May 8, 2024
Picture the scene….a 16 month old grins from ear to ear as he gives his mom and me a double thumbs up gesture paired with “yay” showing us how proud he is of himself as he goes down the slide at Mount Jefferson Park.
My little friend is demonstrating the power of gestures. Children learn to talk with their hands first. Gestures are considered a foundational communication skill. The use of gestures is a good prognostic indicator of language development and the development of communicative intent as the use of gestures typically result in the use of the corresponding word.
For example, a child learns the waving gesture and then learns to say “hi” and “bye”. In addition, a gesture like pointing is a way to get the attention of a conversational partner in his or her environment. Pointing also prompts a conversational partner to comment (e.g., a child pointing at an airplane and an adult says “I see you pointing at the airplane in the sky”) and expand a child’s knowledge thus directly expanding a child’s language.
Here is a list of gestures and typical age of acquisition from the First Words Project.
Why are these skills important?
Gestures and speech use similar neural networks and work hand in hand for verbal development. Gesture development can be a predictor of three key skills 1) how first words develop, 2) how words are combined and 3) vocabulary size in kindergarten (Lederer & Battaglia, 2015).
Going back to my little friend – If gestures are so important to build language skills, what can we do to help support the use of gestures? First, we can model gestures paired with words throughout the day. Next, we can incorporate gestures into songs. A great way to use songs is to change the words to familiar songs we already know.
For example, while modeling the “where” gesture, we can sing a location song to the tune of “Where oh where has my little dog gone?” changing the words to “where oh where has my favorite ball gone? Oh where or where can it be? Is it under the chair or in the kitchen? Oh where oh where can it be?”
Concerns? If your child is not using gestures as expected it may be time to consult with a speech-language pathologist. Go to Book Now to schedule a Meet and Greet or email me. If not, here are some additional resources to help build your knowledge to assist in guiding your child’s language learning.
Resources
References
Galinsky, E. (2010). Mind in the making: The seven essential life skills every child needs. HarperCollins e-books.
Lederer, S. & Battaglia, D. (2015). Using signs to facilitate vocabulary in children with language delays, Infants & Young Children (28)1, 18-31. DOI:10.1097/IYC.0000000000000025