While your child's words may not be the adult form of the word (e.g. "Ba" for ball) they will be close approximations of the words, and they will be used consistently. First words are the words used most FREQUENTLY in the child's environment and will vary from home to home and child to child. This list contains common words for most young children (0-3).
Common Nouns
Mama, Dada, brother and sister names, pet names, grandparents & other family members, and favorite characters (such as Elmo, Dora, Ariel, and Mickey). ball, book, choo-choo, train, bike, rain, bubbles, car, truck, boat, plane, baby, bowl, spoon, diaper, sock, shoe, shirt, pants, hat, star, flower, house, tree, brush, towel, bath, chair, table, bed, blanket, light, cookie, cracker, chip, cheese, apple, banana, ice cream, cereal (Cheerios/ “O’s”), candy, milk, juice, water, animals: dog, cat, fish, bird, duck, cow, horse, bunny, bear, pig, lion, elephant, giraffe, zebra, monkey, chicken, butterfly, bee, frog, alligator, snake
Social Function Words
more, please, thank you, hi/hello, bye-bye, again, sorry, uh-oh, yes/uh-huh/okay, no/uh-uh
Common Action Words (Verbs)
eat, drink, go, stop, run, jump, walk, sleep/night-night, wash, kiss, open, close, push, pull, fix, broke, play, want, hug, love, hurt, tickle, give, all done, dance, help, fall, shake, see, watch, look, sit, stand (up), throw, catch, blow, cry, throw, swing, slide, climb, ride, rock, come, color/draw
Location Words (Prepositions)
up, down, in, out, off, on, here, there
Descriptive Words? (Adjectives/Adverbs)
big, little, hot, cold, loud, quiet, yucky, icky, scary, funny, silly, dirty, clean, gentle, wet, soft, fast, slow, color words (red, blue, yellow, green, pink, orange, purple, black, white, brown) and quantity words (all, none, more, some, rest, plus early number words – 1, 2, 3...)
Early Pronouns
me, mine, my, I, you, it (towards age 3 the gender pronouns such as he, she, him, her are used)