Talking
Talking will help your child to express their needs and wants so that they can ask for help if they need it.
Throughout their school day, there will be lots of times when they need to communicate with their teachers and friends.
In Reception class, children are encouraged to:
- Have conversations with friends and the adults in the classroom.
- Talk in longer sentences.
- Be able to link sentences together e.g. ‘I was playing tig, and then I fell over’.
Top Tip
Ideas to try at home
What's on the tray?
Collect some items on a tray.
First talk with your child about the items and what makes them interesting. You can then play games like covering them up, removing one, and then talk about which is missing.
Show your child you are interested and respond positively to what they say or do. Encourage them to explore the objects further, talking about colours, shapes and textures.
Singing
Singing nursery rhymes together is a great way to practise speaking.
Repetition and rhyme help children to learn new words.
Make a microphone, it can be as simple as an empty toilet roll or a hairbrush.
Where to start
- Look at recent pictures and encourage your child to talk about what they can see is happening. You could maybe even print some out and create a scrap book with some comments in.
- Playing a game of ‘I Spy’ can really support your child to develop their communication. Sit down in a room with items around them and play a game of ‘I Spy’ together, using the colour of the item as the clue. You can even play ‘I Spy’ at the park, on the bus or on a walk. Having your child pay attention to what is around them could also encourage them to ask questions and develop their talking further.
- Role play games – play together with toys that could involve a narrative e.g. dinosaurs, cars, dolls, cafes etc. Talk about what you and they are doing as you play. Add new vocabulary.
Things to try next
- Grab some puppets or even make your own by using some old socks. You can decorate the socks with craft materials or simply just using felt tip pens. Alongside your child, act and play with your sock puppets. As you play, encourage language and explore new vocabulary. Remember, your child can learn a lot from listening to the words that are spoken to them.
- What’s in the bag? Together, collect items from around the house that feel and look different. Place the items into a bag and ask your child to feel inside without looking. As they feel around the bag, encourage your child to talk to you about what they can feel. The aim of the game is for you to guess what the item is from what they’re describing.
If you feel your child needs more support…
Start with these tips below.
- When playing games like what’s on the tray or what’s in the bag use only 2 or 3 items. Make sure they are items that are familiar to the child, everyday items. If the child struggles to talk about the items start off by describing them to the child, instead of the child describing them to you.
- Look at recent pictures and model talking about what is happening in the picture to the child. You could maybe even print some out and create a scrap book with some comments in.
- Use everyday opportunities to introduce new words to you child and hear them spoken aloud. You could talk though the items in your shopping bag when unpacking shopping, or the clothes you’re putting away after completing the washing. Take a look at this video for inspiration – Sorting out shopping bags together – BBC Tiny Happy People
Songs
Top Tip
Books
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen (Walker Books Ltd, 2016)
- Wanda’s Words Got Stuck by Lucy Rowland (Nosy Crow Ltd, 2020)
This page is part of our Ready Steady School series, helping you and your little one get ready for school.
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