
Pointing and naming Activity
Why do it?
- 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.
How to do it
- 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.
Using more te reo Māori
Kōrerorerohia | Discuss, chat |
Arohia | Paying attention to, interested in |
Tapanga | Naming, label |
Whakahahakitia | Point out, draw attention to |
He aha tērā | What's that? (over there) |
He ........... tērā | That's a ........ (over there) |
He aha tēnā? | What's that? (near you) |
He ........... tēnā? | That (near me) is a ...... |
He aha tēnei? | What's this? (near me) |
He ........... tēnā | That (near you) is a ...... |
Paoro, pōro | Ball |
Pukapuka | Book |
Teti pea | Teddy bear |
Tepū | Table |
Tūru | Chair |
Moenga | Bed |
Panana | Banana |
Āporo | Apple |
Kaitohutohu | Advisor, instructor |
Kupuāhua | Adjective, describing word |