Meal times are a great way for children to learn, as well as, use language with others. It also teaches them to engage in turn taking behaviors while expressing wants/needs and beginning social/conversational language with parents or caregivers. Food and drink are usually a huge motivator for children, and we are meeting their basic needs while teaching them! Providing some choices for your child(ren) can help them use words/gestures to tell you what they want to eat or drink. It takes some of the pressure off to produce the word spontaneously when they may not be able to. For example, ask “Do you want milk or juice?” while showing them either the containers or if you use certain cups for the liquids and they understand that. You can use choices for snacks, drinks, and even parts of meals. All of this is within reason of course. If you, as the parent/caregiver, are not comfortable with choices, there are additional strategies to use to encourage language. You can limit the amount of food or drink that you provide. If you are working on them asking for “more”, place the object in sight but out of reach. Your child(if motivated) will inevitably try to get more on their own. Ask him/her, “Do you want more?”. If they indicate they do(follow the body language) cue them by saying “Tell me more”. You can use the sign if your child doesn’t imitate “more”. If they indicate they don’t want more, end the snack or meal by stating “All done!”(model the sign when necessary). Maybe they aren’t motivated that much by food/drink. Try giving choices of favorite/preferred cups/bowls/utensils at meal or snack times. Also, naming the food/drink your child is enjoying, and telling them what they are doing(eating, drinking, chew, bite, etc) helps build vocabulary. Make sounds like “Mmmmm”, “yum”, or “ahhh”(after they take a drink) so they imitate. They can participate in sharing and turn taking as well! Meals are a great way to help your child learn and engage with them while they explore tastes and textures with your company. You can find a helpful website for baby sign language in the resources tab.
Words/sounds to include: names of foods or drinks, actions-bite, chew, munch, crunch, taste, sip, swallow, yum, mmmm, sipping/munching sounds, fork, spoon, cup, bowl, plate, cut eat, drink, colors, more, all done, all gone