For parents eager to support their child’s communication skills, focusing on turn taking is key. This fundamental skill underpins our human interactions and communication. But how is turn taking pivotal for a child’s communicative growth? How can parents best support turn taking development? In the article, we will explore why turn taking is important for your child’s communicative development and how you can help them to develop turn taking skills.

Decoding the Dynamics of Turn Taking

Turn taking is more than just waiting for one’s turn to speak. It’s an intricate dance of expressions, gestures, vocalizations, and words, starting in infancy and growing in complexity as children mature. A smile on the playground or a reach or touch can be the first step in a turn taking interaction,

Turn Taking in Early Development

Gestures: Even before a baby utters their first word, they’re communicating. A facial expression, vocalization, reach, a point, or a wave are early forms of taking turns. Engaging with these non-verbal turn taking experiences encourages infants to continue these dialogues.

Playtime: Play is a vibrant arena for turn-taking lessons. Through imitation of actions, shared toys, pretend and role-playing, and games, children learn the dynamics of waiting, responding, and initiating.

Vocal Play: Those first coos and babbles? They’re a baby’s way of “speaking.” Imitating their sounds, responding to their utterances, and taking turns making sounds sets the stage for future spoken interactions.

Supporting Turn Taking as Your Child Grows

As children age, turn taking becomes integral to developing friendships, sharing ideas and experiences, and building empathy.

Model Effective Communication

Children imitate what they observe. By showcasing patience, active listening, and respectful turn taking during play, vocalization, and in your conversations, you pave the way for your child to do the same.

Infuse Turn Taking in Day-to-Day Routines

Everyday routines can be rich in lessons:

• Morning Chats: As you start the day, take turns naming and discussing objects, actions, and plans.
• Cooking Together: While preparing meals, engage in a back-and-forth preparation actions and dialogue about the ingredients, their flavors, and more.
• Evening Recaps: Before bedtime, share and take turns during a song or story.

Play Games Tailored for Turn Taking

Games, both structured and spontaneous, offer numerous turn-taking opportunities:

• Ball: Rolling, bouncing, kicking, or batting a ball back and forth with a partner is turn taking at its best. It reinforces the concept of send and receive and the concept of my turn, your turn.
• Board Games: Classics like “Candyland,” “Memory” or “Uno” naturally reinforce waiting and strategizing.
• Outdoor Activities: Simple games like hide and seek support taking turns.
• Interactive Storytelling: While sharing a book, reading, take turns naming, describing, and reading. Create a story together, where each contributor adds a word or a sentence or two, weaving a tale collaboratively.

Encourage Group Activities

Engaging with peers can provide abundant turn taking practice:

• Playdates: Organize group play sessions where shared toys and group music, art, story time, or games promote and reinforce turn taking.
• Team Sports: Activities like soccer or basketball inherently require players to wait, share, and strategize.

Reinforce with Positive Feedback

Acknowledge moments when your child displays turn-taking. Whether through verbal praise or a small reward, recognition of turn taking effort and progress encourages more turn taking effort and progress!

FAQs

1. How early should turn taking be introduced?
   • It’s never too early! Infants are receptive to turn taking. Responding to their sounds, gestures, and other cues and modeling turn taking builds their foundation.
2. How does turn taking benefit my child socially?
   • Turn taking fosters communication, patience, empathy, collaborative, and cooperative skills—qualities essential for building social interaction and relationships.
3. Are there games or toys specifically designed for turn taking?
   • Many board games, sports, toys such as balls and blocks, and electronic games inherently teach turn taking.
4. My child struggles with taking turns. What can I do?
   • Patience is key. Consistently model turn taking, provide opportunities for practice, and acknowledge their turn taking effort and progress. Consider seeking guidance from a speech-language pathologist.

Additional Resources

1. The three T’s of communication: Taking turns with your child – MSU Extension
2. printer-friendly-turn-taking.aspx (hanen.org)
3. Why Early Conversational Turn-Taking Really Matters (veipd.org)
4. Expert Columns: Taking Turns Can Positively Impact a Child’s Language Development (mayinstitute.org)
5. Early developmental changes in the timing of turn-taking: a longitudinal study of mother–infant interaction – PMC (nih.gov)
6. Teaching Turn Taking to Your Child – Special Education and Inclusive Learning (inclusiveteach.com)

Exploring these resources can offer parents a richer understanding and actionable insights into nurturing turn taking as an invaluable asset in their child’s communicative journey.

Summary/Conclusion

Turn taking is a cornerstone for developing patience, understanding, empathy, cooperation, expression, meaningful conversations, and social connections. With awareness, consistency, and proactive efforts, parents can significantly enhance their child’s communication journey through the power of turn taking.