To help your child develop their understanding and use of language, it is important that you simplify your own language when talking to them.
Your child needs help to develop their understanding and use of single words. E.g. if you presented your child with a toy dog and a toy horse then said “find the dog” they would need to understand that particular word to carry out the request.
It is important to remember that your child will make use of all the non-spoken information available when you give a request, e.g. facial expression, gestures, tone of voice and the familiar. It is only by withdrawing all of this non-spoken information, that you can be sure they have understood the request.
It is important to try and carry out some language activities with your child every day. It is only through regular practice that you will see progress in your child’s understanding and use of language.
Read through the games suggested here and pick out some to try with your child – you don’t have to do them in order
- Doing the games once or twice a day for five minutes is much better than half an hour a week.
- Stop before your child is bored – and make sure that you both find the games enjoyable.
- Most of all – have fun!
Understanding
Language is often described in terms of key words (information carrying words). These are the essential words needed to convey the precise meaning of the sentence.
- Single word level e.g. “point to the cat” (choice of cat and dog)
- 2 word level e.g. “point to the cat’s eyes” (choice of cat and dog, eyes and ears)
- 3 word level e.g. “point to the big cat’s eyes” (choice of big and little, cat and dog, eyes and ears)
Each activity has instructions which contain “key words”. These words are underlined and represent the number of items of vocabulary a child must understand in order to follow the instruction correctly.
For a “key word” to be valid, there must be a contrast item, e.g. the child is presented with dolly, teddy, plate and spoon. They are instructed to “Give teddy the plate”.
The child needs to understand the 2 words underlined, i.e. that it’s a teddy not a dolly, and a plate not a spoon.
BUT if the child was presented with a teddy, plate and spoon and instructed to “Give teddy the plate”, they only need to understand “plate”, as there is no other toy apart from teddy to give the plate to.
Expression
You may also want to develop your child’s spoken language. This can be done by taking it in turns to give instructions. Initially your child may need a lot of prompting, and explanation that they are now the ‘teacher’ and must tell you what to do.
If they find it difficult, you could begin by splitting it up into easier stages, e.g.
“Who shall we have – dolly or teddy?”
“Dolly”
“What’s dolly going to do?”
“Jump”
“So I’ve got to ‘make dolly jump’. Can you tell me now?”
“Make dolly jump”
General points
- Demonstrate each activity first to your child
- Don’t split up the command as this reduces the level of understanding
Make sure that you don’t always ask your child to do the obvious thing, e.g. the milk doesn’t necessarily need to go in the fridge.
Understanding body parts
Instructions
Ask your child to point to body parts
- e.g. “Point to your nose” and “Point to your foot”
Give your child a sticker and ask them to stick it somewhere
e.g. “Stick this on your knee”
During bath time, get your child to wash parts of their body
- e.g. feet, tummy, arms, legs etc.
Alternatively suggest that they give one of their toys a bath
- e.g.“Can you wash their ears?” and “Can you wash their nose?”
Use the boy or girl pictures provided. Give your child a crayon or pen and ask them to colour in different body parts, e.g. “Colour the foot”.
Expression body parts
Instructions
Take turns to tell each other what to point to
- e.g. “nose”
If this proves too difficult, give your child an alternative:
- e.g. “nose or foot?”
Give your child a sticker and ask them “where are you putting the sticker?” Or get your child to tell you where to put the sticker.
Take turns pretending to wash yourselves and ask “where shall I wash now?” Or, during bath time, encourage your child to tell you what to wash, e.g. feet, tummy, arms, legs etc.
Use the boy or girl pictures provided. Get your child to tell you what to colour. Or, give your child a crayon or pen and ask them to tell you what body part they are colouring in, e.g. “foot”
Understanding tea party
Equipment
- A soft toy e.g. teddy and dolly.
- Toy food.
- Toy plates, cups and spoons etc.
Instructions
Pretend it is tea time or that you are having a picnic.
Put teddy or dolly out in front of your child.
Put out some food or crockery, naming it for your child:
- e.g. “apple”, “banana”, “orange” etc. or “plate”, “spoon”, “cup” etc.
Ask your child to find an item then ask them to give it to the toy;
- e.g. “Where’s the plate?” … “Can you give it to teddy?”
Once your child is confident at this, you can ask them to give the item straight to the toy;
- e.g. “Give the spoon to teddy”
Expression tea party
Equipment
- A soft toy e.g. teddy and dolly.
- Toy food.
- Toy plates, cups and spoons etc.
Instructions
Pretend it is tea time or that you are having a picnic.
Put teddy or dolly out in front of your child.
As you put the food out, encourage your child to name the items:
- e.g. “apple”, “banana”, “orange” etc. or “plate”, “spoon”, “cup” etc.
Once you have put all the items out, ask your child what you should give to teddy / dolly:
- e.g. “orange”
If this proves too difficult, give your child an alternative, e.g. “cup or plate?”
Understanding fishing
Equipment
- Fishing rod (make using a stick, piece of string and a magnet).
- Object pictures with paperclips attached.
Instructions
Tell your child you are going to play a fishing game.
Place the pictures on the floor face up, naming them for your child;
- e.g. “teddy”, “ball”, “boat” etc.
Now ask your child to fish for one of the pictures;
- e.g. “Catch the teddy” and “Catch the ball”
Gradually increase the number of pictures you use.
Expression fishing
Equipment
- Fishing rod (make using a stick, piece of string and a magnet).
- Object pictures with paperclips attached.
Instructions
Tell your child you are going to play a fishing game.
Encourage your child to name the pictures as you put them on the floor;
- e.g. “teddy”, “ball”, “boat” etc.
Encourage your child to tell you which picture they are going to catch;
- e.g. “teddy”
You could also get your child to tell you what picture you should catch. If this proves too difficult, give your child an alternative;
- e.g. “boat or ball?”
Gradually increase the number of pictures you use.
Understanding shopping game
Equipment
- Set up a pretend shop with toys/pretend food to buy.
- A shopping bag.
Instructions
Put out 3-4 objects in the ‘shop’ at one end of the room, naming them for your child;
- e.g. “banana”, “crisps”, “sweets” etc.
Give your child a bag and ask them to go and buy you something;
- e.g. “Buy me a banana” and “Buy me some crisps”
As your child becomes more confident, put more items out in the ‘shop’.
Expression shopping game
Equipment
- Set up a pretend shop with toys/pretend food to buy.
- A shopping bag.
Instructions
Put out 3-4 objects in the ‘shop’ at one end of the room;
- e.g. banana, crisps, sweets etc.
Ask your child what you should buy from the shops:
- e.g. “orange”
If this proves too difficult, give your child an alternative:
- e.g. “banana or crisps?”
As your child becomes more confident, put more items out in the ‘shop’.
Understanding magic islands
Equipment
- Pictures.
- Card.
Instructions
Cut out ‘magic’ islands from some card and attach a picture to each one.
Put the pictures out on the floor naming them for your child;
- e.g. “train”, “book”, “car” etc.
Get your child to jump/stand on the named island;
- e.g. “Jump on the train” and “Jump on the car”
As your child becomes more confident, put out more ‘islands’.
Expression magic islands
Equipment
- Pictures
- Card
Instructions
Cut out ‘magic’ islands from some card and attach a picture to each one.
Encourage your child to name the pictures as you place the ‘islands’ on the floor;
- e.g. “train”, “book”, “car” etc.
Get your child to tell you which island to stand on or tell you which island they are going to jump on;
- e.g. “train” and “car”
As your child becomes more confident, put out more ‘islands’.
Understanding drawing
Equipment
- Picture of boy and girl
- Crayon or pen
Instructions
Put one of the pictures in front of your child and give them a crayon or pen.
Ask your child to add items to the picture:
- e.g. “Draw the shoes” and “Draw the eyes”
At the end ask your child to point to different parts of the picture;
- e.g. “Point to the hair”.
Expression drawing
Equipment
- Picture of boy and girl
- Crayon or pen
Instructions
Put one of the pictures in front of your child and give them a crayon or pen.
Ask your child to tell you what to add to the picture:
- e.g. “shoes” and “eyes”
If this proves too difficult, give your child an alternative:
- e.g. “Should I draw a hat or scarf?”
Alternatively encourage your child to tell you what they are drawing or pointing to.
Understanding object word games
Equipment
- Picture lotto
- Inset puzzles
Instructions
Talk about the pictures or pieces in the lotto game / puzzle, naming them for your child;
- e.g. “teddy”, “car”, “book” etc.
Put 3-4 pieces in front of your child and ask them to find one;
- e.g. “Find the car” “Find the book”.
Expression object word games
Equipment
- Picture lotto
- Inset puzzles
Instructions
Talk about the pictures or pieces in the lotto game / puzzle, encouraging your child to name them;
- e.g. “teddy”, “car”, “book” etc.
If they are reluctant to name the pictures/pieces try prompting them by saying “it’s a…” or by naming it incorrectly and encouraging them to correct you.
Put 3-4 pieces in front of your child and get them to tell you what to find;
- e.g. “car” and “book”
If this proves too difficult, give your child an alternative, e.g. “boat or fish?”
Understanding action word games
Action games
Ask your child to do different actions;
- e.g. “run”, “hop”, “jump”, “crawl” etc.
You may need to demonstrate the actions.
You could also do the above with a soft toy.
Inset puzzle
Take all of the pieces out of an object puzzle and talk about each one and what it does;
e.g. “This is the dog, it barks”
Put 3-4 pieces in front of your child and ask them to find one by what it does;
e.g. “Which one flies” and “Which one swims”
Action pictures
Cut out the pictures provided and talk about the actions with your child.
Show your child a picture and ask them to do the action.
Put 2-3 pictures in front of your child and ask them to find one;
- e.g. “Find the boy sleeping”
As your child becomes more confident, put out more pictures.
Expression action word games
Action games
Demonstrate different actions for your child;
- e.g. run, hop, jump, crawl etc.
Now get your child to tell you what action to do.
You could also do the above with a soft toy and get your child to say what the toy has to do;
- e.g. “jump”
Inset puzzle
Take all of the pieces out of an object puzzle and talk about each one and what it does;
- e.g. “This is the dog, it barks”
Encourage your child to tell you what piece to find by what it does;
- e.g. flies, swims, barks etc.
Action pictures
Cut out the pictures provided and talk about the actions with your child.
Let your child choose a picture and encourage them to tell you what action to do:
- e.g. sit, stand, jump, crawl etc.
Put 2-3 pictures in front of your child and get them to tell you which one to find.
As your child becomes more confident, put out more pictures.
Download the pictures for the activities in the programme below
