Toddlers who blow bubbles learn to speak earlier

Speech therapists working with toddlers use a variety of fun oral motor activities to help develop speech skills. Some of the activities such as bubble and horn blowing help to build the strength and tone of the lips, tongue and jaw as well as develop good respiration skills necessary for the production of speech. In my private practice, I can think of many toddlers who began talking after starting horn and bubble blowing programs.

A June 24, 2006 research article in Medical News Today performed a series of tests on 120 toddlers all aged 21 months. Read full article at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/printerfriendlynews.php?newsid_45889

The toddlers were given a series of developmental tasks to determine if there was a specific link to language acquisition. Some skills were related to better language development, while others were not linked to language development at all. I encourage you to read the full article, but I will list some of the most important quotes/findings below:

"Toddlers who blow bubbles and lick their lips seem to learn how to acquire language earlier than babies who don't, say researchers from Lancaster University, UK. They found a clear link between a toddler's ability to carry out complex mouth movements with the ability to acquire and develop language".

"The team noticed that those who used hand gestures well, such as waving or making shapes had better language skills."

"A child's ability to pretend was linked to the development of language skills"

"In short, it seems that 21 month old toddlers who can perform complex mouth movements, hand gestures and have the ability to pretend , tend to have better language acquisition and development skills".

Cognitive skills or walking or running skills were not linked to language development at all.