support storytelling with:


532324 – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Wooden Characters


532320 – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Story Talk Cards


520720 – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Story Set


820897 – Large Play Cave


842176 – Traditional Tales – Wooden Characters


2 Tell me a story


Before toddlers can speak, they must listen to process language and tune into speech nuances. The repetitive nature of stories like We’re Going on a Bear Hunt lets toddlers hear and practise words, reinforcing vocabulary in an engaging way.


To embed these skills, try bringing stories to life with play props and sensory-rich materials like leaves, pebbles or crinkly textures to stimulate learning through the senses, strengthening neural connections and vocabulary retention.


After acting out the story, try the Three Period Lesson method from the Montessori approach:


1. Introduce new words: ‘This is the bear’ (point to it); ‘This is the dog’ (point to it).


2. Ask the child to point: ‘Show me the bear’; ‘Show me the dog’. Move them and ask again.


3. Ask the child to say their names: ‘Who is this?’ (point to the bear); ‘Who is this?’ (point to the dog). Move them and ask again.


4. Reinforce and repeat the words: ‘Yes! This is the bear’ (point to it); ‘This is the dog’ (point to the dog).


6 For more ideas and inspiration visit ypo.co.uk/littlelearners 1


Support sing-songs with: 307294 – Let’s Roll Nursery Rhymes 308601 – Ten in the Bed 543458 – Nursery Rhymes Story Set


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32