My daughter was two and she had one word. She said it maybe twice a week.

When she wanted something, she took my hand and pushed it toward whatever she wanted. That was her whole system. It worked well enough for her that she had no reason to try anything else.

We got a speech therapist. The therapist came once a week for forty-five minutes. That is about three hours a month. The rest of the month was us.

So we started doing exercises at home. Most of them were bad at first. Some of them worked. Here are the ten that actually moved something, in the order we did them.

A note before you start. None of this replaces a speech therapist or a developmental assessment. It fills the days in between. That is a real job, and it matters more than most people tell you.

Start Before Words

This is the part nobody told us, and it cost us months.

Speech is not the first step. It is close to the last. Before a child talks, they usually make eye contact. Then they share attention with you, meaning you both look at the same thing on purpose. Then they point. Then words come.

My daughter was doing none of that. And I was sitting there trying to teach her "yes" and "no."

If your child is not pointing yet, exercises 1 to 4 are your work. Skip ahead only when pointing is there.

1. The Finger

What it does: builds the pointing gesture. Time: a few minutes, many times a day.

My daughter loved swiping photos on the iPad. A touchscreen needs a finger. So "finger" became one of the first words she understood, because the screen made it obvious.

Then I took it off the screen. She would stand at the fridge and scream for her water bottle. I would say "Finger" and wait. At first I guided her hand. Then she did it herself.

What success looks like: she points at what she wants instead of pulling your hand.

2. Table Time

What it does: builds a daily habit and a predictable structure. Time: ten to fifteen minutes a day.

Same spot, same time, every day. Ours was after breakfast. I put out a few picture cards and we worked through them.

Ten minutes sounds short. It is not. Ten minutes every day for a year is sixty hours.

Keep it short enough that your child is still willing when you stop. If you push until they melt down, tomorrow gets harder.

What success looks like: your child comes to the table without a fight.

3. Find the Cat

What it does: receptive language, which is understanding words. Time: five minutes inside table time.

Lay out three cards. Say "Show me the cat." At first I moved her hand to the right one. Then I waited a beat longer each time.

Start with two cards. Three is harder than it sounds.

What success looks like: she picks the right card without help, more often than chance.

4. Find the Reward That Works

What it does: makes everything else possible. Time: none, but it takes trial and error.

Most therapy advice assumes snacks. My daughter does not eat sweets or chips and does not drink juice. So none of that was available to us.

Soap bubbles worked. That was it. Bubbles were the whole economy.

Spend a week finding yours. It might be bubbles, a specific song, being spun around, a light-up toy. It has to be something your child will work for.

What success looks like: your child tries harder when the reward is in sight.

5. The Box With a Slot

What it does: pairs a word with an action the child enjoys. Time: ten minutes.

We got a box with a slot in the lid. I held up a card, said the word clearly, three times, then handed her the card. She pushed it through the slot.

She loved the dropping. The dropping paid for the listening.

When she made any sound close to the word, out came the bubbles.

What success looks like: she attempts a sound before taking the card.

6. Say What You Are Doing

What it does: floods the day with language, no session required. Time: zero extra minutes.

Narrate. Out loud. All day.

"Water. Water on. Hot water. Wash hands."

Keep it short. Two or three words. Do not explain, just label. Long sentences give a child too much to sort through.

This one feels silly for about two weeks and then it becomes normal.

What success looks like: you catch your child repeating a fragment of it later.

7. Give Two Choices

What it does: creates a reason to communicate. Time: all day, in small moments.

Hold up two things. "Apple or banana?" Hold them apart so a point or a look tells you which one.

The trick is to actually give what they choose, fast. Every time. That is what teaches them the choosing did something.

What success looks like: your child looks at or points to one, then waits for you to hand it over.

8. Break the Routine on Purpose

What it does: turns a habit into a request. Time: a few seconds, a few times a day.

Put the cereal bowl down with no spoon. Start a song and stop halfway. Hand over a closed bubble jar.

Then wait. Do not fix it straight away.

That small gap is where a child finds a reason to ask. Keep it gentle. The goal is a pause, not frustration.

What success looks like: any sound, gesture or look that means "hey, something is missing."

9. Copy Them First

What it does: builds imitation, which is what copying words is built on. Time: five minutes.

My daughter did not copy us. So we copied her.

She bangs the table, I bang the table. She spins a wheel, I spin a wheel. Then, once in a while, I do something slightly different and see if she follows.

Sounds work the same way. Copy her sound back. Wait. See if it comes again.

What success looks like: a back-and-forth, even a short one.

10. Same Words, Different Days

What it does: makes a word stick in more than one place. Time: it is a rule, not a session.

We drilled hard at first. Same word, twenty times in one sitting. She would get it. Then the next day it was gone, or she only knew it from that one card.

What worked better was spreading it out. The same ten words, a few times each, across weeks. Different card, different room, the real object when we had one.

Cramming builds a word that only exists in one context. Returning builds a word she can use.

At some point we were doing so much of this that keeping track of it got heavy. I ended up putting our exercises into a simple app called Word Tube so we could run through them anywhere, in the car, in a waiting room, without me setting up cards every time.

What Progress Actually Looks Like

Nobody warns you about the shape of it.

It is not a line going up. It is nothing, nothing, nothing, then a word. Then that word disappears for three weeks. Then it comes back with two more.

We had stretches where it felt completely pointless. We kept the ten minutes anyway. Looking back, those flat stretches were not nothing. Something was loading.

Write things down. A note on your phone is enough. New sounds, new words, anything she did for the first time. On a bad week you can look back at the note and see that the last three months were real.

Common Questions

How long should home speech practice be?

Ten to fifteen minutes of focused practice a day is plenty for most toddlers. Short and daily beats long and occasional. Stop while your child is still willing, so the next session starts from a good place. The narration and choice-making happen through the day and cost no extra time.

Can I do speech therapy at home without a therapist?

You can practise at home, and it helps. But a therapist or developmental specialist should assess your child and set the direction. Home practice fills the gap between sessions, which is most of the month. Think of it as the daily reps, not the whole programme.

At what age should I start?

As soon as you have a concern. You do not need a diagnosis to start pointing games, narration or choice-making, and none of it can hurt a child who turns out to be fine. Early practice is mostly play with a purpose behind it.

My child is nonverbal. Do these still apply?

Yes, especially exercises 1 to 5. Those target the skills that come before speech: pointing, shared attention, understanding words, and having a reason to communicate. Words are easier to build once those are there. Many children start by understanding far more than they can say.

Written by Marijan, parent of a child with speech and developmental delay.