You can engage your toddler in verbal games in just about any place at any time. These games promote her vocabulary development, expressive language skills, auditory memory, auditory discrimination, and listening skills. Additionally, young children are often very fond of these activities as they feature interaction with you!

Rhyme Time

This activity will help your child with auditory discrimination skills and build her vocabulary.

• Glue the pictures to the index cards.

• Show your child a card, and have her identify the picture.

• Ask her to generate rhymes for the picture. Not all rhymes have to be real words. For example, if the picture is of a cat, potential rhymes could include bat, fat, gat, lat, and mat.

Echo Echo

Your child's auditory memory will improve rapidly as she plays this game. Using words with similar sounds will also help her with auditory discrimination. There are also many popular songs that feature echoes.

• Ask your child to repeat what you say to her.

• Start very slowly and simply and gradually add complexity. You can add complexity by using nonsense words, words that sound alike, or by simply extending the length of your message.

Play Phone

What better way to get your child talking and build vocabulary than to have her use the phone?

• Encourage your child to pretend to call a friend or loved one. Your child will probably not need much encouragement. Don't be surprised if she carries on full conversations, imagining the other person's part.