Play Ideas That Can Encourage Your Toddler To Talk

If you have heard that the rules around mobile phones and electronic devices in early childhood settings have changed, you are right. If your child attends a childcare centre in NSW, these changes are already in effect.

Here is a plain-English breakdown of what changed, why it happened, and what it means for your family.

Why Did the Laws Change?

The changes were introduced as a child safety measure. In 2025, Australia’s Education Ministers agreed to amend the Education and Care Services National Law to address concerns about the potential for personal devices to be used to capture, store, or transmit images of children in care without authorisation.

The intent is straightforward: children in early learning settings deserve an environment where their privacy and safety are actively protected.

What Changed Nationally

From 27 February 2026, amendments to the national Education and Care Services National Law took effect across Australia. Under these changes, educators and staff who work directly with children are restricted from using personal electronic devices in care settings.

Before this, from 1 September 2025, all early childhood education and care services nationwide were required to have written policies in place addressing the use of digital devices.

What Changed in NSW

NSW moved ahead of the national timeline. The Education and Care Services (Supply, Authorisation and Use of Devices) Order 2025 took effect on 6 November 2025, applying across NSW’s 6,000 or more early learning services, including long day care centres, preschools, and family day care.

Under this order, educators and staff must use service-issued or service-authorised devices rather than their own personal devices when working directly with children.

What Counts as a Personal Device?

The definition is broad. A personal device is any device owned by an individual (not the approved provider) that is capable of capturing, storing, or transmitting an image. This includes:

Mobile phones
Smartwatches
Cameras and tablets
iPads and laptops
Hard drives, USB drives, and memory cards
Wearables such as camera glasses

Who Does the Ban Apply To?

The restrictions apply to anyone working directly with children at a service, including permanent and casual educators, students on placement, volunteers, contractors, and allied health professionals delivering programs on-site.

Parents, carers, and other visitors are not covered by the ban. In NSW, parents and carers remain free to use their personal devices during drop-off, pick-up, centre visits, and events involving their own children. There are also authorised exceptions for essential purposes, including emergencies and health or disability support needs.

What About Screen Time for Children?

These new laws specifically address staff device use, not children’s screen time. Screen time limits for young children are not mandated within childcare regulation at a national level.

The relevant guidance comes from the federal Department of Health and Aged Care’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, which recommend no screen time for children under 2 years, and no more than 1 hour per day for children aged 2 to 5 years. These are health guidelines, not regulatory requirements.

What This Means for Your Family

If your child attends a childcare centre in NSW, their service is already required to operate under these rules. Any educator or staff member working directly with your child should not be using a personal device to take photos or videos. Only service-authorised devices should be used for that purpose.

If you have questions about how your centre handles digital devices or image capture, you are well within your rights to ask. Most services will have a written policy in place that covers exactly this.

At Clovel, the safety and wellbeing of every child in our care is at the heart of everything we do. If you would like to know more about how we support your child across our centres, we would love to have that conversation with you.

Toddlers are at a stage where they are beginning to learn and master languages. As a parent or adult who looks after a child, you can incorporate play ideas into their daily routine to help them enhance their talking skills. Telling stories, chatting with them, listening and singing to your child are some ways in which you can encourage your toddler to talk.

Children hear sounds, conversations and words right from the minute they are born. Over the months and years they start to pick up words and string sentences even and their language “explodes”. While different children start to talk fluently at different ages, on average, by the age of three, most are able to speak simple sentences. By this age, even strangers are able to understand what your toddler is saying.

Some Facts about Toddlers and Their Talking Abilities

Of course, the child may still struggle with some words but they are able to express themselves fairly well. The truth is that toddlers can find talking to be very frustrating. It’s because their thought process works faster than their vocal abilities. They respond positively to interest and encouragement. So rather than making fun of them or correcting them too often, encourage them and laud their efforts every now and then.

Learning how to talk can be quite a complicated skill. The best way to help your child develop it is to have fun together during the process. If you only focus on the teaching aspect, they may find it very tedious to learn things.

Play Ideas to Include While Teaching Toddlers How To Talk

Here are some interesting ideas that can help to encourage your toddler to speak.

It’s a good idea to teach them while you are carrying out some daily activities. Include them in it and teach them sentences and words related to that activity. For example, if you are pulling out clothes from the drier and folding them, say something like – “The clothes are now dry and I am folding them”.
Read with them every opportunity you get.
Respond to your children’s questions and show them that you are interested in what they have to say. So, if they are riding their bicycle, ask them where they are going etc.
When you are driving anywhere with your child, play songs and bursary rhymes to them.
When your child says some basic words like ‘apple’, you can add something like- “Yes, it’s a red apple” or “It’s a juicy apple”. They may not be able to say the entire sentence right away, but ultimately, they will learn to string sentences faster.
You can play games that incorporate some learning. So, you can ask them questions like “Where is your nose?” or “Where are your toes?”

While there are many learning and game apps for toddlers, it’s best to keep screen time at a minimum. Extended screen times can give rise to health problems in toddlers as well as pre-schoolers. It also results in poorer social skills, low attention spans and slowdown in language development. So, it’s far better to spend as much time with your toddler as possible and keep them engaged in some fun activities where they are also learning things. But the objective is to make the learning seem like play so they don’t tire of it and feel that they are being bombarded with knowledge constantly.

Red Flags to Look Out For

Most toddlers start babbling a lot by the time they are 18 months of age. If your child doesn’t seem to be listing when everyone around them is talking or if they can’t form meaningful words, it might be a good idea to consult your Paediatrician or Medical General Practitioner. Early intervention and the right approach can help to rectify the issue and encourage speech and learning in most children.

We at Clovel Childcare and Early Learning Centre, we provide a very nurturing environment for children to learn and grow. We include play activities that encourage speech and learning in a fun way. For any information about our services, give us a call at 02 9199 0294 or fill in this contact us form

Thanks for reading,
Clovel Childcare
1300 863 986

Lyn Connolly

Founder and Company Director

Lyn Connolly is the Founder and Company Director of Clovel Childcare & Early Learning Centres, a family‑owned group of eight centres across Western Sydney established from her first service at Merrylands. Active in early childhood education since 1977, she also serves as President of the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW, representing providers in state and federal consultations, media, and public hearings.

Blog & Videos