From Babble to Sentences: The Parent’s Guide to Mastering Your 2-Year-Old’s Language Structure
Each of these suggestions should be done daily for best language outcomes. Your two-year-old should be already saying words. These tips can help to assist them in practicing forming sentences.
At two years old, most toddlers begin combining two words into simple phrases and can answer basic “what,” “who,” and “where” questions. Their Vocabularies usually consist of 50–300 words. Small delays or plateaus can spark big worries; after all, strong early language skills lay the foundation for reading, social confidence, and lifelong learning.
Research from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association indicates that interactive techniques, such as open-ended conversations, dialogic reading, and playful routines, can enhance vocabulary growth by up to 30% when incorporated into everyday moments.
Each Day
1. Ask Open-Ended Questions
These forms of questions can assist in extending your child’s level of conversation building due to them encouraging more than a yes or no answer. Answers require your child to respond using deep thinking, multiple words, short sentences, and grammatical formation.
These questions are based on the concepts of what, who, why, how, and where.
Your child can still feel in control and have choices.
These questions encourage constructed answers.
These questions can be asked at any time of the day.
These questions encourage deeper thinking and the use of imagination.
These questions show insight into your child's thinking process.
For example
No- ‘‘Is that a tower you are building.’’?
Yes- ‘‘Tell me more about what you made’’.
2. Give Enough Processing Time
Your child needs sufficient time to process information and understand what is being said or asked of them. Therefore, provide enough time for your child to think and respond after asking them a question so that they don't feel rushed.
Your child needs time to
Collect their thoughts and make symbolic connections.
Listen to the different sounds they hear.
Think about what you are saying.
Connect objects they see visually to their names.
Repeat the words and sentences they hear.
Put words together and vocalize them.
3. Read Pictured Storybooks
Reading books can be done together or independently. Provide a combination of exciting and challenging books within the home. 1 ‘‘When using shared book reading strategies with young children, the effects are enhanced when the episodes last more than 5 minutes, and more than a few books are read’’ (Trivette et al., 2010, p..3). Books with 2-3 word sentences, new words, realistic pictures, some repetition, action words, and multicultural characters drawn realistically are great for this level.
Have book conversations
Talk about the characters and the pictures.
Listen to your child’s feelings about the story.
Take pauses and ask open-ended questions about pictures or events in the book. For example, ‘‘Why do you think the girl did that’’?.
Use different tones while reading
Use different voices and tones to convey different characters.
Encourage your child to make up voices.
Use a variety of verbal expressions to convey different moods.
Make personal connections and visualize
Connect the story to the real-life experiences of your child.
Find fun ways to incorporate imagination when reading with your child. For example, ‘‘What do you smell.’’
Give your child space and time to read independently.
4. Sing Songs and Nursery Rhymes
2Singing is a delightful and fun way for your child to use their language, practice using words, and form more sentences. Hearing tones is a big part of singing, which helps build a more extensive vocabulary. When singing, give little pauses so that your child can fill in the blanks and come up with their own words or rhymes.
11 songs
Baby Shark.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Old McDonald Had a Farm.
Sticky, Sticky Bubble Gum.
Jack and Jill.
The Wheels On The Bus.
Twinkle, Twinkle.
Pat A Cake.
This Is The Way.
Baba Black Sheep.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.
5. Provide Open-Ended Toys
Open-ended toys and open-ended materials can encourage new talking, self-talk, and new thought processes. In addition, these toys can promote story building and role exploration.
Great open-ended activities
Building with wooden blocks.
Drawing on a piece of constitution paper with 2-3 markers and crayons.
Pretend to play with a toy telephone and various imaginative play objects.
Playing house with multicultural puppets, dolls, and dollhouses.
Driving realistic-looking toy vehicles on the floor, shelves, and tables.
Imaginative play using trains, train tracks, train stations, people, and train signs.
Realistic plastic animals, barns, farmers, and people.
Parents should
Ask what their child is doing. ‘‘Wow, what is that you made with the blocks’’?.
Talk about the actions your child is doing. For example ‘‘It looks like you are trying to fit the person on the train’’.
6. Make Homemade Image Flashcards
These flashcards can be homemade and help your child learn pronunciation and new words. Start with 4-5 different picture cards of animals, foods, clothing, home items, sea animals, people, sports, cars, dinosaurs, farm animals, tools, or any other interest of your child.
How to make flashcards
Cut out different pictures from a few magazines. Choose things that your child knows.
Paste the pictures onto either cardboard or stiff paper. Next, cut the cardboard into cards and mac tac them.
When the cards are ready, place them on the carpet and turn them over.
Take turns with your child, choosing a card and describing the picture.
The Steps When Teaching New Words
Point to the object on the flashcard.
Say the name of the object out loud to your child. Use a clear, slow voice and maintain eye contact with your child.
Repeat saying the word about three times.
Give time for your child to say the word, and praise their efforts.
Show your child the actual object within the home and let them see and touch it.
Within the week, re-say the object's name, form a small sentence, and ask your child questions about the thing.
Adapted from Effects of Parent-Mediated Joint Book Reading on the Early Language Development of Toddlers and Preschoolers. Trivette et al., (2010). http://earlyliteracylearning.org/cellreviews/cellreviews_v3_n2.pdf
Welch.(2011,2,23). https://musicmindandbrain.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/psychological-aspects-of-singing-development-in-children/