As early as 1-year-old, children begin to perceive the world around them well. Therefore, at this stage you can already apply appropriate parenting methods and the most important thing is that you need to be understanding and patient. The article will guide a few ways to teach 1-year-old children for your reference.
1. Teach new words
1-year-old is an important age for children to learn and explore everything around. At this stage, children also begin to absorb a huge amount of vocabulary. So, you can teach your 1-year-old some common words, phrases, and concepts that they can absorb, such as:
- Body parts:
First, you need to point out the child’s eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, head, hair, ears, hands, feet, … Then show your child the parts of their body, the doll’s body., as well as your body. At other times of a day, ask your child some questions such as: “Where is your nose? Where are your eyes?” At this time, the child will answer you by pointing to body parts. Your child will begin to say body part words later.
- Animal sounds and names:
Children will often like to make the sound of an animal before calling the animal’s name. Therefore, when teaching a 1-year-old child, teach both and do not forget to show the child the animal image.
- First name:
When a child is 1-year-old, he may not be able to say his name, but by this time he is already aware of his name. So practice your baby’s first sounds and names and be sure he’ll respond when called out.
- Names of relatives:
Teach 1-year-olds the names of relatives such as parents, grandparents, siblings, or anyone else they see often. You can also use family picture books or pictures on your phone and read their names to teach your child.
- Manners:
1-year-old is also the time when children learn to speak, so you need to teach them how to behave politely by saying thank you, hello, sorry, please.
- Vehicles:
Teach 1-year-olds to recognize vehicles such as cars, trucks, buses, ambulances, fire trucks, etc.
- Food and utensils:
You can also teach children how to say their favorite foods like bread, bananas, cheese, etc. and commonly used utensils like cups, spoons, forks, cups, etc.
- Words that express what they need or want:
Words such as yes, no, need, want, for children, more… are also so essential that you should teach them early.
- Colors:
1-year-old is also the time when children begin to combine colors, so you can teach 1-year-old children to name those colors.
Teaching new words to 1-year-olds can be done at any time, including when changing diapers, during mealtimes or even going to bed, etc. The repetition of new words at this stage is very important to help. Children can learn words and phrases well.
2. Read books
Books are almost every child’s language teacher. The pictures of objects, people, colors and shapes in the book will stimulate children’s curiosity and inquisitive spirit. Although the time children pay attention to the pages of the book is not much, the truth is that children are very interested in the pictures and colors in it.
When teaching 1-year-old children through books, you do not need to read every word in the book, but you can turn each page, just each picture and description. When reading, you can also ask your child to turn the page and ask her to point to the picture.
Also, if you’re the one reading, use your finger to point to words on the page. This will help your child recognize letters and words.
3. Describe what you’re doing
If your child is sitting and playing, use language to talk about what he’s doing and the color and shape of something he’s using or the action going on. For example: “I often throw the red ball”, “I am going up the stairs”, “I am putting the seeds in the cup” … At these times, children will know how to associate their words with their actions.
4. Promoting independence
Your baby can start doing things on his own now. Children can pick up spoons, toothbrushes, wipes or diapers by themselves, etc. Therefore, teach your 1-year-old to do these things on their own. The only way children can learn new skills well is to do them on their own, so don’t forget to give your child the opportunity to learn and make mistakes, of course these are only limited. Maybe, children will not really succeed when doing, will even leave a mess, but try to guide them to complete those tasks.
Some skills that a 1-year-old can do are:
- Get dressed: take off your socks, pull up your pants, put your arms around your shirt, and put on and take off your jacket.
- Feeding: Using utensils, finger feeding, choosing meals and foods by pointing or asking and saying yes or no.
- Brush your teeth: Hold your own toothbrush.
- Clean up: Clean up the mess, put the toys in the bin.
- Walk up and down stairs with adult supervision and holding hands.
5. Stimulate the imagination
1-year-olds can use their imagination to open up an exciting new world. This skill often comes naturally when children imitate what they see in the real world, in books or on television. It can be a kitchen for fun, a tea party, feeding dolls, driving a car, sweeping the floor, etc.
6. Puzzles
Puzzles will be very helpful to teach 1-year-olds to develop many skills. Children can develop hand-eye coordination by turning pieces to fit them. Children can also practice fine motor skills by using their hands to grasp and manipulate small pegs or pieces of wood. Children also learn how to solve problems from using their brains to find the right puzzle pieces in space or position.
Children can also develop cognitive skills and learn concepts about pictures in puzzles such as colors, shapes, animals, food, etc. Name puzzles are also great for teaching children words. what is in the child’s name. After playing with these puzzles, children will quickly spell their names.
7. Songs with gesture expressions
It is true that you probably know children’s songs well like Wheels on the Bus, Row Your Boat, McDonald’s, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, etc. You can sing songs to your kids. anytime and anywhere like in the car, when changing diapers or during the shower.
Moreover, children mostly like rhythm and music, so you can show hand gestures while singing for your child to imitate. This will teach 1-year-olds to learn body parts, up/down concepts, open/close, use animal sounds to name some animals…
8. Coloring
Coloring is an activity that you should teach your 1-year-old. What you need is paper and crayons. The right choice for a 1-year-old child is to use crayons, because it is very suitable for children’s small hands, and at the same time promotes the best grasping ability.
9. Teach your baby to sing
Children love music very much. Thus, you can play music for your baby or teach him short, simple songs. In addition, you can also let children use musical instruments or use existing objects in the house as musical instruments. Children can sing while using a certain instrument to make a sound such as shaking a bottle with seeds, banging a wooden spoon on a box, tin can, etc.
10. Dancing
Open a music program on TV, phone, radio and teach your 1-year-old to dance. Most babies love to dance and move when listening to music. This will make the child always feel excited, excited and happy.
11. Go out and play
Even if you’re busy, try to find some time to participate in activities with your child each day. Children love outdoor activities and they will be very upset when you are locked indoors all day. It’s very simple, you just need to take your child for a walk and point out the surrounding landscapes such as blue sky, trees, houses, cars, roads, etc., so that children can memorize these words. In addition, you can play some outdoor games with your child such as picking leaves, blowing bubbles, running through the sprinklers, running around or sitting on the grass, etc.
11. Puzzle toys
Teaching 1-year-olds to build toys is a way to improve as well as hand-eye coordination, helping children to perceive space. You just need to take a few blocks and show them how to build a tower, then ask them to do it themselves. Children will absorb and imitate you quickly. Puzzles and similar activities stimulate a child’s imagination, helping them learn to solve problems and explore the world around them. Some jigsaw puzzles suitable for 1-year-old children are the Melissa & Doug alphabet blocks, Mega Bloks, …
Entering the early years of life is the golden time for you to start teaching children. However, this can also be the time when any parent will feel the most bewildered because they do not know what to teach their children. Through this article, surely Cleanipedia has helped you know how to teach 1-year-old children, where to start. Hopefully, from the above useful information, you will be able to orient the best method of parenting to help your child have a perfect start.
Frequently asked questions about how to teach a 1-year-old child
How many words can a 1-year-old usually say?
Usually 1-year-old babies can say one to three words. Your baby will speak simply and not complete sentences, but you will surely know what he is saying. Your baby may say “baba” or “mama” or the names of people at home, animals, and toys.
1-year-old baby but still don’t know how to say?
The answer for this question is not dangerous because the baby may have delayed development of speaking skills. However, if you want to be sure, you should visit your pediatrician to see if your baby is having a hearing problem or has another problem. If having any issues, early detection will make it easier for treatment.
What causes children don’t know how to speak?
The environment can affect the speaking delay of children. If a child is abandoned or abused and often cannot hear others speak, he or she will eventually fail to learn to speak. Additionally, premature birth can also lead to many kinds of developmental delay, including speech/language problems.
