Toddler Collection

The vocabulary a young child builds becomes one of the strands that supports later reading comprehension (Scarborough, 2001). A toddler learns a word by experiencing the thing it names while hearing someone name it. Vocabulary cards extend that exposure beyond the objects in the room, and they help a toddler understand that a three-dimensional object can be represented in two dimensions. The cards develop and enrich vocabulary, directly prepare the child for conversation and self-expression, and indirectly prepare the child for reading and writing.

Start with one packet and choose 3 to 8 cards the child already knows as real objects. Sit at the child's eye level and speak clearly so the child can see your mouth move. First, name each card while the child touches, holds, or places it. Then ask the child to do something with each card while you repeat its name: "Can you put the lettuce on the mat?" "Will you hand me the carrot?" With toddlers, we typically give only these first two periods of the three-period lesson and save the third ("What is this?") until the child is ready to succeed. Keep the lesson going only as long as the child is interested, and add new cards and packets as the child's vocabulary grows.

Toddlers take things literally. Most picture cards show every object at the same size, so a chicken looks as big as a cow. Our photos keep objects in proportion to each other within a packet, so the cards match what the toddler sees in real life and, thus, makes more sens to them. This makes it easier to connect each picture to the real thing, and it gives you natural openings for conversation about big and small.

Typically 18 months to 3 years, from first words through the toddler years of rapid vocabulary growth. The cards also work well for older children who need oral vocabulary support and in intervention settings.