Help build children’s language by adding words and ideas to what they say. When you respond to what a child says by making their sentence more complete, or by adding a new idea, you model more advanced language that they can learn from. Here are some fun things to try.

To make conversations last longer, it’s a good idea to swap out some of your questions for comments. Making comments that are based on your child’s interest is one of the best ways to encourage them to communicate. Here’s how to do it! 

When does a child start an interaction? Learn how you can coach parents to narrow down the difference between their child’s actions and their child’s communication in an activity, so that the parent knows what to respond to.

When children participate in interactions that go back-and-forth many times, they have more opportunities to hear and practice language. Children learn the most from talking about their ideas, so let the child take the first turn to start an interesting conversation. Then, follow the child’s lead to keep the interaction going! Here are some fun ways to build back-and-forth conversations.

Studies show that back-and-forth interactions between an adult and a child actually change a child’s brain and lead to better language outcomes. In this video, The Hanen Centre’s Executive Director, Elaine Weitzman, talks about what the research says about the power of high-quality interactions, and describes the critical ingredients that make these interactions possible. In Part 2 of this video, we show you the difference Hanen strategies can make to help your interactions with young children blossom into beautiful conversations – where the best language learning takes place!