New research released by the National Literacy Trust, shows that a fifth of parents believe that communicating with their baby is only necessary from the age of 3 months old.
Because of this a new ‘Talk To Your Baby’ campaign has been launched to educate parents about the huge role they can play in helping their baby develop vital communication skills in the first three years of their lives.
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, comments: ‘The first three years are pivotal to the development of communication skills. By the age of three a staggering 80% of a child’s brain will be formed. A child’s brain will never grow faster than at this point in their lives so we’re urging every parent in the UK to use this window of opportunity to talk, talk, talk!
Get Talking
As part of the campaign The National Literacy Trust is urging parents to talk to their babies at least ‘five times a day‘. To help do this the campaign website talktoyourbaby.org.uk has a vast amount of information to help parents find new and fun ways to communicate with their young children, such as:
Key developmental milestones of babies
Activities to stimulate talk including Maisy colouring sheets, song and nursery rhyme lyrics
Hints for incorporating beneficial ‘talking sessions’ throughout a busy day
Tips for talking to your baby from celebrity mums and mums-to-be
The chance to win one of 150 free children’s books
The charity is also encouraging parents with babies and young children to hold a ‘Talk To Your Baby’ party and is providing party packs and inspiration on the talktoyourbaby.org.uk site, with the first 300 parents to commit to holding a party receiving a ‘Driving My Tractor’ book and CD package from Barefoot Books, worth £6.99.
Former Coronation Street star and mother of one, Tina O’Brian is a huge supporter of the ‘Talk To Your Baby Campaign’.
Take a look at the Babyexpert.com baby speech development guide, an approximate guide to how your baby’s communication skills will develop during the first year.
Need other ideas to help get your baby talking here’s our guide to boost their language skills.
