Lockdown activities for under 5's

Speech, language and communication needs can impact upon many areas of life. When these needs are identified early, interventions can be introduced and this support can help to aid their development.

How can you look for signs that may indicate speech, language and communication needs?
Make sure to pay special attention to these three areas:

1.Listening and understanding -
Do they struggle to pay attention and/or listen, often being the last to respond?
Do they understand simple questions and instructions?
2.Language
Are they limited in what they say and how they can communicate their needs and wants?
3.Interactions -
Do they struggle when interacting with others, or appear isolated?
Do they struggle with interpreting non-verbal communication or tend to avoid eye contact?
4.Speech -
Are they difficult to understand due to unclear or muddled speech?

For an outline of the typical language development stages and what to expect at particular ages:
https://ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/parents/ages-and-stages/
 
What can I do to develop my child’s language skills at home?

Ten top tips for supporting language development at home:

• Get their attention first – always make sure you have your child’s attention before giving them an instruction. They are more likely to understand and remember what has been asked of them if they are looking as well as listening.
• Chunk information - break instructions into small parts and wait for your child to follow the first part before giving the next part e.g. try saying “get your shoes on” and waiting before adding “put your coat on” rather than all at once.
• Visuals - use pictures, gestures/actions and real objects to help your child to understand the meaning of the words that you are using.
• Repetition is key – children need to hear words multiple times before they use it. Use new words many times a day and in different contexts.
• Follow your child’s lead - join in with your child’s play as they will already be engaged in something that they have chosen to do by themselves and will be the perfect audience for all of your lovely language modelling.
• Commenting rather than questioning – talk about what your child is doing/playing with using simple phrases e.g. “big cow”, “the car is driving”, “oh no! he fell down”. They will be more likely to respond to comments rather than being asked questions about what they are doing/playing with.
• Create opportunities – children are more likely to communicate when they have motivation to do so. Put objects just out of their reach or in a sealed bag/box that they cannot open as motivation for them to make requests or ask for help.
• Choices – provide lots of opportunities for your child to make choices throughout the day. This could be to help them to ask for things e.g. give them a choice of snacks by holding out 2 options and saying “do you want apple or cracker?”. Always say the choice your child has made if they don’t use words e.g. “apple”. If your child’s language skills are further developed, you can provide choices of answers to questions e.g. “I wonder who this is.....is it a cat or a dog?”
• Wait - give your child plenty of time to respond to comments or to tell you something. They may take longer to process what has been said and to plan what they want to say.
• Modelling - repeat back what your child has said by adding 1 or 2 words and correcting any errors (this may be errors with vocabulary, grammar or speech sounds) e.g. if your child says “tat”, you could say “big cat”.

Ways to use common play items to develop language at home:
Books

• comment on what you can see in the pictures and make up your own story (you don’t have to stick to the words that have been written!)
• act out scenes from books with toys
• ask your child to find items/actions in the pictures
• encourage your child to tell you what they can see by using the sentence starter “it’s a......”, “I can see a.....”
• for books with repetitive phrases start the phrase and see if your child can finish it!

Peg puzzles

• practice taking turns to put one piece in at a time
• offer your child 2 pieces and encourage them to choose 1 to put in – can they name the piece they want? Model it to them if not
• put puzzle pieces in a bag and take turns to pick one out and name it
• put the puzzle pieces out in front of your child and ask them to put a specific piece in - can they follow the instruction?
• put a few puzzle pieces out in front of your child, take one away and see if your child tell you which one is missing!

Small world toys/dolls

• act out sequences and comment on what is happening e.g. “up the stairs.....down the slide”
• have a tea party and ask your child to give 1 toy a specific piece of food - can they follow the instructions?
• have 2 toys and ask your child to wash different body parts or stick stickers on them - can they follow these instructions?
• sort the toys into categories e.g. animals vs transport
• hide the toys around the room and see who/what you find – can your child name them or tell you where they found them?

Building blocks

• practice taking turns to put one piece on top of another to make a tower
• put 2 blocks out and ask your child to give you the one you’ve asked for – can they follow the instructions?
• give your child choices of colours and sizes – can they tell you which one they’d like?
• once a tower is built, say “ready...steady....” and wait for your child to signal ‘go’ before you knock it down
• comment on the colour and size of the blocks e.g. “big blue block”
• sort the blocks into colours and sizes

Bubbles

• use the prompt “ready....steady....” and wait for your child to signal ‘go’ before you blow the bubbles
• comment on the bubbles e.g. “pop”, “flying”, “up high”
• put the lid on the bubbles so your child can’t open them - can they ask for more or for help?

BBC’s Tiny Happy People

• The BBC have created an amazing free resource for parents which has lots of ideas of games and activities that you can do with your child at home to develop their communication skills.
• These activities are sorted by children’s age and can be carried out with objects from around the house.
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people

 
If you are concerned about your child’s speech and language development, speak to the SENCO at your child’s nursery or school or contact your GP. They will be able to signpost you to local Speech and Language Therapy Services. 

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