Between the ages of 11-14, children’s speech, language and communication development becomes more gradual and increasingly sophisticated. You may notice that children begin using conjunctions such as ‘however’ and ‘meanwhile’ to form longer sentences, start to express complex thoughts and ideas, and change topic mid-conversation.
It’s around this age that children also begin to experiment with sarcasm as a form of humour and use slang terms when talking to friends. By age 14, most children are able to grasp idiomatic expressions such as ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’, hold conversations with adults, and engage with language in a more playful way.