Find resources / Activities / Pointing and naming Activity

• This activity helps baby expand their vocabulary. Baby will have noticed whānau pointing to and naming things and people — both in books and in the real world. Before too long, baby will begin to point too, wanting whānau to give names to things.
• When baby points and looks at their whānau to hear their response, baby is learning about conversations, how people take turns when they’re talking together.

• Point to what baby seems to be looking at and name it for them — follow their interest.
• If you notice things that are interesting, point to them and tell baby what they see.
• Baby probably already enjoys repetition, and soon this ‘pointing and naming’ will become a game.
• When you think baby is ready, try using a couple of extra descriptive words when baby points — for example, ‘Ball. It’s a red ball!’ (This is known as ‘stretch talk’.)
• This is a simple way of playing together and baby learns a lot — they have their own ‘personal advisor’ on the world.

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