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Supporting your child's understanding of words with these top tips.

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If you are worried about your child's communication skills, a good place to start is to speak with your Health Visitor or your child's nursery/preschool.

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Speech and Language UK have an ages and stages guide to give you an idea of what to expect when.

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Sometimes sound as if they are stammering or stuttering. They are usually trying to share their ideas before their language skills are ready. This is perfectly normal at this age, just show you are listening and give them plenty of time. It's not helpful to draw attention to their 'stammering' by saying things like 'take your time'.

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Advice on being bilingual if you speak more than one language.

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Bilingual babies and speaking multiple languages at home - BBC Tiny Happy People

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Will hearing me speak more than one language confuse my child? Is the speech of bilingual children delayed? What language should I use at home? Tips for parents on introducing children to more than one language.

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Find information and advice from the local NHS Speech and Language Therapy service here

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Children's Speech and Language Therapy for Luton and Bedford

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Home - Children’s Speech and Language Therapy for Luton and Bedford

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Expert Speech and Language Advice and Support for Children

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Find further advice and support on the Flying Start website

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If you are worried about your child's speech and language development, look at this Progress Checker from Speech and Language UK

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Our progress checkers will provide short questions you can answer to see how your baby or child is getting on with their talking and understanding of words.

It's based on what we know about how talking and understanding of words develops in babies and children. It's not the same as a standardised measure a specialist would carry out but it should give you an idea of how your baby or child is developing and whether you need some support or advice to help you and them.

Choose the right age and answer the questions, at the end, we will let you know how your child is doing and what help is available if you need it.

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Our progress checkers will provide short questions you can answer to see how your baby or child is getting on with their talking and understanding of words. It's based on what we know about how talking and understanding of words develops in babies and children.

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Find Luton's Local Offer here

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2. Luton's Local Offer SEND information hub

Artwork and design by Timeon Jarrett, a former student at Woodlands Special School, currently studying Art & Design at Barnfield College

Support available for children, young people with special education needs or a disability aged 0-25 years

The Luton Local Offer helps you find information about local services, support and events for children and young people aged 0 to 25 years who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

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Social Media and the Local Offer

Right now we're posting, sharing and tweeting lots of information to help support SEND families and professionals. If you don't follow us on either or both of the social media channels, here's what you'll need.

Luton Local Offer on Twitter Luton Local Offer on Facebook

Find services by age

What to do if you think your child has special educational needs and / or a disability

Find services by area of specific need

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Luton's Local Offer SEND information hub

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Skip to main content Home Luton's Local Offer SEND information hub Artwork and design by Timeon Jarrett, a former student at Woodlands Special School, currently studying Art & Design at Barnfield College The Luton Local Offer helps you find information about local services, support and events for children and young people aged 0 to 25 years who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

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Memory games are great for chatting with children about things that you've done together. If you make a point of pointing things out as you go on trips - whether it's something at the supermarket, on walks, or on trips to see family or friends - and make a mental (or written down) note of what you could ask them about later on. For example, you could ask 'what did we see down at the harbour?' or 'what fruit did we buy earlier on? Can you remember?'.

Offer lots of praise for whatever they manage to remember and you might find that they can remember more and more details, giving them great practise forming more complex sentences.

Another great way to get children talking in the past tense is to try getting them to recall details from a story after hearing it. Ask them lots of questions about what happened in the story and why.

Talking about the future

Plans for the future can involve a bit of imagination. They don't need to be realistic - you might find that your child says they'd like to go to Australia tomorrow, or even outer space!

To get them thinking really creatively about future plans, you could get them to plan an adventure with their favourite teddy! Ask them about all the things they might, see, hear and smell on their journey.

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Tools for Talking 3-4 years: Talking about past and future

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Memory games are great for chatting with children about things that you've done together. If you make a point of pointing things out as you go on trips - whether it's something at the supermarket, on walks, or on trips to see family or friends - and make a mental (or written down) note of what you could ask them about later on.

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Support your child to use longer sentences during everyday routines

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A fun activity for children aged 3-4 years to help with their development and language learning. Getting ready together for the day with your child is a great way to encourage them to form longer descriptive sentences.

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Try this activity to talk about things that are the same and different

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Matching halves of a whole object is a fun way of letting your child explore objects and to encourage them to talk about them. Try this simple matching game at home.

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Describing and naming feelings helps your child's language development and their emotional development.

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Play is important for all areas of toddler development, including emotional development. Through play, you can help your toddler understand what they’re feeling and why. Find out how you can do this with a teddy in our video.

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Cosy spaces can be used for play, stories or a special place to chat. Follow your child's lead and imagination!

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A fun activity for children aged 3-4 years to help with their development and language learning. Building a cosy corner allows your child to create their own imaginative space.

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Help your child with action words. This are a great way to develop your child's vocabulary and help them to build longer sentences.

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Add a word or an idea to your child's sentences to demonstrate more complex sentences

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Attention and Listening is a foundation skills in communication development. Try these activities to support your child in this area.

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The local NHS Speech and Language Therapy Facebook pages has top tips and advice for families in weekly topics

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.