BookmarkBookmarkTickBookmarkAddCheckBoxFilledCheckBoxCircleBumpCheckedFilledMedical

Toddlers Learned More Words During Lockdown Than Expected, Study Says

Researchers believe this could be due to increased activities done together by parents and children at home.
save article
profile picture of Nehal Aggarwal
By Nehal Aggarwal, Editor
Published February 28, 2022
mother holding toddler during covid lockdown quarantine
Image: Maskot/Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly turned life upside down for everyone. While the pandemic has been ongoing for two years, experts are still trying to learn more about the virus and the consequences lockdown may have had, particularly for young children.

Researchers from 13 different countries looked at data from 2,000 babies and toddlers, aged between 8 and 36 months. They wanted to know how the social isolation from COVID-19 and increased screen time had impacted their development, particularly in language acquisition. Their research was conducted with two different studies. One was led by the University of Oslo and published in the journal Language Development Research, while the second was led by the University of Göttingen with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland and published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study started after March 2020 and collected data for a little over one month. Researchers asked parents of the participants to complete an online questionnaire. They answered questions about their child’s age, exposure to different languages, vocabulary and how many siblings they had. Then, towards the end of lockdown, parents were asked about what kind of activities they did with their children at home, how much screen time their child used (before and during lockdown), how much screen time the parents use and their attitude towards their kids’ screen time use. Parents also completed a standardized checklist on how many words their children understood at the beginning and end of lockdown, which helped researchers assess how many words had been learned.

The studies found that children who were read to more during the study period had learned more words, while kids who had increased exposure to screens had learned to say less words. However, while the children did have more screen time overall, researchers found they had learned more words than expected, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The researchers also found that screen time usage increased the longer the lockdown went on, in families that had fewer years of education and in households where parents used screens for longer themselves. It also increased due to the closure of daycares and in-person play groups.

“While this suggests that the relatively short isolation did not detrimentally impact language in young children, we should be cautious in assuming this would apply during normal times or to longer lockdowns, given the extraordinary circumstances that children and their parents faced during this time,” Natalia Kartushina, an associate professor University of Oslo, said in a press release.

"Many caregivers were in the novel situation of caring for and entertaining their young infants at home all day without recourse to other activities and in addition to their other responsibilities,” Nivedita Mani, a professor at the University of Göttingen, also said. “Allowing your child increased screen time is an understandable solution to this unprecedented situation, in which caregivers were juggling multiple responsibilities—meetings at work or chores that require concentration, together with a small child who needs entertaining. We’ve all done it during lockdown.”

It makes sense that screen time use increased during lockdown and the pandemic in general, but the researchers are reassured to know that young children were still able to learn more words than in the pre-pandemic days. With more time at home, parents were able to spend more time with their kids, and the researchers believe their language development findings could be due to the increased activities parents and kids did together.

The study does have some limitations, given its short study period. It also focuses solely on language development and doesn’t account for how pandemic-related lockdowns may have affected social and emotional development.

save article
Article removed.
Name added. View Your List
ADVERTISEMENT

Next on Your Reading List

Why Baby Hates Tummy Time (and What You Can Do to Help)
Why Baby Hates Tummy Time (and What You Can Do to Help)
Medically Reviewed by Lauren Crosby, MD
baby doing tummy time while holding head up
When Do Babies Hold Their Head Up?
Medically Reviewed by Dina DiMaggio Walters, MD
sad beige parenting and neutral baby decor
How Colors Play a Role in Baby’s Development
Medically Reviewed by Dina DiMaggio Walters, MD
ADVERTISEMENT
baby using the pincer grasp while playing with block toys
What Is the Pincer Grasp?
Medically Reviewed by Lauren Crosby, MD
mother playing with baby during tummy time
What Are Gross and Fine Motor Skills?
Medically Reviewed by Lauren Crosby, MD
baby grabbing toy while lying down
When Do Babies Start Grabbing Things?
Medically Reviewed by Lauren Crosby, MD
baby grasping mom's finger, palmar grasp
What Is the Palmar Grasp Reflex in Babies?
Medically Reviewed by Dina DiMaggio Walters, MD
ADVERTISEMENT
teaching baby to walk
Baby’s First Steps: When Do Babies Start Walking?
Medically Reviewed by Loretta Cody, MD
baby and mom clapping and smiling on couch together at home
When Do Babies Wave, Clap and Point?
Medically Reviewed by Loretta Cody, MD
Baby with ball
Babies Develop Self-Awareness as Young as 4 Months Old, Study Suggests
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
mother looking at baby in bassinet
When Can Babies See Clearly?
Medically Reviewed by Lauren Crosby, MD
top view of baby drawing with crayons
This Simple Hack Will Help Your Child Get the Right Grip on a Pencil
By Wyndi Kappes
Baby practicing tummy time.
Introducing Tummy Time to Baby
Medically Reviewed by Lauren Crosby, MD
ADVERTISEMENT
baby doing tummy time while playing with toy
Viral TikTok About the Need for Tummy Time Sparks Conversation
By Wyndi Kappes
baby standing on bed with smiling mother
When Can You Expect Baby to Stand?
By Colleen De Bellefonds
Newborn baby yawning while swaddled.
The Moro Reflex: What Makes Babies Startle and How to Calm the Reflex
By Dina DiMaggio Walters, MD
Dad smiling and looking at his baby daughter.
How to Address Your Child’s Developmental Delay During the Pandemic
By Jocelyn M. Wood, CCC-SLP
ADVERTISEMENT
Why Does My Baby Keep Pulling Tupperware Out of Our Kitchen Cabinets?
Why Does My Baby Keep Pulling Tupperware Out of Our Kitchen Cabinets?
By The Bump Editors
Why Babies Pull Their Legs to Their Chest
Why Babies Pull Their Legs to Their Chest
By Wendy Sue Swanson, MD
newborn head circumference measured growth
Baby Growth Chart
By Aviva Patz
ADVERTISEMENT
Article removed.