Get your baby talking.

👶Ramp games spark children’s interest because there’s so much anticipation!
When will the ball drop?
How fast will it roll?
Where will it land?
It’s the kind of thing they want to do again and this makes it a PERFECT activity for language development.

❔HOW❔
🌟 Set up a ramp with things you have around the house. You could use a sofa cushion, a big hardback book, a piece of cardboard, a coffee table elevated at one end - get creative. Any slanted surface that something can roll down.
🏀 Grab something to roll down. Anything round or spherical, or even a toy of theirs that you think will slide down easily and keep their interest.

FIRST WORD USERS:
🐵 Model a phrase like “ready, set, go” or “123 roll” and say it every time either of you roll something down. This is called modelling - you’re repeating the phrase you’d like to hear. Use an excited voice with lots of intonation.
🙊❔Once you’ve done lots of modelling, set them up at the bottom of the ramp. You can model “ready, set…..” and then wait patiently for them to finish your phrase so that you roll the item down the ramp. This is called a communication temptation - you’re tempting them to communicate.
Early talkers might just make a noise at this stage or attempt something CLOSE TO the word. Reward any attempt with rolling the item down the ramp for them to catch.

WORD COMBINERS AND SENTENCE USERS
This activity is a great one to join in with and model more complex language and new concepts. Here are some ideas:
Fast, slow, steep, slope, gentle, catch, caught, rolling, off course, slide, slip, left, right, crash, bounce, round, cylindrical, smooth, rough.

👍 shapes that do and don’t roll/slide
👍 prepositions like on, off, next to, to the left, to the right

Rock and roll. Tag a parent who loves an easy play set-up.

Watch the full reel here