Giving your child choices will help them learn and feel good about themself. It allows them to:
- have some control over what they do
- make decisions and solve problems
- understand and say new words
- say what they want or how they feel
Types of choices
You can offer your child choices about many things:
What
“Do you want to play Memory or Go Fish?”
“Do you want water or milk?”
When
“Do you want to phone grandma before or after lunch?”
“You can do your colouring now or later.”
Where
“You can play with your cars in the bedroom or outside.”
“Do you want to go to the park or the library?”
How
“Would you rather hop or skip to the bathroom?”
“Do you want to colour or cut paper?”
Tips for giving your child choices
When giving choices, here are some things to remember:
- Only offer safe choices. For example, “Do you want to hold this hand or the other one when we cross the street?”
- Give choices that you can follow through on. For example, if you want your child to drink milk, offer milk or nothing.
- Wait for your child to make a choice. It may take a bit of extra time. You can repeat the options or point to the choices to help them understand.
Where to get help
To learn how speech-language pathologists and audiologists can help with speech, language, and hearing concerns, contact your child’s healthcare provider or visit
Pediatric Rehabilitation.
