How to Encourage your child to Talk.

For preschoolers (3-6 years old)

By the age of 4, children’s language skills have developed a lot. However, they might still have difficulties explaining their problems using only words. They are still learning how to process their thoughts and feelings.

Below are some of the simple activities you can do to help children express their thoughts and feelings:

1. Drawing. For some, drawing is therapeutic. Most children enjoy the sensory part of it. Through drawing, children tend to be able to express whats on their mind and talk about things that are uncomfortable for them (e.g. being bullied, fight with a friend, etc). If you are concerned about the drawing and the story (e.g. abuse, escalated bullying), seek professional help to intervene with the treatment process.

2. Give name to the problem (e.g. fear of dark - named Darky). Sometimes, naming a problem may help children to externalise the problem rather than keeping it internalised. Also, by naming the problem and making it as a role in a story book, may help them tell us the problem like story telling.

3. Other Sensory play such as playdough or sands. Providing comfort can lead to relaxation and make children easier to start a conversation about their problem and feelings.

4. Feeling words activity. Start from basic feelings words, such as anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise. Then, expand the feelings words by the intensity of the feelings. For example, happiness can be expressed with excited or joyful or ecstatic and so on. Also, teaching the opposite of each feelings could be helpful to educate them about feelings and that it is ok to feel the feelings (both positive and negative). For younger children, you can use simple pictures to teach them about feelings and expressions.
   

It’s also important to seek professional help if you notice a significant change in behaviour in children (e.g. constantly feeling low or become more aggressive or lost of appetite, etc).