Best Language Development Toys for Toddlers
Speech is one of the most important milestones in a child’s life. This is because the bulk of speech that children develop during their first 3 years of life greatly influences their social, emotional, and cognitive development.
It also largely impacts later performance in school and critical thinking skills.
For this reason, speech-language pathologists encourage parents to expose their kids to as many words as possible and encourage talking during these critical first 3 years in order to instill a rich vocabulary in their child.
One good way of going about that is by investing in the following Language Development Toys for Toddlers.
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1. Toy Sets For Language Development
When it comes to encouraging early speech and language development in your child, toy sets offer a great option.
Toy sets set the stage for language-rich play whereby kids get the opportunity to use those words they have been hearing and learn functionally in a variety of ways.
Whether it’s a kitchen, farm, fire station, or tea party set, a child will have to use words at one point or another either to make a request, exchange play ideas, make a comment about the game, ask for help, engage in role-playing and so on.
Therefore, with the continued use of play sets, your child will start stringing little sentences through the exchange of words that happens during playtime.
Here are the playsets we recommend for language development:
Little Tikes Shop ‘N Learn Smart Checkout
This toy provides hours of pretend play and is not just great for developing language skills, but also social skills.
Learning Resources New Sprouts Camping Set
The Learning resources camping set is great for developing imaginative skills and building eye-hand coordination too. It comes with a “campfire”, a glow-in-the-dark lantern, a hotdog, marshmallows, and crackers all fitted inside a duffle bag.
Learning Resources Pretend & Play School Set
![Learning Resources Pretend & Play School Set, 149 Pieces, Ages 3+ [Standard Packaging]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515YcR3hxqL._SL500_.jpg "Learning Resources Pretend & Play School Set, 149 Pieces, Ages 3+ [Standard Packaging]")
2. Talking Toys
For a child to start talking and develop speech, he/she must first learn different words as well as their meanings. This is where talking toys come in.
Talking toys teach letters, words, sounds, and shapes, in a fun and easy way that kids can identify with.
These talking toys in particular are great for developing speech:
- Interactive electronic farm playset with 45+ songs, sounds, and phrases for toddlers and preschool kids ages 1-5 years
- Switch up the learning play: 3 Smart Stages levels teach counting, opposites, animal sounds, and colors with fresh songs, sounds and educational phrases
- Multiple play points: Press the barn door button or drop figures through the hayloft for songs, sounds and phrases. Turn on the barn light, “hatch” the...
Last update on 2024-12-21
- Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm
- LeapFrog Violet’s Learning Lights Remote Deluxe
- VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe
3. Musical Toys
According to research, music stimulates multiple areas of the brain (which is great for language development), breaks down words into sounds and syllables that are easier for children to process, and allows kids to hear and learn the similarities and differences between sounds.
These music benefits combined make musical toys effective tools for encouraging language development.
With a wide variety of musical toys available ranging from ‘Remo Drum’ to ‘Easy Karaoke’ to ‘Melissa and Doug’s Deluxe Band Set’, the trick to selecting a good musical toy is to go for options with a clever rhyme that is captivating and easy for a small child to process.
VTech Kidi Star Karaoke Machine
Remo Drum
Melissa and Doug’s Deluxe Band Set
4. Dolls
While it may not seem like it, dolls have powerful speech teaching capabilities. This is due to the fact that dolls allow kids to replicate various real-life experiences that they go through every day.
These include things like bathing, dressing, feeding, nap-time, and so on. These little re-enactments create opportunities for language development as kids will not only act out the real-life experiences but also try to mimic the conversations carried out during the time.
In other words, a child will say to the doll what mom, dad, or a caregiver usually says during the bath, nap, feeding, or dressing time.
The key to ensuring your child gets the most out of a doll is to go for options that talk or come with accessories such as little cups, strollers, combs, cradles, outfits, dollhouses, etc.
Such dolls increase play options, which in turn brings about more language-building opportunities.
Baby Doll With Bathtub
My First Doll Stroller
Final Word
If you have a small child who is just starting to talk, any toy that falls in the above-listed categories can tremendously help your little talker.
So, head on out and start shopping!
As a guideline for toy shopping, go for those options that encourage interaction, provide flexibility during play, and foster imagination and creativity.
Such toys offer the most benefits when it comes to speech stimulation.
