New to this topic? Start with our companion article: Building Rich Vocabulary in Children: Categories, Verbs, and Describing Words | Brisbane
So you know that vocabulary depth matters — that it's not just about how many words your child knows, but how richly connected those words are. Now for the fun part: what can you actually do about it?
The good news is that building vocabulary depth doesn't require flashcards, drilling, or expensive programmes. It happens through conversation, play, everyday routines, and a bit of thoughtful modelling. The best vocabulary teaching barely looks like teaching at all — it's woven into meaningful activities and conversations. Here are some of the ideas we come back to most often. If your child needs more targeted support, a speech pathologist can tailor and extend these in a more structured way.
Building Category Knowledge
Categories are the filing system of the brain. When children can group words together — animals, vehicles, things you wear — they can store and retrieve words more efficiently. Here's how to strengthen that skill at home.
Sort Everything
Children love sorting, and you can turn almost anything into a sorting activity:
- Laundry: Sort by colour, by who it belongs to, or by type (tops, pants, socks).
- Groceries: As you unpack, talk about groups — "This goes in the fridge because it's dairy. Milk, cheese, yoghurt — they're all dairy."
- Toys: Sort figurines into categories (farm animals, sea creatures, dinosaurs) or sort blocks by size, shape, or colour.
Play "Odd One Out"
Put three or four items (or pictures) together where one doesn't belong. "Apple, banana, car — which one is the odd one out? Why?" This encourages children to think about why things go together, not just that they do.
Name the Category
During play or reading, pause and name the group. "A hammer, a saw, and a drill — those are all tools!" Then flip it: "Can you think of another tool?" This helps children build and access their mental categories.
Go on a Category Hunt
Pick a category and see how many examples you can find — at the shops, in a book, or around the house. "How many different fruits can we spot?" This works brilliantly in the supermarket.
Building Verb Knowledge
Verbs are the engine of language, and the more verbs your child knows, the more types of sentences they can build. Here's how to bring more verbs into your day.
Narrate Actions During Play
Instead of just naming objects, describe what's happening: "You're pouring the water. Now you're stirring it. The doll is drinking it!" Action-packed play — cooking, building, water play, playdough — is perfect for this. Rich play contexts also double as brilliant opportunities to build more complex sentences as your child narrates alongside you.
Play Action Games
- Simon Says: A classic for a reason. Use a wide range of verbs — stretch, tiptoe, freeze, wobble, crouch, spin, march, stomp.
- Charades: Take turns acting out verbs for each other to guess.
- Action songs: Songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "The Hokey Pokey" are packed with verbs.
Use Varied Verbs in Your Own Speech
I've often found that the children who make the fastest gains here are the ones whose parents started swapping in just one or two richer verbs a day — it doesn't need to be an overhaul. It's easy to fall into a pattern of using the same verbs over and over. Try swapping in more specific alternatives: instead of "put," try "place," "stack," "slide," or "balance." Instead of "go," try "dash," "wander," "race," or "creep." Your child picks up vocabulary from hearing you use it.
Talk About What Characters Do
When reading together, pay attention to the verbs. "The bear crept through the forest. He didn't walk — he crept. That means he moved really slowly and quietly." This builds both vocabulary and comprehension.
Building Describing Words
Descriptive language — adjectives and adverbs — is what turns simple sentences into vivid, detailed communication. Here's how to help your child build this skill.
Describe During Daily Routines
Bath time, meal time, and getting dressed are goldmines for descriptive language:
- Bath: "The water feels warm. The bubbles are slippery. Your towel is fluffy."
- Food: "This cracker is crunchy. The banana is mushy. The lemon is sour!"
- Getting dressed: "Let's put on your stripy shirt. These socks are thick."
Play "Describe It" Games
- Mystery bag: Put an object in a bag and describe it without looking — "It's smooth, round, and small" — then guess what it is.
- I Spy with describing words: Instead of letters, use descriptions: "I spy something shiny and round."
- Barrier games: Sit with a barrier between you and your child. Each person has the same set of objects or a picture to draw. One person describes, the other follows the description. This is a fantastic way to practise precise describing.
Use Comparison Words
Comparisons naturally bring out describing words. "This rock is heavy, but this one is heavier. Which one is the heaviest?" Comparison language (big, bigger, biggest) is a key skill that develops through the preschool and early primary years.
Expand on What Your Child Says
If your child says "big truck," you can expand: "Yes! It's a huge, red truck. It's much bigger than our car." This models richer description without correcting your child — you're simply adding more.
How Speech Pathologists Target Vocabulary
In our sessions at Speaking Speech Pathology, we use a range of evidence-based approaches to build vocabulary depth, including:
- Semantic feature analysis: We help children think about words in terms of their features — what group does it belong to? What does it look like? What does it do? Where do you find it? This builds those rich connections that make words easier to learn, store, and retrieve.
- Themed play: We set up play scenarios (a vet surgery, a restaurant, a building site) that naturally introduce specific categories, verbs, and describing words.
- Book-based vocabulary: Carefully chosen books are one of the best tools for vocabulary teaching. Research supports that repeated, meaningful exposure to words in context is one of the most effective ways to build vocabulary (Coyne et al., 2009), which is also why shared reading matters so much for language development at home. For school-aged children, we also lean on structured vocabulary instruction focused on "Tier Two" words — high-utility words that appear across many contexts (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2013).
Integrating Vocabulary Building into Your Day
The most powerful vocabulary teaching doesn't happen in a therapy session or at a desk — it happens in the everyday moments of life. Here are some general principles to keep in mind:
- Follow your child's interest. If your child is obsessed with trains, use that! Build categories (types of trains), verbs (chug, brake, accelerate, load), and describing words (fast, heavy, old-fashioned, electric) around trains.
- Repeat, repeat, repeat. Children need to hear a new word many times — in different contexts and different sentences — before it sticks. Research suggests children may need 10–20 meaningful exposures to a new word before they truly own it.
- Don't just label — explain. When you come across a new word, take a moment to explain it simply, connect it to something your child already knows, and use it again naturally in conversation.
When to Seek Help
If your child's vocabulary seems limited for their age — if they're relying on a small set of words, struggling to learn new ones, having trouble finding words they know, or falling behind with classroom language — a speech pathology assessment can help clarify what's going on and what will help.
At Speaking Speech Pathology, we look at vocabulary breadth (how many words), depth (how well they know them), and use (how they use words in sentences and conversation). From there, we build a targeted plan that's practical, play-based, and tailored to your child.
Alexandra Bouwmeester is a Senior Speech Pathologist (MSPA, CPSP) and founder of Speaking Speech Pathology, with over 14 years' experience supporting children's vocabulary and reading. She offers mobile speech pathology to families across Brisbane's south side and Logan.
Building vocabulary depth is one of the most rewarding things you can do for your child's language and learning. If you'd like guidance tailored to your family, Speaking Speech Pathology is always happy to chat.
References
- Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
- Coyne, M. D., McCoach, D. B., Loftus, S., Zipoli, R., & Kapp, S. (2009). Direct vocabulary instruction in kindergarten: Teaching for breadth versus depth. The Elementary School Journal, 110(1), 1–18.
