A new research study conducted by the University of Chicago found that toddlers who point, wave bye-bye and use other gestures as part of the way the communicate tend to have stronger and more varied language when entering kindergarten.

To conduct their study the researchers visited the homes of 50 low and high-income families with 14 month olds and watched the interaction between parents and children for 90 minutes; they then visited with them again when they were 4 years old and about to enter kindergarten.  The researchers found that those children who used a lot of gestures as toddlers and had parents who used gestures when communicating with them had better language development at age 4 than those children who used fewer gestures as toddlers.

According to the research the high-income parents tended to use more gestures when communicating with their children, used broader language, and generally talked more with their toddlers than the lower-income parents.  As toddlers the higher-income children used more gestures such pointing and waving, and applied more meanings to those gestures.  On average the toddlers in the higher-income families applied about 25 meanings to their gestures compared with only 13 meanings applied by the lower-income families.

It is important to note that the parents were not using sign-language, they were simply using everyday gestures like pointing.  Ultimately, the key is to talk with your child as much as possible, read to them, and include gestures such as pointing to help them build strong language skills that will carry them through life.

For more information on the study visit the University of Chicago’s website.