My child can’t pronounce big words.
It’s a super cute stage when kids can’t quite pronounce tricky words and they come out a little muddled or twisted. In our house, these words have included merote (remote) and cubada (cucumber).
It’s common for young kids to leave off a part of a word altogether, like “tato” instead of “potato”, or “nana” instead of “banana”? Helping kids say words with multiple syllables is a common goal I have as a speech pathologist. Why? Because being able to say syllables in words helps others clearly understand what we are saying AND it’s an important skill needed for learning to read and spell words when children are at school. Difficulties with pronouncing multisyllable or polysyllabic words is a common trait with children who present with speech and language difficulties. But it is also present in all children as they expand their vocabulary and learn to say longer words.
I target this goal in a few different ways, but this is one way that has worked really well with kids who need a clear visual to explain this concept or are tactile learners who learn by touching and doing.
How to help your child say multisyllables
All you need is playdoh and some wooden play food. Talk about how words are made up of beats - sometimes there’s only a few beats and other times there’s lots! Tapping family member’s names and favourite toys is a good way to practise! 😉 Then roll out playdoh to demonstrate the length of words for your play food. Take turns to chop the food, telling each other which food you will chop. Any time you miss a beat or syllable i.e., “puter” instead of “computer”, push a hole in the playdoh and say “Whoops, there was a hole in the word.” I did this the other day with a 5 year old who immediately resonated with this concept and said “Whoops, I always put holes in my words”.
What other tips can you suggest?
Lauren is a speech pathologist who has over 15 years experience working with children and teenagers who present with a range of learning and communication difficulties. Lauren is passionate about helping others and loves to find simple and creative ways to make learning fun! The blog posts featured on this site are written on behalf of Remindables and are intended for educational purposes only and to provide general information and an understanding on a particular topic. By using this blog site you must be aware that the information shown is not to be used as a substitute for therapy advice and you should therefore seek the opinion of suitable professionals to assist you. The views expressed here are the author’s views alone and not those of their employer or others, unless clearly stated. 