486 words to see, hear, and read

The games share one picture vocabulary of everyday things at home and outside, in 30 books. Every word has a picture, the word on its own with its letters lighting up, a short line (“A banana.”), and a question (“Where’s the banana?”).

Why this many: in parents’ reports, the top tenth of 2-year-olds say over 500 words, nearly every word on the standard 680-word checklist by 30 months, and an upper-range 3-year-old is estimated to say around 1,000 words. About half of those are names for things, so this list aims at the upper end for ages 2 to 3. It’s a menu to explore together, not a test: by 30 months, most children say about 50 words.

Body parts are in Teddy’s Nose, and your family’s names in My Family.