How to use magnetic books to stimulate language: encouraging requests in children
Marie-Claude Dufour, orthophoniste
Concrete (and effective) ideas to encourage requests, communication, and first sentences - without turning reading into an interrogation.
Does your child have difficulty making requests? Do you sometimes feel like you don't understand what they want, and it ends in shouts or tears? Does this cause them frustration and make you feel helpless?
If so, you are not alone. Good news: there are simple, natural, and fun ways to transform these moments of frustration into real communication opportunities, and that's what Symbolicone's magnetic books allow you to do.
Stimulating requests: When magnets become a reason to communicate
Creating a REAL need to speak (or be understood)
To stimulate a request, you must first create a real opportunity to make a request in which the child truly desires to obtain the object. This is what magnets allow us to do by giving them to the child upon request, whether verbal or non-verbal, depending on the child's level.
How to set up the activity
1. The book is given to the child, folded in on itself, so as to show only one page at a time (to help the child stay focused on the current page).
2. The adult keeps the pictograms.
3. We start with the first pictogram of the sentence (the subject).
4. The adult takes the pictogram, places it near their mouth, and clearly names the word it corresponds to (e.g., "the DOG"), while keeping it out of the child's reach.
5. At that moment, we wait. It is important to wait for at least five long seconds. The child's brain needs more time to process information, plan their response, and initiate a request.
6. We do not immediately give the pictogram: we give the child the opportunity and time to make a request.
The different levels of requests to recognize
Depending on the child's profile and language development level, the request can take different forms:
Eye contact: in a non-verbal child who does not yet make intentional gestures, eye contact can be the very first form of request to recognize and reinforce.
Pointing: often the first intentional and symbolic communication gesture. Combined with a word, it becomes a springboard to the first combinations… of words.
Gesture: reaching out, repeatedly opening and closing the hand, pointing to the palm of one hand with the index finger of the other hand… Gestures are often precursors to oral language and remain true attempts at communication.
Verbal request: "want", "dog", "I want the dog".
All these forms are valid. The goal is not to demand a perfect word or sentence, but first to create a pleasant intentional interaction between the child and the adult.
Give, reinforce, and model
As soon as a request is made (regardless of its level), the adult:
Gives the pictogram to the child.
Positively reinforces the request (warm facial expression, positive intonation, physical contact, a small "bravo"). The important thing is for the child to understand that they have succeeded in making themselves understood.
Provides a model adapted to the child's level (see the following section "how to progress requests").
Example:
Child's production: They point to the dog.
Adult's rephrasing: "The dog" (pointing to the pictogram)
The child then places the pictogram on the book. We move on to the next pictogram and so on... until the end of the book! This type of activity transforms reading into a real exchange. The child does not just watch or listen: they learn that communicating has an impact, that their gestures, looks, or words allow the story to progress.
How to progress requests
The goal is to gradually guide the child towards more elaborate requests, at their own pace, by adjusting our feedback. If the child makes a request by:
Eye contact → We model pointing. If they accept touch, we can even take their hand to show them how to point.
Pointing → We add a gesture or a word. Depending on what the child prefers, we could, for example, open and close the hand (gesture for "want") and then point to the pictogram, to combine gestures, or point to the pictogram while saying "DOG", to combine a word and a gesture.
Pointing + word → We model the complete sentence by pointing and emphasizing the verb. For example, if the child points while saying "dog", the adult replies "you WANT the dog!". We can even support the word "want" with a gesture and point to the dog while producing the words. Be careful to slow your speech and pause between words to help the child understand and learn each word!
Short sentence → We enrich it slightly by adding words. For example, if the child says "want dog", we rephrase "YOU want THE dog!", emphasizing the words that were missing from their sentence.
Over time, these small natural progressions often lead from eye contact to gesture, then from gesture to word, and finally to the first small functional sentences, all in a playful and reassuring context.
We could compare it to climbing stairs while holding the child's hand. The adult's role is to stand on the next step to help the child climb the next step, not to stand at the top of the stairs and tell them to climb!
Moving away from repetitive "what's that?"
Stimulating requests also helps avoid bombarding the child with questions. Instead of passively responding, the child acts to make themselves understood, which promotes more authentic and motivating communication.
In conclusion
Used in this way, magnetic books become true tools for interaction and language development. They help the child understand that communicating is useful, effective, and rewarding. And often, it is in these small repeated moments, page after page, that the greatest progress is made. (And no, it still doesn't require asking "what's that?" with every picture 😉)
