Getting dressed chatter
6–12 monthsFamily ConnectionNo materials needed
While dressing your child, describe each piece of clothing and each action. Pause after naming a body part or clothing item to give your child time to look, touch, or vocalize. When your child responds with any sound or movement, acknowledge it enthusiastically before continuing. This turns getting dressed into a language-rich exchange.
Part of the Imprint developmental journey — personalized to your child.
How to Do This Activity
While dressing your child, describe each piece of clothing and each action. Pause after naming a body part or clothing item to give your child time to look, touch, or vocalize. When your child responds with any sound or movement, acknowledge it enthusiastically before continuing. This turns getting dressed into a language-rich exchange.
Why It Works
This activity uses a routine that happens daily to create repeated opportunities for communication practice. The combination of words, actions, and objects provides multiple ways for your child to engage. Research on parent-child communication quality identifies appropriate response and mirroring as key factors that enhance relationship quality and children's psychological development (Zhang & Li, 2024). Responding to your child's communication attempts during routine care builds trust and communication skills simultaneously.
Tips for Parents
Name body parts as you dress them. Your arm goes in the sleeve gives both a label and an action.
Wait for your child to respond before moving to the next item. Their response might be reaching toward the shirt or making a sound.
Celebrate their communication attempts with your tone and words. You pointed at your sock shows you noticed their gesture.
Materials Needed
None
Learning Methods
Responsive InteractionRepetition and Routine
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