Once children have started using simple sentences you can encourage them to say more and develop use of mature grammatical structures in the following ways:
- Repeat back your child’s utterances, adding one or two extra words.
e.g. Child: car
Adult: yes, driving car
Child: eating apple
Adult: yes, the man is eating the apple
- Try leaving gaps in your sentences for your child to fill in.
e.g. Adult: the man is eating a ….
Child: biscuit
Adult: yes, the man is eating a biscuit
- Repeat back your child’s utterances using mature sentences.
e.g. Child: daddy sleep
Adult: yes, daddy’s sleeping
Child: lady playing ball
Adult: yes, the lady is playing with the ball