Are interactive talking toys good for speech development?

Not really. They talk instead of your child, and research shows parents talk less around them too. They're fine for fun, but for speech choose a toy that says nothing by itself.

What toy should I buy a two-year-old who isn't talking much yet?

A toy phone, animal figures, a play kitchen or a board book. More important than the toy, though, is playing with you: comment, wait for an answer and extend their words by one more.

Does blowing bubbles or a whistle help with speech?

As play and shared fun, yes, but on its own it won't teach speech. Children learn to talk mainly by talking — in conversation with an adult.

How long should we play each day for it to make a difference?

Short bursts of focused play are enough, say ten minutes a day when you're there just for your child. Speech also grows while getting dressed, cooking or in the car, whenever you chat together.

When should I take my child to a speech-language therapist?

If they aren't talking or putting two words together around their second birthday, if even close family can't understand them around age three, or if they're losing speech they already had. Start with your family doctor or go straight to a speech-language therapist.

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Toys for Speech Development: Ones Your Child Must Talk To

14/10/2026 · The Hero of the Book Team

A talking toy talks for your child. Pick toys where your child does the talking: a table by age, phrases to get them chatting, when a toy is not enough.

Toys for Speech Development: Ones Your Child Must Talk To

Quick answer

The toys that do most for speech are the ones that say nothing themselves: a hand puppet, a toy phone, a play kitchen, animal figures, picture cards or a book without buttons. With these, it's your child who has to talk — along with the adult playing with them. A toy that sings, counts and names things for your child, on the other hand, takes away their reason to open their mouth.

Why a talking toy tends to hold speech back

Speech isn't learned by listening to a speaker but by taking turns: your child says something, an adult answers, your child responds. Each exchange like that is a small lesson. A toy with buttons short-circuits it — your child presses, the toy talks, done. They don't have to say anything, so they don't.

A study by American researchers in JAMA Pediatrics (2016) showed this well. At home, parents played with children aged 10 to 16 months, taking turns with electronic toys, traditional toys and books. With electronic toys, parents talked less, responded less to what their child was doing, and the children themselves "talked" less too. Books produced the most words, with traditional toys close behind.

That doesn't mean the flashing gadget is banned. Just don't count it among the toys for speech: your child spends time with it, but won't learn new words from it.

Toys where your child has to do the talking

Hand puppet or finger puppets
A puppet gives your child a second voice. A shy child who won't answer for themselves will often speak "for the dog". One or two puppets and a cardboard box for a theatre are plenty.
Toy phone
You can't make a phone call in silence. A plain phone with no sounds beats one that rings and talks by itself — your child has to act out the call.
Play kitchen, shop, doctor's kit
Pretend play calls for sentences: "What would you like?", "How much is it?", "Where does it hurt?". Your child tries on other roles, and with them words they don't usually hear at home.
Animals and a farm
For the youngest, first sounds (moo, miaow, quack); for older children, whole stories: who ran away from whom, who's hungry, who got lost.
Picture cards and memory games
Turning a card over means naming it — and for older children, describing it: "It's an animal, it has a long neck and eats leaves." Card riddles train vocabulary and sentence building.
Blocks and figures
A building set isn't about speech on its own, but as soon as a figure moves into the house, the storytelling starts. Add a car or an animal and ask where it's going.
Books without buttons
A picture book is the most powerful speech toy there is, as long as you talk about it rather than just read it aloud. Point, name things, let your child finish a sentence they know by heart.

What to choose by age

Age	What your child is doing with speech	Toy	How to play with it
1–2 years	first words, pointing, copying sounds	animal figures, a ball, a board book, a box with a lid	name what your child points at; make animal sounds and wait for them to copy
2–3 years	putting two, then three words together, asking "what's that?"	phone, play kitchen, cars with a garage, picture cards	extend their sentences by one word: "car" → "blue car's going"
3–4 years	short sentences, "why?" questions, first stories	puppets, a shop, a doctor's kit, a memory game	play a role where they have to ask and answer, then swap roles
4–6 years	tells what happened, rhymes, guesses	figures for stories, riddle cards, picture blocks	let them make up what happens next; play guessing games from descriptions

Phrases that get your child talking

Instead of asking "What's that?"

"Hmm, I think this animal's asleep… or is it?" — a comment leaves your child room; an interrogation shuts them down.

When your child says one word

Child: "Doggy." You: "Doggy's running! Where's doggy running?" — you repeat their word and add a new one.

When they get it wrong

Child: "Doggy eated." You: "Yes, doggy ate. He ate his biscuits." — you don't correct, you just say it right and carry on.

A choice instead of yes/no

"Do you want the red cup or the blue one?" — you can't just nod at that; you have to answer with a word.

Playing with a puppet

Puppet: "I'm sooo hungry. What should I have for lunch?" — your child gives the puppet advice and talks more than if they were answering you.

On the phone

"Hello, it's Grandma here. What did you do at preschool today?" — a real question your child knows the answer to and you don't.

How to play so your child talks, not you

1
Get down to their level
On the floor, face to face. Children also learn speech by watching the mouth of whoever is talking.
2
Follow their interest
Play with what they chose. Children talk about the thing that's grabbing them right now, not the one you slip them.
3
Comment, don't quiz
Say out loud what's happening ("The car's going up the hill… and crash!") instead of a string of questions you already know the answers to.
4
Wait
After you speak, count to five in your head. Silence is an invitation. Most adults fill it themselves before the child has even drawn breath.
5
Add one more word
Answer one word with two, two words with a short sentence. Always just one step ahead of what your child can do.
6
Play briefly and often
Ten minutes of focused play a day does more than an hour side by side with everyone looking elsewhere.

A book as a toy for talking

In the study mentioned above, books came out best because a picture explains nothing by itself — the adult and the child have to do it. But that only holds for a book you talk about. Sound books with buttons are really a talking toy in a paper coat: good for fun, not for speech development. You'll find more about books you can play with in the article on interactive books.

A book in which your child recognises themselves is great for getting them talking, too. When they're the hero of the story, they want to retell it to Grandma, fill in what happened next and add ideas of their own. A personalised book can do exactly that: one photo becomes a hero who looks like your child, the story has 12 illustrated spreads and is usually ready within 15 minutes. You can stop at every spread and ask: "What do you think they'll do now?"

What not to buy, and when a toy isn't enough

For speech, toys that talk instead of your child aren't worth it: an interactive puppy that recites the alphabet by itself, a tablet with "educational" games or a sound-button board. Also watch out for small parts on puppets and figures for children under three — what to check is summed up in the article on safe toys. For ideas by skill rather than age, see toys for one-year-olds and gifts for preschoolers.

No toy can replace a professional, though. Take notice if, around their second birthday, your child isn't talking at all or isn't putting two words together, if around age three even people who know them well can't understand them, or if they're losing speech they already had. Then talk to your family doctor and a speech-language therapist. Getting checked early is always better than waiting to see whether it "sorts itself out".

Sources

Sosa A. V.: Association of the Type of Toy Used During Play With the Quantity and Quality of Parent-Infant Communication — JAMA Pediatrics, 2016 — comparing electronic toys, traditional toys and books.
Yogman M. et al.: The Power of Play — Pediatrics, 2018 — clinical report of the American Academy of Pediatrics on the importance of play.
ASHA: How Does Your Child Hear and Talk? — An overview of what children usually manage with speech at each age.