How to Open Our Child’s First Words with Sound Stimulus Play
Why Is Communication with Your Child So Important?
“When will my child say their first words?”, “It seems like my child is speaking too late.” I remember an anxious question from a parent. Conversations with your child are not just a routine but a crucial element for fostering your child’s emotions and social skills. The countless emotions and social skills a child will learn as they grow start with consistent communication with their parents. In particular, during the early stages of language development, a child responds to their parent’s voice and various surrounding sounds to prepare their own ‘words’.
“What is the most effective way to communicate with a child?” is a common concern for many parents. Experts emphasize the importance of open conversations at the child’s level. This is the first step in understanding and expressing the world, and plays a decisive role, especially in learning the first words and expanding to sentences.
A baby’s brain absorbs and analyzes all surrounding sounds like a sponge, laying the foundation for language in the process. From simple babbling to uttering first words like “mom”, “dad”, this whole process can be faster and more natural with active communication and sound stimulation from parents.
Communication with a child goes beyond language development, also influencing the development of cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills. When a parent listens and responds to their child’s words, the child feels they are valued and that their thoughts and emotions are respected, making them more actively strive to communicate with the world. This leads to social development, positively affecting peer relationships.
MOM-i believes that gentle and detailed communication at the child’s level is a crucial foundation for the child’s healthy growth and happiness. Understanding and practicing the importance of such communication can become a strong stepping stone for our child’s bright future.
The First Step for This: Listening!
The most important thing for parents to do when starting a conversation with their child is to listen carefully. Focused attention and empathetic responses from parents when the child speaks provide the child with a sense of security. “Mom truly treasures your stories.” This mindset is crucial.
Even if the child cannot yet speak, parents should listen to the child’s babbling, gestures, and facial expressions. This listening is a process in which parents sensitively react to the diverse sounds a child makes and recognize them as important signals for language development.
For instance, when a child makes a particular sound, parents repeating that sound or introducing related words can promote the child’s language learning. This helps the child realize their sounds provoke meaningful reactions, encouraging them to actively produce sounds and explore language.
MOM-i emphasizes the importance of assigning meaning and responding to every small sound a child makes for their language development. Remember that even the unclear sounds or babbling emitted by your child are their ‘words’. React with warm eyes and an attentive attitude to empathize with their world.
Listening carefully to a child’s words goes beyond simply hearing sounds. It is a process of understanding and empathizing with the child’s emotions and needs, playing a key role in their emotional stability and trust. Such deep listening creates a safe environment where the child can comfortably express their thoughts and experiment with new words.
From the first sound our child makes to meaningful words, parental attention becomes a beacon guiding the child’s language journey.
Get Closer Through Play
Play cannot be left out as a method of communicating with children. Play provides them opportunities to learn about the world, showcase creativity, and express emotions. Above all, play conducted with parents serves as a wonderful opportunity to build emotional bonds. Simple board games or ball games during weekends can form a platform for sufficient conversation.
Especially, sound stimulus play for the child’s first words can have a positive impact on language development. For example, shaking a rattle while saying “rattle-rattle” and encouraging the child to focus on or imitate the sound, or looking through animal picture books and mimicking animal sounds like “woof-woof”, “meow”, can stimulate the child’s hearing and help connect sounds with words.
MOM-i proposes sound stimulus play techniques with the goal of aiding active language development through the process of children exploring and reacting to sounds themselves. For example, touching and making sounds with various textured materials (paper, plastic, wooden blocks, etc.) while repeating onomatopoeias like “rustle”, “click”, enhances sensory development alongside language stimulation effects.
Children naturally recognize sound diversity within play and respond to specific sounds, gradually trying to imitate and express those sounds in their own language. Such play brings joy rather than the pressure of learning to the child, empowering their language skills naturally through positive interactions with parents.
Even during the child’s alone playtime, observing their responses to different sounds using a baby homecam and preparing customized play based on sounds or actions the child shows interest in can also be a strategy.
End of the Day, Sharing Conversation Time
Sharing what happened during the day at the end of the daily routine is a great opportunity for the child to reflect on the day. “What fun things happened at daycare (kindergarten) today?”
The same question helps the child recall and organize their day’s experiences.
This conversation time serves as an important opportunity for the child to reminisce about the sounds they heard, things they saw, and emotions they felt throughout the day, and try expressing them in words. For instance, “Did the teacher sing a song for you today?”, “Which friend did you play with?” These specific questions guide the child to recall and use particular words.
Reading a fairy tale book with a soft parental voice before bedtime is also a great sound stimulus play and conversation time. Mimicking the voice of various characters or vividly expressing onomatopoeic and mimetic words stimulates the child’s hearing and enriches their language expression ability.
Immersed in the characters and sounds of a fairy tale, the child naturally increases their vocabulary, understands the flow of stories, and enjoys the pleasure of storytelling. When parents actively respond to and question the child’s stories, the child feels their thoughts are valued and gains confidence.
This special end-of-day conversation time will be a warm moment that forms a deep bond between the parent and child, beyond just language development.
A Parent’s Warm Words
Finally, a parent’s warm words can be incredibly empowering for the child. “You are truly amazing.”
“You were the best today.” Such positive expressions have a beneficial effect on the child’s self-esteem. Always remember that a parent’s tone and attitude are crucial channels for conveying trust and love to the child.
It is important to generously praise and encourage when the child attempts their first word or makes incoherent sounds. The child feels that their effort is acknowledged through their parents’ warm response, and they will be more actively inclined to explore new sounds and attempt to articulate them.
For example, when the child clumsily says “Mom”, instead of just hearing it, react with joy by saying “That’s right! Mom is here! Our baby just said mom? So well done!” Such specific and positive feedback motivates the child to confidently try during the language-learning process.
A warm and positive language environment provided by the parents becomes the foundation for the child not only to acquire language but to grow as a child who views the world positively and communicates confidently. MOM-i believes that the parent’s patient waiting and sincere encouragement is the greatest strength that allows every child to blossom linguistically at their own pace.
The journey of learning to speak is not only a great challenge but also a child’s first communication with the world. Every parental reaction, every warm word has a profound impact on the child’s language development. Remember, the small sound stimuli in daily life can be essential parenting tips to unlock the child’s words. If you have any further questions or would like more details, feel free to contact us.
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