The Verb Gap: Why Most Toddler Apps Only Teach Nouns

By Sean Record

Parent and App Developer

Published November 26, 2025

About the author•More articles

Transparency: I created the Little Wheels apps mentioned in this article. All recommendations are based on my experience as a parent, research into child development, and feedback from 500+ families. This content aims to help parents make informed decisions, not just promote my apps. Read about our parent-first development philosophy

When I analyzed 20+ popular toddler vocabulary apps, I found a pattern: they're all teaching the same 100-150 nouns. Animals, colors, foods, body parts. But they're missing something critical.

Verbs. Prepositions. The words children actually need to form sentences.

The Noun Saturation Problem

Open any "first words" app and you'll find the same categories:

• Animals: dog, cat, bird, fish, cow, pig, horse...
• Colors: red, blue, green, yellow...
• Foods: apple, banana, milk, cookie...
• Body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, hands...
• Objects: ball, car, book, cup...

These are all nouns. Labels for things. And while nouns are important first words, the market is completely saturated with them. Every app teaches "dog" and "apple." Adding another app that teaches "dog" and "apple" doesn't help your child progress.

What's Actually Missing

When I mapped vocabulary coverage across competitor apps, the gaps became clear:

Why This Matters for Your Child

Here's the thing: children don't speak in nouns. They speak in combinations.

To move from Stage 1 to Stage 2, children need verbs and functional words. "Want" + noun. "Go" + noun. "More" + noun. If all they've learned is nouns, they get stuck.

This is why some children have impressive noun vocabularies (50+ words) but struggle to combine words into phrases. They have the building blocks but not the glue. If you're concerned about your child's word combinations, see our Late Talker App Guide.

Why Apps Focus on Nouns

There's a reason for this gap. Nouns are easier to teach in apps:

• Easy to illustrate: Show a picture of a dog → child says "dog"
• Easy to test: "Point to the apple" has a clear right answer
• Easy to gamify: Match the picture to the word
• Impressive metrics: "Learn 100 words!" sounds good in marketing

Verbs and prepositions are harder. How do you illustrate "go"? How do you test "in"? These words require context, movement, relationships between objects. They're harder to turn into flashcard games. This is also why many apps rely on dopamine loops instead of meaningful language practice.

The Vehicle Advantage

This is where vehicle-themed content has a natural advantage. Vehicles are inherently about action:

When a fire truck goes "WEE-OO WEE-OO" and zooms down the street, that's not just a noun—it's action, sound, movement. Children naturally want to narrate what vehicles do, not just label them.

What to Look For

When evaluating vocabulary apps for your toddler, ask:

1. Does it teach action words? Look for verbs like go, stop, eat, drink, want, help, open, close
2. Does it model phrases? Not just "ball" but "want ball" or "throw ball"
3. Does it include functional words? More, all done, help, please, hi, bye
4. Does it show relationships? In, on, under, behind—words that connect objects
5. Does it encourage imitation? Call-and-response patterns, not just passive watching

Beyond Apps: Real-World Practice

The best vocabulary building happens in real life. Here's how to emphasize verbs and functional words:

Notice the pattern: short, clear action words paired with the activity. This is what children need to hear—and what most apps don't provide.

The Bottom Line

The toddler app market has a verb problem. Everyone's teaching the same nouns while ignoring the words children actually need to form sentences.

If your child has plenty of nouns but isn't combining words yet, the issue might not be vocabulary size—it might be vocabulary type. Focus on action words, functional phrases, and apps that model language in context rather than isolated labels.