05/22/2025
Therapy Tip Thursday! ✨🔎
✨ Wondering what words to focus on first with your little one? Start simple — and start with what matters to them! 🧠💬
We often begin with early core words like:
➡️ go, more, yes, no, up, down, mine, help, eat, drink
These words are versatile — your child can use them all day long to express wants, needs, feelings, and more. They’re like building blocks for communication 🧩
But don’t forget the power of functional, motivating nouns too — like ball, milk, car, mama, book, lovey, swing, or puppy 🍼🐶
💡 Choose words that your child sees, hears, and cares about in their daily routines. If they love it or need it — it’s a good word to target!
👉 Focus on these first — rather than numbers, colors, or letters, which will naturally come later. (Unless of course your child is super interested in these concepts, then go right ahead!)
Did your child have a first word that was a very specific interest of theirs? I’ll go first: my 15 month old daughter loves giving our dog treats and picked up “tee” for “treat” as a first word and it’s super motivating for her to say because she gets to do her favorite thing! 🐾🦴
Roberts, M. Y., & Kaiser, A. P. (2011); Wetherby, A., & Prizant, B. (2014).
