Play and language
Providing a wide range of play opportunities supports language development.
Children learn more when they are engaged in activities that interest them. Babies play by using all their senses to explore objects. This helps them learn the names for things and how things work. Toddlers begin to imitate the adults around them and pretend play emerges. Preschoolers play cooperatively with their peers and their play becomes more complex.
To stimulate language in play:
- Offer different sensory activities. Children learn descriptive vocabulary and concepts when playing with sand, water and other textures.
- Provide blocks and manipulative activities to demonstrate cause and effect, spatial concepts and problem solving.
- Encourage dramatic play. Storytelling, role playing and pretending allows children to practice language skills.
- Present materials in inviting ways so children will want to explore them. Children learn more when the play is interesting.
- Incorporate familiar items such as pictures of family members, objects from home and elements of nature.
- Make activity centres literacy-rich by including labels, books, magazines, flyers and writing materials.
- Add new and interesting materials to acitivity centres, this gets the conversation started.
- Join in the children’s play and help them think of new possibilities by making suggestions or asking questions.
- Play games that use gestures like ‘Follow the Leader’.
- Play cooperative games that involve social skills and turn taking.
- Provide a balance of child and adult directed play.
- Be playful and creative! Children will model your energy.