3 Powerful Toddler Activities That Spark Meaningful Conversation
The act of talking regularly with your child can help expose them to new language, learn how to carry and build conversations and form social relationships.
Helping toddlers develop strong language skills starts with one simple ingredient: conversation. But not just any conversation, choose open-ended, playful, and curiosity-driven dialogue.
Tips for Parents
Wait Before You Speak: After asking a question, count to five in your head before jumping in. Children need processing time to formulate responses.
Use “I Wonder…”: This phrase invites curiosity and deeper thinking. Choose words like “I wonder how high the clouds can float?” to model curiosity and invite deeper thinking.
Narrate Your Actions: Describe what you’re doing. Narrate your actions: “I’m pouring rice into the funnel. Now let’s watch it fall through” or “I’m cutting the apple into slices”. Also, describe what your child is doing: “You’re pouring juice so carefully”.
Follow Your Child’s Lead: If your toddler focuses on one tool or toy, ask them to show you how it works and describe its use.
Celebrate Creativity: Praise your child’s ideas and creativity. Praise their efforts, “I love how you mixed those colors”.
Use “I wonder…”: Avoid quizzing: Instead of “What color is this?” ask “What does this color remind you of?”.
Use different conversation starters: Such as “How, Why, What, or Tell me about”.
For example, Why did the frog get to the castle?” or “What sound does that engine make?”.
1. A Weather Graph That Sparks Discussion
Why it works: Tracking the daily weather teaches observation, early math, and Science vocabulary.
How to set it up:
Cover a medium-sized poster board or use graph paper, and make a title, “What’s the Weather Today?”.
List and add dd columns for each weekday across the top (Monday–Friday).
Choose 3–4 simple weather icons (sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy, snowy).
Each morning, look outside together and ask:
“What do you notice about the sky today?”.
“Does it remind you of another day?”.
“Which icon matches today’s weather?”.
“How does the weather look today?”.
Let your toddler place the corresponding icon on the chart.
At the end of the week, review the graph and explore:
“Which weather happened the most ?”.
“How would you describe a stormy day?”.
“What do you think next week’s weather might look like?”.
Extensions:
Use stickers or cut-out pictures.
Add a weather journal where your child can draw what they see.
Look up and compare the weather to the weather app.
2. Homemade Playdough for Exchange & Dialogue
Why it works: Cooking together is hands-on, which helps to spark, build vocabulary, sequencing skills, and sensory awareness. It’s also a great way to introduce math and science concepts and spark back-and-forth conversation about cause, effect, texture, and color.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 tbsp oil, 1 cup water, a pinch of cinnamon or vanilla extract for scent (optional), and Food coloring (optional).
How to set it up:
Let your toddler help measure and pour each ingredient.
Mix dry ingredients first, then slowly add water while stirring.
As you stir and knead, ask open-ended questions:
“What do you think will happen when we mix this?”.
“How does it feel when you squish it?”.
“What do you think will happen when we add water?.
“How does it feel when we squeeze it?.
“If we mix Red and Blue, what new color will we get?.
“What shape are you making?”.
“What does this smell remind you of?”.
“If this playdough were food, what would it be?”.
“What do you think will happen when”?
“How does the playdough feel”?
“If we add the food colouring, what colour will it change to”?
“What does this tool do”?
“What does the playdough smell like to you”?.
“What ingredient do you want to put in next?”?.
“We need 1/2 cup of water. Can you please pour it?”.
“Wow, great kneading the dough; it will be so soft.”
‘‘Let’s pour in the, what’s this called again?”.
Encourage your toddler to choose a color.
Once the dough is soft, use cookie cutters, rolling pins, and stamps to shape it.
Extensions:
Sprinkle in glitter or small pasta shapes to discuss texture.
Divide the playdough into a few batches with different colours.
Encourage naming each shape and inventing a story around it.
Store small batches in a few clear jars and use one jar at a time.
Use the playdough to do different pretend play scenarios, like playing a bake shop or an ice cream truck.
Add scents like vanilla, cocoa, crystal orange mix, or cinnamon for a multi-sensory experience.
Let your toddler name their creation and tell a story about it.
3. Explore Sensory Bins That Spark Storytelling
Why it works: Sensory play supports language development by encouraging descriptive words, imaginative thinking, and emotional expression.
How to set it up:
Fill a bin with materials like dry rice, beans, pom-poms, or oats.
Add tools: funnels, spoons, tongs, cups, small containers, brushes.
Include themed items: animals, cars, jewels, bugs, shells, natural materials, or seasonal objects.
Prompts to spark conversation:
‘What does this feel like? Is it rough, smooth, or squishy?”.
“Can you build a home for the animals?”.
“What happens if we mix these?”.
“What story can we tell with these toys?”.
“What happens if we pour all the rice through this funnel?”.
“Tell me a story about these bugs in the garden”.
5 Creative Bin Ideas
Underwater world: blue-dyed rice, toy fish, shells, nets, small containers, and funnels.
Construction zone: Sand, small trucks, little people, a small amount of water, and rocks.
Farm world: Hay, toy animals, a toy barn, and little people.
Nature explorer: pinecones, leaves, acorn cups, sticks, tongs, buckets, magnifying glass.
Arctic adventure: Blue and White pom-pom, plastic penguins, a few small shovels, and containers.
Baking Shop: Cupcake holders, kitchen tools, playdough, pom-pom, an apron, and small containers.
Space Adventure: Little people, a few planets (these can be made out of tin foil and painted with your child), Black beans, and a book about space.
Garden explorer: Fake or real flowers, shovels, small pots, a watering can, garden gloves, and soil.
Doll Land: Babies, Barbies, clothes, brushes, bottles, and other accessories.
** Try this one - Mini Kitchen Chefs
Choose a no-cook snack to make with your toddler, such as yogurt parfait, fruit salad, a fruit platter, or cheese crackers. Guide your toddler through each step. Ask open-ended questions such as:
“Which fruit shall we chop first?”.
“How many spoonfuls of yogurt do you want?”.
“What colors do you see?”.
“Is that leaf smooth or bumpy?”.
“What sound does the butterfly make when it flaps?”.
“What does the fish say to the boat?”.
“Who lives on that island?”.
“Who is this person? What were we doing?”.
“How did that birthday cake taste?”.
“What did you hear?”.
Eight sensory activities that provoke deep dialogue
Sand exploration with rocks and dump trucks.
Cloud dough or moon sand with different-sized buckets and shovels.
Finger or hand painting.
All forms of water exploration.
Filling up and dumping raw beans into a variety of measuring cups.
Repeating filling and dumping pom poms into muffin tins.
Sand exploration with buckets and other sand toys.
Placing large buttons into fishing nets or slot toys.