Tips and Techniques for Developing Language Through Play
When children play, they are making a choice to actively engage in something that is fun for them. As such, they are intrinsically motivated. Bruner described play as the ‘work of childhood’ and it is essential to a child’s development.
It is through play children learn, and that learning takes different forms. Play enables children to develop their social skills, language skills, motor skills, cognitive and problem-solving skills, as well as their imagination. Moreover, play provides children with opportunities to bond and experience affection and closeness. The benefits of play in enabling children to process and deal with emotional distress cannot be underestimated.
Play can be categorised in many ways. Some define play types by the social function served; others define play by the type of activity involved. As children grow, their play naturally evolves, although children with special educational needs may need extra support with this.
In considering language development through play, there are several tips and techniques to remember.
- Follow the Child’s Lead.
When a child is engrossed in an activity, you know this is something that interests them and is enjoyable for them. This is a great basis on which to build. Language can be introduced by commenting on the activity. A comment related to an activity a child is involved in is more likely to be easily processed by them. Furthermore, commenting, rather than questioning, is beneficial as a comment does not put the child on the spot to respond. Instead it gives them autonomy to choose when or how to respond and allows them to steer the conversation in a direction of interest to them. It is important to allow the child plenty of time to respond.
As well as allowing your child to take the lead, when playing with him/her, get down to their level so that you are face-to-face. Join in their activity by copying their actions or by helping them in their task at hand. Ensure that in becoming involved in their play you do not take over!
- Ask open-ended Questions
When questions are used, ensure they allow scope for extended answers and discourse. Quite often, conversations with children involve yes/no or brief one-word answers. Asking open-ended questions prevents this. A caveat here relates to offering children a choice of two options. Giving children choices builds their sense of autonomy and responsibility.
- Practice Turn-Taking
Play activities can be used to teach turn-taking – an important skill in conversations. Practising turn-taking in a game with toddlers (e.g. stacking blocks) models the conventions of conversation. The child must make eye contact and read your cues to know when to take their go etc. Such skills are fundamental as children must understand non-verbal communication as much as the spoken word. Moreover, in conversations, just as in play, they must learn to let others have a go – a difficult concept for some to master!
- Expand upon your Child’s Utterances
This means repeating back what they have said but enriching the description or relaying it in correct grammatical form.
- If they name a toy, add a description or tell something more about it
Child: Ball.
Adult: Yes, a red ball.
Child: Doll.
Adult: The doll is sleeping in her cot.
- If they make a grammatical error, don’t mention the mistake, simply model the sentence correctly.
Child: Emma go walk.
Adult: Yes, Emma is going for a walk.
- Use rich language
Your child’s receptive language skills will be at a much higher level than their expressive language skills. Continue to build receptive language by exposing them to rich vocabulary and more complex sentence structures. Usually, children develop quite a broad naming vocabulary relatively easily as nouns are easier to learn than verbs. Develop this when playing together, but also use play as an opportunity to introduce lots of verbs and their various constructions. This is easily done through commenting on what is happening in the play activity.
A final note:
When you notice what your child is interested in, it will guide you in selecting toys for them. All too often, children have too many toys lying around and it is overwhelming for them. Rotating toys is very important. Put away those toys your child has outgrown or is not currently interested in. Having fewer toys promotes greater focus and longer spells of attention on activities, and this maximises learning and enjoyment.