Speech NRT
Families with children

Following your child's lead during play

The quickest way to get more words out of a play session is usually to stop steering it. What that looks like in practice, with a toy your child chose.

6 min read Play and routines Speech NRT editorial team

Watch a well-meaning adult play with a child for five minutes and count the questions. What colour is that? How many are there? What comes next?

Questions feel like engagement. Mostly they are requests for performance, and a child who finds language hard already knows the difference.

Let them pick, then join

Sit alongside whatever they chose, and do what they are doing. Not a better version of it. The same thing.

Then narrate — briefly. Short phrases about what is happening, with long gaps between them. You are not teaching vocabulary. You are showing that words attach to the thing they already care about.

Swap questions for comments

  • Instead of "what colour is the car?" try "red car."
  • Instead of "what's it doing?" try "going fast," then wait.
  • Instead of "can you say bus?" say "bus," and leave a gap.

A comment invites a reply without demanding one. That difference is most of the technique.

Try this week

  • Play for five minutes without asking a single question.
  • Match your sentence length to theirs, plus about one word.
  • Let them choose the toy, even if you have a better idea.

When to bring in a professional

Talk to a qualified speech-language professional if you are concerned about how your child is communicating, or if play together is consistently difficult. This is educational practice that builds confidence; it is not medical care.

Speech NRT editorial team. We write practice ideas for families supporting speech and communication at home. Our articles are reviewed for tone and clarity by [PLACEHOLDER — reviewer name and credentials].