Words & communication

Family photo chat

Look at a few familiar photos and talk about the people and actions.

5 minutes

What you'll need

Adult-held sturdy board photo book in good condition

Before you start

Can attend to a shared object briefly

Best fit: either · calm energy · low caregiver effort · low mess

How to play

  1. Hold the book and let your child choose a page.
  2. Name who is there and what is happening.
  3. Follow whatever detail catches their attention.
Make it easier

Use one photo of a very familiar person.

Standard

Look at a few familiar photos and talk about the people and actions.

Extend it

Ask what happened next or copy an action in the photo.

What you might notice

People, actions or details your child returns to.

Keep it safe

The adult holds the sturdy photo book within arm's reach. Inspect its cover, pages, coating and binding; stop for mouthing or if anything tears or peels, then close and store the book.

Why it may be useful

This activity creates an easy moment for back-and-forth communication, shared attention and hearing useful words in context.

strong

Applies to caregiver-led language opportunities; it does not predict an individual child's language trajectory.

Jeong et al. (2021) — Parenting interventions to promote early child development in the first three years of life: A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Dowdall et al. (2025) — Home-based shared book reading and developmental outcomes in young children: a systematic review with meta-analyses

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