Ming from Agents of Speech demonstrates how to hide puzzle pieces or Mr. Potato Head parts to force kids to communicate for what they want. Start around age 2 or 3, teaching them that asking, gesturing, and eye contact actually get results.
A lot of times when you see us work on agents of speech is that we put things in containers. We create situations where the child is supposed to find the next thing, the next puzzle, next body part of Mr. Potato Head. Remove the dice, remove something, and it creates a communication need that the child has to talk to you in order to get what they want. And so, at 2 to 3 years old, is where it's okay for you to start trying this kind of methods. To try and tell your child that there's a means to an end to communication is that if they do something, whether if it's like imitating something, doing a gesture, looking at you, just rolling over, getting closer to you, that will allow the child to get what they want quicker. That's communication.
