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.
For example, if your child is stacking blocks, stack blocks next to them. If they are dancing around, dance around with them. If they are babbling with nonsense words or sounds, copy what they are producing!
Reverse imitation teaches children that imitation is fun and it is a great strategy for catching their attention. Once they are aware of you imitating them, play silly games that are fun to imitate.
A fun game for little ones is what I call the “sneezing game.” Place an object on your head and pretend to sneeze it off with a loud “Achoo!” noise. Act surprised when it falls to the ground. This simple game is silly and engaging enough that your child will likely want to keep playing it over and over, and hopefully start “sneezing” on their own.