You know that talking and singing as much as you can to your baby helps her develop language skills so that one day, usually around that first birthday, you’ll delight in hearing her first words. How can you do her the most good? Babies start to understand the meaning of words as early as age 6 months, says George Hollich, PhD, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. When they begin talking at around 12 months, their average vocabulary is about six words, which increases to a few hundred words—mostly nouns—by age 2. Not surprisingly, young toddlers learn words for tangible objects more easily than for intangibles. But they are much more inclined to learn the label for a whole object than for its parts, according to a recent study co-headed by Dr. Hollich. For example, when a child is introduced to a clown, she may be most fascinated by his shiny red nose, but she still thinks of this object as “clown,” the whole item. So to be clear, you need to first explicitly show the whole clown and say “clown.” When she seems to grasp this idea, you can then point to the clown’s nose and say “nose.” These distinctions matter, says Dr. Hollich. Without them, “the child could be left with incorrect assumptions about what things are and mean.” So when your baby reaches for Rex’s tail and squeals “Doggy!” use your hands and words to explain that the whole Rex is “doggy” and the wagging part is his “tail.” What else can you do? Reading aloud is essential. Even infants benefit from hearing the sound of the words as you show the pictures. Busy parents can also play the naming game, pointing at objects wherever you are and labeling them for your child. With these simple word ways, you’ll soon find out whether it’s “Mama,” “Dada” or “ball” that your baby blurts out first.