In a world where technology is ever evolving and encroaching on children’s time to play, it’s essential to put even more emphasis on actively bringing play into the classroom. 

Below are some tried and tested ideas from Verbo Speech and Language Therapists that can help you take a playful approach to supporting children’s communication skills, including creating more opportunities for child-led play and rich language-learning experiences.

Make time to follow children’s interests

Children spend much of their time at school being directed and following instructions. As play is the primary occupation of childhood, it’s important that we create space to let them take the lead.

Try to identify opportunities across the day that lend themselves to being child-directed, aside from breaktime and free play. Setting up classroom learning tasks on carousel stations can help children to complete activities in the order they chose too. 

Use comments to support language development as children play

As adults, we often use questions to begin interactions with each other. Try flipping this approach when talking with children and focus on using comments to initiate communication and engagement during play.

Using comments puts less pressure on children, expands their vocabulary, and gives them more scope to talk to you about what they’re interested in. 

Develop listening and speech skills through music and movement

Research has shown that music plays a main role in language development in terms of phonological awareness, grammar, prosody, and comprehension. Music also acts as a brilliant vehicle for play!

Playing games such as musical bumps and statues, or using call and response games with clapping rhythms, can support listening skills. The repetitive element of lyrics along with the rhythm and melody can support children to develop their speech sound skills. 

Breaking multisyllabic words down and modelling them with a sing-song nature can also support children to build up an accurate representation of the word. 

Draw on the power of nature

Being outside lends itself to supporting some of the communication fundamentals such as emotional regulation, it is also a more free environment where children are able to develop their learning in a place other than the classroom. 

Why not go on a nature hunt to collect natural objects to use within a maths class? Use stones or flowers for counting and different size sticks for measurements. Could all these materials be used within an engineering activity? The options are endless!

Use video to build reflective skills 

Video a five minute play or interaction session with you and a child. Watch it back to help identify what the child is doing well with their communication and what supporting strategies you are using throughout the interaction and what effect these have on the child. 

Reviewing an interaction allows you as a practitioner to observe things you or the child do that you may not have been aware of at that moment. With an understanding of what’s working well, you can then make a conscious choice to do more of it. 

Play is a powerful tool and by being in the moment with your pupils, both children and adults benefit from the positive effects it can have. As educators we have a responsibility to create space for children to develop and maintain their play skills, and at the same time, we can support and nurture their speech, language and communication skills.

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Verbo is an online speech and language toolkit that empowers education staff to support children and young people’s communication skills. Powered by NHS Speech and Language Therapists, Verbo offers instant access to screening tools, personalised target trackers, bite-size training and ready-to-go activities and interventions. 

Visit the team at Stand C48 to find out more and be in with the chance of winning a one-year free subscription!

www.verboapp.co.uk