Home > Activities > 3-4 years
As your child gets older, having conversations helps to strengthen their ability to speak in full sentences.
Watch the video below for advice on how to foster their sentence-making skills.
So we've got some animals here.
Do you want to pick which animal you want and tell me which one you're taking?
Duck
Okay, you're taking the duck.
Are you building a big pen, Zach?
Mummy, when it rains, do cows sit?
Have you seen them sitting when it rains?
No.
Where did you have your injections?
Here, here.
In both of the arms. Wow.
And do they feel better today?
Yeah.
So what animals are gonna go in first?
I wanna put this in here.
The sheep dog.
What job does the sheep dog do?
He puts animals back in the farm
He puts animals back in the farm?
Rounds them up doesn't it
Sheep Dog!
Yeah, that was very good.
Questions and answers
One way to encourage conversations with your little one is to ask open questions about their play and interests - questions with answers broader than 'yes' or 'no'.
Asking what they're doing, about their favourite animals or colours, or what expression or emotion a character in a book has are great examples of open questioning.
Once sentence after another
Encourage speaking in full sentences by using them yourself. They don't need to be long or elaborate, just focus on reflecting what they're interested in talking about, and using the words they say in your own sentences.
Showing how the words they know can be used in many different ways helps them start forming unique sentences themselves.
