A few real, well-tested things that help — nothing here is a rule, just what tends to work.
The cards in the app are two-minute ideas for specific moments. This page is different — it's the underlying stuff that helps in any moment. Talk a Little is built by a small team of two, and one of us is a qualified teacher — these are real techniques she's actually taught, not things we made up.
Do
When you can, get down to their level, face them, and make eye contact while you talk. It's not just about feeling heard — seeing how your mouth actually moves helps them learn to copy the shapes and sounds themselves.
This is also one of the clearest reasons a real conversation beats a screen: a screen doesn't respond to what your child just did, and it doesn't give them an actual face, right in front of them, to watch and copy.
Do
When your child says a word — even just one — repeat it back warmly, and add a little more onto it. You're not correcting them. You're just showing them the fuller version of what they're already reaching for.
Naming words tend to come first. Point at a blue ball together, and their first word for it is usually just "ball." That's the moment to praise and repeat, adding a touch more each time:
Them: "Ball!"
You: "That's right, the ball — the blue ball."
As they start combining words on their own, do exactly the same thing, one step further up:
Them: "Blue ball grass."
You: "That's right, the blue ball on the grass."
Same idea both times — hear it, celebrate it, hand back a slightly fuller version. No testing, no "say it properly." Just showing them what's next.
Do · around preschool age
Once your child is confidently naming things correctly, you can add one more layer — not fixing a mistake, since they already got it right, just adding contrast onto it. Confirm what it is, and name what it isn't in the same breath.
Them: "It's a green ball!"
You: "That's right, it's a green ball, not a blue ball."
Words like "not" are their own small piece of language, and this is a genuinely gentle way to introduce them — inside praise, never as a correction, so it never feels like they got anything wrong.
Do · around school age
Once your child is comfortable naming and describing things on their own, you can stretch a little further — comparing what they're describing to something else entirely, not just adding more detail to the same thing.
Them: "The ball is blue."
You: "That's right — it's as blue as the sky!"
A ball and the sky have nothing to do with each other, except that one quality — and noticing that is a real step up from simply naming or describing. It's the beginning of seeing how very different things in the world can still relate to one another.
Do · one parent's trick
Nursery rhymes work because repetition is the whole point of them — so borrow that. Take a tune your child already knows, and set your own simple words to it, sung on a loop.
One parent used to sing this to the tune of "This Old Man" (the "nick nack paddy wack" one):
You (sung): "What's your name?"
You (sung, answering for her): "Rosie!"
Sung the same way, on a loop, for a while — until one day, she answered with her own name, right on cue.
A melody she already knows makes a word much easier to hold onto and want to repeat than the same word said plainly ever could.
More of these are on the way.
Talk a Little is here for everyday talking moments — it isn't a tool for assessing your child's development. For any real questions about your child's development or learning, a GP, Health Visitor, or education professional is always the right person to ask.
This page is meant to stay short and practical. If you'd rather read the real research and thinking behind all this, these are genuinely well-regarded — check your library first, as always.