Imitation, sometimes referred to as “mimicking” or “copying,” is a foundational building block for improving a child’s speech and language skills.
Improving this skill allows for children to more accurately produce target speech sounds and grow their vocabulary. Children can start working on their imitation skills as early as 8 months of age. When it comes to imitation, there is a hierarchy of skills which build upon each other to gradually imitate more complex targets.
The hierarchy is as follows (going from least complex to most complex):
- Imitation with objects (throwing a ball, banging on a drum)
- Imitation of bodily movements (clapping, jumping, spinning)
- Imitation with intentional gestures (waving, pointing)
- Imitation of facial gestures (smiling, winking, making kissing lips)
- Imitation of play sounds and vocalizations (wee, oops, boom, crash, rawr, uh-oh)
- Imitation of words in verbal routines (ready, set…Go!, Old McDonald had a farm..EIEIO!)
- Imitation of single words
- Imitation of short phrases and sentences
Working on imitation can be fun, especially when done through play. One of the best ways to target imitation and begin establishing imitation skills is to use reverse imitation. Reverse imitation is when an adult or caregiver copies what a child is doing while playing.