Prerequisite for developing language skills, is human interaction. Child can only learn to talk and communicate with others by practicing it with an adult. Children are interested in communicating from very young age on. It is crucial that an adult systematically responds to the child's initiatives, whether it is crying, laughing or babbling.

Adult can support child's communication skills by being interested in the child's thoughts, discussing, listening and focusing on the child. Singing, reading, talking, rhyming, playing board games and joking make language skills stronger.

Milestones in language development

6 months old

The child starts to babble and use syllables, like ma-ma and pa-pa. These syllables make the child's first words later on. Learns to use many different syllables when practicing babbling and making sounds.

9 months old

The child starts to react to his own name. He enjoys it when someone tells him the names of different items in the house for example. Learns to point at things that interest him. Learns to use also other gestures, expressions, and movements (such as waving for bye-bye) and that they are an important part of communication. Likes to play linguistic games with adults.

TIPS to support language development with 0-1 year olds

• Use clear, bright colors (black, white, red, yellow) to raise the child's attention
• Play give-take games
• Look at picture books and discuss what you see
• Imitate the child's facial expressions and sounds
• Rhyme, sing
• Encourage to communicate

1 year old

The child says the first words around her first birthday. Words can be a little "off" and that is fine if they do not sound exactly how they should. The main point is that the child is trying and learning! Play is short-term and concentrates on exploring the world around her.

2 year old

Is learning to understand the world. Asks many "what" questions. Knows many words and keeps on building up his vocabulary rapidly. Can follow familiar guidelines. Can play short-time role play. Some can speak with short sentences, at least two words in a row "take apple". A child can make up his own words and it is normal.

TIPS to support language development with 1-2 year olds

• Use real words (no 'babytalk')
• Encourage them to communicate and talk
• Play hide and seek
• Practice taking turns
• Read simple stories that have repetition

3 year old

Is a talented speaker already. Usually, parents/guardians understand everything he says and can 'translate' to others if needed. He might repeat certain syllables as "ba-ba-ball" and it is normal. He can tell about his day. Understands adult conversations, but some misunderstandings occur still. Asks many "why" questions. Can play role-play along with peers.

4 year old

Enjoys talking and listening to others. She makes up poems and rhymes and listens to stories with interest. Imagination is vivid and play can go on for hours. Usually, speech is understandable and clear, but a couple of sounds might be missing. Can play with peers and children communicate during play about what is happening next.

TIPS to support language development with 3-4 year olds

• Don't correct the child's talk, but repeat the word in a correct form
• Read storybooks suitable for the child's age
• Play games that include language
• Play board games (memory games, puzzles, sorting)
• Sing, rhyme and use gestures and finger play
• Listen to sounds outside and talk about what you hear

5 year old

Language skills have developed and worked as a "tool" in daily life. Is interested in letters and numbers. He plays with words and practices many skills that are needed in school. Is interested in drawing, coloring, and construction.

6 year old

Knows letters and can write his own name. Can listen to long stories and enjoys making jokes. May recognize written words in the surroundings. Children in Finland attend preschool at the age of 6.

Support language development with Kindiedays Lesson Plans

Children learn and develop so rapidly in their early years that it is incredible! At times, children may anyway have some delays in development that are better to check out - the earlier the better.

A developmental delay means that a child has not reached the developmental stages or skills that most children of the same age have. Children can have developmental delays in several areas, but language and speech problems are the common types.

A child's speaking skills and understanding of speech develop only in interaction with other people. It changes a lot between individuals when a child says his/her first word and how fast the child's vocabulary grows. There are checklists and ways to assess children's language development, and here we take a look at one of the assessment tools.

See the Infant-Toddler Checklist to identify language delays

Early intervention has a greater impact

There is scientific evidence that intervention starting during infancy or preschool age has a greater impact on outcomes for children and families than providing special education only at school age. So, the earlier children get their language problems identified and special education organized, the better.

Language development is one of the most critical school readiness skills. A child’s capacity to talk and the scope of their vocabulary when they enter kindergarten are predictive of success in school.

Children with language problems in preschool are likely to face poor educational achievement at school age. They also have a bigger risk to develop emotional and behavioral disorders. Having a delay in language development in childhood might still affect a person's life in adulthood, by making social interaction, studying and good performance in work life more difficult.

When should a child get a referral to speech therapy or another professional?

A toddler may have language delay if she/he:

• does not babble by 7 months
• does not react to speech or never looks at the person talking to him/her
• does not understand speech by 18 months
• does not talk at all at 2 years
• speech is very unclear (the closest people do not understand)
• is not interested in the surroundings
• does not use facial expressions or gestures in self-expression
• the child clearly prefers soft baby food over rough food

An older child might have a language delay if he/she:

• does not understand given instructions
• cannot concentrate on guided activities
• has aggressive behavior daily
• cannot get into play with peers
• speech is unclear and missing many sounds
• speaks only very little, or cannot express him/herself how would like to
• learning to write or read at school age is very slow despite teacher's support

About the Checklist

The Infant-Toddler Checklist is the first step in routine developmental screening for children aged 6 to 24 months to decide if a further evaluation is needed. It is designed for use in pediatricians’ offices during check-ups, routine visits, in childcare centers, or in other facilities serving infants and toddlers and their families.

Language development is an important part of child development. Language development starts very early on, first with sounds and gestures, and later on with words and sentences.

Language development supports many other aspects of development, for example child’s ability to:

• communicate
• express feelings
• understand feelings
• think, imagine
• learn
• solve problems
• develop and maintain friendships/relationships
• read
• write

How to support language development?

Language development can be supported by talking a lot with the child, starting from infancy. No baby is too little for cuddly words, little rhymes, and sweet talk.

Responding when a child communicates also supports the child's communication skills and taking turns in talking/babbling gives the child a turn to react and a feeling that his contribution has meaning!

Also, reading books and storytelling is good for language development and imagination.

Sometimes, a child's communication skills do not develop as expected and then it might be a case of developmental delay, language disorder, or speech disorder. The earlier any language development challenges are found, the better it is for the child's performance in school.

What kind of learning environment supports language development?

The environment has the greatest potential to influence the child’s developing brain during a child’s first few years of life.

Early experiences affect brain structure because the brain operates on a “use it or lose it” principle. If a child does not have adequate emotional, physical, cognitive, and language stimulation, neurons can be lost permanently.

The learning environment, which for many children is the early learning center/classroom, affects greatly children's language development. The physical environment, available activities as well as the culture how language is used, and how people communicate with each other can either support or diminish children's interest and opportunities in language learning.

Communication Checklist

A better communication research program in the UK produced a Communication Supporting Classroom Observation Tool in 2012. The tool is designed to profile the oral language environment of the classroom in the early years.

By observing the language used in the classroom, you can find valuable information and get practical tips on how to improve the setting in order to support language development.

The observation tool includes points like:

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights agreement in history. Up to 196 countries have signed the agreement and promised to protect children’s rights. 

The Convention says childhood is a special, protected time, in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity.

The list is written in simple language so these points can be also discussed with children. Let's make children's rights more visible to everyone.

The Convention on the Rights of the child - 14 picked by UNICEF

2. No discrimination

World Children’s Day is celebrated every year on the 20th of November. The theme this year is inclusion.

The UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child on the 20th of November 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the same date in 1989.

Children have the right for example to:

• Personal views. Children have the right to give their opinions freely on issues that affect them. Adults should listen and take children seriously.

• Own thoughts and share them freely. Children have the right to share freely with others what they learn, think and feel, by talking, drawing, writing, or in any other way unless it harms other people.

• Access to information. Children have the right to get information from the Internet, radio, television, newspapers, books, and other sources. Adults should make sure the information they are getting is not harmful.

• A full life with disabilities. Every child with a disability should enjoy the best possible life in society.

• Food, clothing, and a safe home. Children have the right to food, clothing, and a safe place to live so they can develop in the best possible way. The government should help families and children who cannot afford this.

• Proper education. Children’s education should help them fully develop their personalities, talents, and abilities. It should teach them to understand their own rights and to respect other people’s rights, cultures, and differences. It should help them to live peacefully and protect the environment.

• Rest, play, culture, arts. Every child has the right to rest, relax, play, and take part in cultural and creative activities.

See the full list of the Rights of the Child from here.

How to celebrate World Children's Day?