Words & stories
Pretend phone call
- Builds: Taking turns talking
- 10 min
- Ages 1–4
- Calm
- No mess
From the house
- Two pretend phones: old remotes, blocks or bananas
How to play
- Ring ring! Answer and say hello in a big voice.
- Pretend to call grandma and ask, “What did you do today?”
- They call you and ask the questions.
- Hang up with “Bye-bye, love you.”
Fit it to your child
- Easier: Just say “hello” and “bye-bye” with the phone to your ear, and let them copy.
- Harder: Call a pretend pizza shop: they take your order and read it back to you.
Words to use
- hello
- bye-bye
- who
- today
Why it helps
Listening, answering and asking back is how a conversation works, and every round of it grows their vocabulary.
Grown-up eyes: Take the batteries out of old remotes first.