Development at 21 Months
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Activity 1
Age Appropriate Cognitive Development
Matches Pictures to Objects
Mummy and daddy, I can recognize pictures! I know that they represent real objects. You will see me pick a picture (e.g. picture of an apple) from a group of 4 other pictures that matches the real object (an real apple). I can do this when I am between 19 and 27 months old.
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Steps
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Hold a bowl in front of you.
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Now lay out 4 picture cards, face down, before your child. Premium members : You can login and print out the pictures under the "Tools" section.
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Encourage him to turn them over.
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Can he identify the picture card that corresponds with the bowl?
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Repeat the activity using other objects.
Feedback
 Your child has progressed another step in his picture recognition. It is not easy to match a 2-D picture (which is not identical to the object) to the 3-D object. But your child has achieved this level of photo/picture recognition which is very appropriate for his age. This skill usually develops for children between 19 and 27 months of age.
If your child shows difficulties in succeeding in the task, do try to analyze and find out where his difficulty lies.
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A)Is he not familiar with the pictures you use? Then use only familiar objects and pictures.
B) Is he too distracted with too many pictures laid out in front of him? Then try to start with only 2 pictures.
C) Is the table around him too cluttered and is he distracted by his surroundings? Minimize the distractions and organize a quiet place for this activity.
D) Does he have difficulty understanding the pictures? Use photos or the same colored pictures instead. |
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Is he stressed out by your demands? Create a relaxed and fun environment as well as use a soft tone in playing this activity with him.
Once you find exactly where his difficulty lies, you can use the appropriate strategy to teach him picture recognition. Look at the suggested activities to further develop your child's picture recognition skill.
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Your child's picture concept will be further developed as you have him recognize large simple black and white outlines of familiar objects, e.g. you can ask him to point to a chair when you show him a few 2-D black and white outline drawings that you have drawn yourself.
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Start with photographs or cut out labels of objects. Use a digital camera to take pictures of everyday objects your child will use and people he will see. Develop the photos and ask him to match the photo to the object you have in the house.
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Use cut-out labels in the packaging to associate the relevant objects with them.
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 Instead of finding the picture to match the object, you can do it the other way round, i.e. finding the object to match the picture.
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Buy commercially available books with 1 picture on 1 page to expose him to more pictures.
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Activity 2
Age Appropriate Speech, Language And Communication Development
Says 2 - Word Sentence
 Now that I understand more words, I can join two words to express myself. You will find that I don't always use familiar phrases that you say to me. I will start using 2-sentences when I am between 18 and 35 months old. |
Steps
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Ask your child if he wants more juice.
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How does he reply?
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Tell your child that play-time is over.
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What does he say?
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Tell your child it is time to go to sleep.
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How does he respond?
Feedback
Celebrate with your child when he starts saying 2-word sentence, you've been great at stimulating your child and do keep up the good work by introducing 2 new words each week! Give your child plenty of opportunities to listen and use the 2 words you have chosen throughout the week. Choose words that your child will enjoy using! You may also look at the ideas in suggested activities.
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It is important that your child has a model at this point in time. So, do model many short 2 and 3-word phrases for her to imitate. Make it fun and playful. Encourage all his attempts to imitate.
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If your child is using single word sentences, help him expand them into short sentences by including verbs or adjectives. E.g. If he says "dolly!", say " yes, dolly sleep" or "oh, dolly pretty".
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Sing songs with short phrases, e.g. Row your boat.
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Continue to talk to your child, describing what he sees, does or hears as he does it. This is known as parallel talking. Also, use self-talk, which is talking about what you are doing while the child is watching. The emphasis is on listening so no pressure on your child to imitate what you say!
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