Small Moments, Big Impact: 5 Easy Ways to Support Your Child’s Development
The holidays bring more than decorations and family gatherings – they bring extra moments at home, changes in routine, and opportunities for connection. For caregivers of young children with developmental delays, this season can be a meaningful time to slow down, tune in, and support growth in simple, everyday ways.
Amid the wrapping paper, favorite traditions, and cozy routines, children are still learning every day. The way you talk, play, sing, and interact during these moments can help strengthen important developmental skills, often without adding anything new to your to-do list.
When a child shows signs of a developmental delay, caregivers often ask the same question: What can I do right now to help my child?
The answer is simpler than many expect. Some of the most helpful developmental support happens during everyday routines and play.
5 Easy Things You Can Do Every Day to Help Your Child Learn & Grow
You don’t need special toys, classes, or training. Children learn best when someone is talking with them, playing with them, and responding to them.
1. Talk to your child during everyday routines
Talking helps your child learn how words connect to real life. Even before children can talk back, their brains are listening, matching sounds to actions, and learning that communication has meaning.
For example, while getting your child dressed, you might say, “Shirt on,” or “Arms up,” as you help them move. While making food, you could say, “I’m cutting the apple. Apple is red.” If your child makes a sound, respond to it. If they say “ba,” you can say, “Ba! Bottle.”
When you do this, your child starts to understand that sounds and words go together, and that when they communicate, someone responds. This back-and-forth is how language begins.
2. Look at books together in a relaxed way
Books help children learn words, focus their attention, and understand how pictures and language connect.
Sit together and let your child hold the book. Point to pictures and name them, like “dog,” “car,” or “baby.” If your child points to something, name it for them. If they only want to look at one page or close the book quickly, that’s okay.
Reading the same book again and again is especially helpful because children learn through repetition. Seeing the same pictures and hearing the same words helps their brain recognize patterns. Over time, familiar books make it easier for children to understand, remember, and eventually try words on their own.
3. Play with simple household items
Playing with everyday objects helps your child learn how their hands, eyes, and body work together.
You might stack plastic cups or blocks and knock them over together. You can put toys into a box and dump them out, or let your child try to put a lid on a container or drop items into a bowl.
These activities help children practice using their hands and fingers, figuring out how things fit, and learning that their actions cause things to happen. This builds coordination, problem-solving skills, and confidence, even when play looks messy or unorganized.
4. Sing songs and move together
Songs help children learn language and movement at the same time.
Singing slows words down and repeats them, which makes them easier for children to hear and understand. Adding movements helps children connect words with actions.
You might sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and clap your hands, or “The Wheels on the Bus” with motions. You can also turn on music and dance together. Singing the same songs every day helps your child know what to expect and feel more comfortable joining in.
Your child doesn’t need to sing the words. Listening, watching, and moving are all ways they are learning.
5. Take turns during play
Taking turns helps children learn how to interact with other people and begin to understand social rules.
You can roll a ball back and forth and say “my turn” and “your turn.” You can also take turns stacking blocks or putting puzzle pieces in place. If your child doesn’t do it perfectly, that’s okay, the practice is what matters.
Turn-taking teaches children how to wait, watch, and respond. These are important skills for communication, play, and future interactions with other children.
A Supportive Next Step for Caregivers
You are not expected to do everything perfectly. Supporting your child’s development happens in small moments, repeated over time, and you’re already doing more than you may realize.
If you ever find yourself wondering whether your child is meeting developmental milestones, you do not have to wait or figure it out alone. Help Me Grow Escambia offers free developmental screenings to help caregivers better understand how their child is growing.
Screenings are simple and can be completed online, in person or over the phone. If results show that your child may benefit from extra support, Help Me Grow Escambia’s care coordinators will walk you through the next steps and help connect you to services or community resources if needed.
Not every child will need services, but every caregiver deserves clear information, reassurance, and support. That’s why Help Me Grow Escambia encourages caregivers to screen and see, rather than wait and worry.
If you have questions or concerns about your child’s development, Help Me Grow Escambia is here to help.
www.helpmegrowescambia.org | 850-378-0322
