Key words you can use while doing this activity:
- Car
- Down
- More
- Ready, steady, go!
- Stopped
- Finished
What to do:
- Put the car track between you and your child but keep hold of the cars. Smile and wait.
- If your child points, looks at you or makes a sound/says a word say; ‘car?’
- Put the car on the top of the ramp and hold it still, saying ‘ready, steady…’ then pause…
- Keep looking at your child and again wait for them to communicate (by pointing, looking, making a sound) before saying ‘go!’ and letting the car go.
- As the car goes down say ‘down, down, down’ and once it’s at the bottom; ‘stopped’.
- Wait for your child to request more (this could be pointing, looking, picking the car up, making a sound or saying a word), saying ‘more?’ and playing the game again.
- You can take it in turns to put the car down saying ‘your turn’ or ‘mummy’s turn’.
- When you have repeated the game a number of times and are ready to stop, say ‘finished’ and put the car track away.
Using just these basic words gives your child a good model of how words can be used. It also helps them hear the most important words and lets them hear them over and over in the same way.
By waiting for your child to communicate, you are showing them how to take turns in conversations and encouraging them to have a go.
This activity is good for:
- Developing attention skills – by encouraging your child to wait for ‘ready, steady ……… go!’ before letting the car go.
- Developing eye contact – your child will learn to look at your face as you talk and do the actions.
- Learning new words – by letting your child hear the same simple words over and over again and showing them how they can be used.
- Developing conversation skills – by waiting and giving them a chance to communicate, either by looking, pointing, making a sound or saying a word.
- Taking turns – by letting your child have a go at putting a car down the track. You can also say whose turn it is e.g. ‘your turn’, ‘mummy’s turn’, ‘daddy’s turn’ etc.
