Communication and language development is a cornerstone of Early Years education. It is one of the three prime areas outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, alongside physical development and personal, social, and emotional development.
The EYFS identifies three specific learning goals for communication and language: listening and attention, speaking, and understanding. These skills are crucial for children’s overall development and lay the foundation for their future learning and social interactions. Read on to discover 10 of the most effective communication and language activities for early years settings.
1.Storytime with Puppets
Enhance the reading experience of little ones by using puppets to bring children’s favourite storybooks to life. As you read aloud, introduce the puppets as characters, letting them act out key moments in the narrative or engage in dialogue.
What You Need:
- Storybooks: Choose familiar or new stories that children can relate to and enjoy.
- Puppets: Use puppets to represent key characters in the story. These can be simple hand puppets, sock puppets, or even soft toys that children can easily manipulate and interact with.
Benefits:
Enhances Vocabulary and Comprehension: Puppets make stories more engaging, helping children understand new words in context and improving their comprehension skills.
Promotes Expressive Language and Confidence: Acting out stories with puppets encourages children to practice speaking and express themselves, boosting their confidence in communication.
Fosters Social Interaction and Imagination: Puppets encourage group participation, helping children develop social skills and use their imagination to create and share stories.
2.Singing Nursery Rhymes
Singing and acting out nursery rhymes is a fun, engaging and effective communication activity to help young children develop their communication and language skills. By incorporating movement and music into the experience, children become more immersed in the rhythm and melody of the nursery rhyme, making it easier to recall and understand the language used.
What You Need:
- Knowledge of nursery rhyme lyrics: You’ll need to be familiar with the words and tunes of popular nursery rhymes.
- Open space: A safe, spacious area for children to move around and perform the actions associated with the rhymes.
- (Optional) A music player: If desired, a music player can be used to play the tunes of the rhymes to guide the children’s actions and singing.
Benefits:
Enhances Vocabulary and Language Understanding: Engaging with nursery rhymes introduces children to new words and phrases in a fun, memorable context, supporting the “Understanding” and “Speaking” aspects of the EYFS Communication and Language area.
Develops Rhythm and Phonological Awareness: The rhythmic patterns of nursery rhymes help children recognize sounds and syllables, a crucial foundation for early reading skills, aligning with the “Listening and Attention” aspect of the EYFS.
Boosts Memory and Expressive Skills: Recalling and acting out rhymes improve memory and encourage expressive language use, supporting both “Speaking” and “Expressive Arts and Design” in the EYFS framework.
3.Sensory Play with Descriptive Words
Explore sensory bins and describe textures.
Let the children explore sensory bins and describe the textures they feel, helping young children develop their language and communication skills through tactile exploration. As children explore the textures, they are encouraged to describe what they feel using new words, fostering vocabulary development and language comprehension.
What You Need:
- Sensory bins: These can be simple containers or trays that can hold a variety of materials (e.g., plastic bins, wooden crates).
- Textured materials: Examples include rice, sand, cotton balls, fabric scraps, water beads, shredded paper, foam, or any other item with distinct textures that can be safely explored.
Benefits:
Enhances Vocabulary Development: Describing different textures helps children learn and use new descriptive words, supporting the “Speaking” and “Understanding” aspects of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Encourages Expressive Language and Communication: As children explore and discuss what they feel, they practice articulating their thoughts and experiences, boosting their confidence and expressive language skills.
Promotes Active Listening and Social Interaction: Sensory bin activities often involve group interaction, helping children listen to peers’ descriptions and engage in conversations, which supports “Listening and Attention” and “Personal, Social and Emotional Development” in the EYFS framework.
4.Role-Playing Games
Engage in role-play scenarios, such as a supermarket or restaurant, allowing young children to explore and imitate real-life situations through imaginative play. The interactive nature of role-play encourages children to experiment with language, practice social norms, and explore the world around them in a hands-on way.
What You Need:
- Costumes: Simple costumes to represent different roles, such as aprons, hats, or chef uniforms for the restaurant, or shopping bags and aprons for the supermarket.
- Toy props: Pretend food items, menus, shopping baskets, cash registers, or even play money to enhance the authenticity of the scenarios.
- Space: A clear, open space for setting up a “supermarket” or “restaurant” area where children can act out their roles and interact with each other.
Benefits:
Enhances Vocabulary and Language Use: Engaging in role-play introduces children to new vocabulary related to different scenarios (e.g., supermarket or restaurant), supporting the “Speaking” and “Understanding” aspects of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Promotes Social Communication and Interaction: Role-play encourages children to communicate with peers, practice conversational skills, and develop turn-taking abilities, fostering “Personal, Social and Emotional Development” as well as “Listening and Attention.”
Boosts Imagination and Narrative Skills: Creating and acting out scenarios helps children develop storytelling and narrative skills, aligning with “Expressive Arts and Design” and enhancing their ability to structure and express their ideas.
5.Interactive Story Apps
Use digital storytelling apps to let children listen to stories, explore characters, and even create their own tales. The interactive nature of these apps encourages children to engage actively with the story, rather than passively listening to it, which can enhance their language development and comprehension.
What You Need:
- Tablets: These don’t have to be expensive or the latest edition, any tablet that will hold it’s most recent software update will do.
- Story apps: These apps can range from classic stories to those that encourage creative input from children, such as creating their own characters or plot twists.
Benefits:
Enhances Vocabulary and Comprehension: Digital stories introduce new words and concepts in an interactive format, supporting the “Understanding” and “Speaking” aspects of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Promotes Listening and Attention Skills: The multimedia elements of digital stories help capture children’s attention, improving their ability to focus and follow narratives, which aligns with the “Listening and Attention” aspect of the EYFS.
Encourages Creative Expression: Many apps allow children to create their own stories, fostering their imagination and narrative skills, supporting “Expressive Arts and Design” in the EYFS framework.
6.Picture Card Conversations
Discuss topics prompted by picture cards.
What You Need:
- Picture cards
Benefits:
Enhances Vocabulary and Language Skills: Engaging with picture cards introduces new words and encourages children to describe what they see, supporting the “Speaking” and “Understanding” aspects of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Promotes Listening and Attention: As children listen to others’ descriptions and share their own thoughts, they develop active listening skills, aligning with the “Listening and Attention” aspect of the EYFS.
Encourages Expressive Language and Critical Thinking: Discussing picture cards prompts children to articulate their thoughts, ask questions, and explore different ideas, fostering their expressive language skills and critical thinking, which supports “Speaking” and “Personal, Social and Emotional Development.”
7.Rhythm and Rhyme Circle
Encourage children to create and clap rhythms in a group to help develop phonological awareness, improve listening skills, and promote social interaction. By mimicking and creating these rhythms, children begin to understand the relationship between sounds, syllables, and patterns.
What You Need:
- Clapping hands: Children can use their hands to clap and create rhythmic patterns, learning to repeat and vary rhythms.
- Simple instruments: Percussion instruments like tambourines, maracas, or drums can be used to add variety to the rhythm activity and increase engagement.
- Optional props: Items like sticks, bells, or other rhythm-making tools can also be used to further diversify the sounds and rhythms being created.
Benefits:
Boosts Phonological Awareness: Creating and clapping rhythms helps children recognize sound patterns, syllables, and rhymes, which supports early reading skills and aligns with the “Listening and Attention” aspect of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Enhances Memory and Vocabulary: Repeating and creating rhythmic patterns aids memory retention and introduces new words in a memorable context, supporting the “Understanding” and “Speaking” components of the EYFS.
Promotes Social Communication and Group Participation: Participating in a group activity fosters turn-taking, listening to others, and collaborative communication, which supports “Personal, Social and Emotional Development” in the EYFS framework.
8.‘What’s in the Bag?’ Game
Place small objects (e.g., toys, natural items, or household objects)inside a bag. Let the children take turns reaching into the bag and pulling out an object, without looking at it, and then providing descriptive clues to help others guess what it is.
What You Need:
- Small objects: A variety of items with different textures, sizes, shapes, and uses (e.g., soft toys, rubber balls, kitchen items, or nature objects like leaves and stones).
- A bag: Any opaque bag that hides the items, ensuring that children must rely on touch and their descriptive clues to identify the objects.
Benefits:
Enhances Descriptive Language and Vocabulary: Giving and interpreting descriptive clues helps children expand their vocabulary and use more detailed language, supporting the “Speaking” and “Understanding” aspects of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Develops Prediction and Critical Thinking Skills: This effective communication activity encourages children to make predictions based on clues, fostering critical thinking and comprehension, which aligns with “Understanding” and “Listening and Attention.”
Promotes Tactile Learning and Communication: Exploring objects through touch enhances sensory experiences and provides a multi-sensory approach to learning, supporting expressive language development and “Personal, Social and Emotional Development.”
9.Outdoor Exploration Walks
Whether it’s a walk in the park, a visit to the garden, or simply observing nature from a window, outdoor exploration allows children to make connections with their surroundings and develop a deeper understanding of their environment. By focusing on various aspects of the environment—such as plants, animals, weather, or changes in the seasons—children are encouraged to expand their vocabulary and critical thinking skills.
What You Need:
- Outdoor space: A garden, park, or any open outdoor area where children can observe different elements of nature, such as plants, trees, insects, and animals. Urban or rural settings both provide ample opportunities for observation and discussion.
- Optional materials: A clipboard with a simple observation sheet, magnifying glasses, or nature guides to help children examine specific elements more closely.
Benefits:
Expands Vocabulary and Descriptive Language: Observing and discussing elements in the environment introduce new words and concepts, supporting the “Speaking” and “Understanding” aspects of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Enhances Observational and Critical Thinking Skills: Encouraging children to notice and describe their surroundings fosters observational skills and critical thinking, aligning with “Understanding” and “Listening and Attention.”
Promotes Social Interaction and Physical Development: Exploring outdoors involves group discussions and collaborative exploration, supporting “Personal, Social and Emotional Development” while also promoting physical activity, which is crucial for overall well-being.
10.Listening Games
Encourage children to use sound-making objects or other items to match sounds to their source, or use verbal instructions to encourage children to perform a specific action. These activities not only focus on the ability to recognize and distinguish between various sounds but also emphasize the importance of listening attentively and responding to verbal cues. Instruction-following games, where children are asked to perform actions based on sounds or verbal instructions (e.g., “Clap your hands when you hear the bell”), help build focus, listening, and communication skills.
What You Need:
- Sound-making objects: These can include instruments (e.g., tambourines, maracas, xylophones), bells, whistles, or any object that makes a distinct sound.
- Open space: A safe, spacious area for children to move around and respond to the sounds or instructions. This space allows children to engage in both auditory and physical activities as they follow directions.
- (Optional) A speaker: A speaker to play specific sounds (e.g., animal noises, nature sounds) for sound-matching games.
Benefits:
Enhances Focus and Listening Skills: Playing sound-matching and instruction-following games improves children’s ability to concentrate and listen attentively, supporting the “Listening and Attention” aspect of the Communication and Language area in the EYFS.
Develops Auditory Discrimination and Vocabulary: These games help children distinguish between different sounds, aiding in auditory discrimination and expanding their vocabulary, which supports “Understanding” and “Speaking.”
Promotes Following Instructions and Social Interaction: Instruction-following games encourage children to listen carefully and act on verbal cues, fostering their ability to follow directions and enhancing social communication, which aligns with “Personal, Social and Emotional Development.”
Communication and Language Development in Early Years Helps Develop a Variety of Skills
Literacy
Effective communication and language activities support phonemic awareness, vocabulary growth, and foundational reading and writing skills in Early Years children.
Social Skills
Engaging in conversations and group activities helps children learn to interact, understand social cues, and develop empathy.
Cognitive Development
Language activities promote critical thinking, memory, and problem-solving abilities by encouraging children to ask questions and express thoughts.
Emotional Expression
Developing language skills helps children articulate their feelings, manage emotions, and build self-regulation.
Listening and Attention
Focused activities improve children’s ability to concentrate, listen carefully, and follow instructions.
How We Can Support Young Children’s Development in These Areas
Rich Language Environment
Provide a language-rich environment filled with books, storytelling sessions, and opportunities for dialogue to foster a love for language.
Use of Technology
Implement tools like eylog to track language development and share progress with parents, enabling a collaborative approach to learning.
Interactive Play Areas
Design interactive play spaces that encourage role-play and social interaction, providing natural opportunities for language development and social skill enhancement.
Share learning journeys with parents
Share the wonderful and effective communication activities in your nursery through our nursery management software. With eyworks’ complete management solution, you can share updates with parents through eylog, create meaningful parental partnerships with eyparent, and so much more! Book a free demo to find out more.
