4 Tips for Using Books to Teach your Toddler Fall Vocabulary
Happy fall, friends!
There truly are so many wonderful things about this season. Sweater weather, football, coffee, pumpkin patches…you name it. Every year in my speech room, we do a lot of fall themed activities, books, and games (think: apples, leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, harvest, Thanksgiving, etc.) What’s not to love?
This fall, I’ve been really looking forward to doing all the fun fall things with our 17-month-old, who is so much more cognizant of the world around him than he was last fall. We are planning a trip (or multiple trips) to the pumpkin patch, decking our front porch with mums, going on leaf hunts, planning themed Halloween costumes…you get it. Then the thought occurred to me that when we go to the pumpkin patch, I want him to know what a pumpkin is.
That sounds weird, but hear me out. Since he was so tiny last October, this year’s trip to the pumpkin patch will be like a new experience. He will encounter vocabulary that he is not typically exposed to in his everyday life (e.g., pumpkins, tractors, hay..)
While new experiences are a great opportunity to teach vocabulary, I also wondered ‘how can I prepare him ahead of time so that he can get the most out of that experience?’ There are different ways you can do this, but I’m here to share one of my favorites – reading!
So yes, it’s another blog post about reading. Using books and shared reading with your little one is typically in my top 5 suggestions I give to parents for home practice. There are so many opportunities for language growth and an incredible amount of goals you can target (no matter what age) without it seeming too much like “language therapy.”
These are the suggestions that I typically share with parents of littles when reading at home, and what I now get to do with my own littles.
How to Use Books to Introduce Fall Vocabulary
1. Read books about fun fall activities you are planning
Planning a trip to the apple orchard or pumpkin patch? Going on a leaf hunt? Read books about those activities so they become familiar with the concepts. You can also check out my Toddler Friendly Fall Themed Vocabulary resource! These are simple pictures of fall themed nouns, verbs, and adjectives that you can use in addition to books to help reinforce target vocabulary.
When you go do those activities, use the same vocabulary as when you read the books. If they become familiar with your favorite fall books or have their own favorite – bring it with you so that you can help them generalize vocabulary.
This means helping them learn that a “pumpkin” is not just something that exists in their favorite book, but at the pumpkin patch, grocery store, farm, etc. Identifying vocabulary in different contexts will help them learn!
2. Repeat new vocabulary constantly
Not a hard concept, although you may feel a little ridiculous doing this. Repeat target vocabulary words that they may not be familiar with over and over again (pumpkins, tractors, hay ride, apple tree, etc.) Point to pictures as you label them, and help them point too.
A meta-analysis on typically developing children from 2018 revealed that more exposure to target words = increased word learning (Flack, Field, & Horst, 2017). Should be easy enough to guess yourself, but there is actual data on this.
Additionally, the VAULT technique (Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers) suggests using an increased frequency of target words, or 9 verbal models of a target word per minute without expecting your toddler to produce language in return. The goal with this technique is to increase expressive vocabulary in “late talking toddles” (Alt, Mettler, Eriksonn, Figueroa, Etters-Thomas, Arizmendi, & Oglivie, 2019).
Sound overwhelming to use the same word 9 times per minute? Here’s how this might look: “Little Blue Truck is going to a party with pumpkins (1)! Pumpkins (2) can be different colors, like orange or white. These pumpkins (3) are big and little. Wow, the pumpkins (4) have faces in them! We call those pumpkins (5) jack-o-lanterns. We see pumpkins (6) when we go to the pumpkin (7) patch, or sometimes the grocery store. We’re going to the pumpkin (8) patch soon, and we’ll pick a pumpkin (9) to take home.
Easier than you think, really. Am I suggesting that you have to sit there and count out 9 reps/minute over and over and over again all day? Not necessarily. Just remember – increased repetition = good things.
3. Talk to your Toddler!
Okay this one may actually sound too simple, but there’s a lot of value in just talking to your little one about new experiences. While looking at/reading a book about the pumpkin patch, try this: “We’re going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow. A pumpkin patch is where we go to look at pumpkins and we are going to pick one out to take home.”
If you are reading a book with a lot of text that your little one won’t sit through, try describing the pictures to them instead. They truly learn more than we know just by listening.
4. Read the same books
Again: repetition is key! There is nothing wrong with reading the same books over and over again. It actually helps them learn new concepts and vocabulary. If they have favorites, help them develop some independence by giving them a choice of what book they would like to read.
Boom. Easy to implement + no prep = win!
We have already been having fun introducing books to our little guy and watching him process new vocabulary. When we pack up and head to the pumpkin patch in a couple of weeks, it will be with every confidence that he does actually know what a pumpkin is, and maybe be a little more excited about it.
Want more info on how to use books to increase language skills? Check out these posts on The Easiest Therapy Tool and 3 Ways Reading to your Baby will Improve their Language Skills.
Do you have favorite fall activities that you do with your littles? We are in an exciting time of starting new traditions and I’d love to hear your ideas!
Sources:
Alt, M., Mettler, H.M., Eriksonn, J.A., Figueroa, C.R., Etters-Thomas, S.E., Arizmendi, G.D., & Oglivie, T. (2019). Exploring input parameters in an expressive vocabulary treatment with late talkers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019 JSLHR-19-00219.
Flack, Z.M., Field, A.P., & Horst, J. (2017). The effects of shared storybook reading on word learning: a meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000512.
