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Topic “Early Years (0-5yrs)”
Early Years (0 to 5 years)
answers simple questions
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing a familiar book e.g. a pop-up or a picture book | When the child is familiar with a book and the possible answers to likely questions point to pictures and ask questions using a short phrase e.g. 'Where's Spot?', 'Who's that?', What's that?'. You want a two word answer e.g. 'under bed' etc. | If possible work in a comfortable place so that the child associates this activity as relaxing and fun Remember to allow processing time for the child to answer questions. Only ask questions you know the child can answer or the experience is stressful for the child and the child may refuse to cooperate. |
| Digital photos of school life Digital camera Book of photos taken at school If a digital camera is not available use ordinary cameras and photos. | If you are using an ordinary camera for the photos you may need to keep a written record of photos taken. It is easy to muddle up what you have already photographed and what you want to photograph! | |
| Home corner play Dressing up cloths Cooking toys Dolls Tea set | Remember to give lots of processing time to answer questions - and only to ask questions the child can answer! |
understand verb plus noun
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Colour or cut Simple outline drawings, e.g. pictures of food, everyday objects, or pictures related to the current class topic Coloured crayons or pens Safety scissors | 1. Put three or four pictures in front of the child; 2. Make sure the child understands the names of the items in the pictures (e.g. ask them to "find the apple"); 3. Ask the child to colour or cut out one of the items (for example "cut out the fish", "colour the house"); 4. Guide or prompt the child if they are having difficulties working out what to do; 5. After a few goes, you can give the child a go at telling you what to do. | If the activity is too hard, you can make it easier by only having one picture out (so the child only needs to understand one word - "colour" or "cut"), or by only asking the child to colour in pictures to start with. When the child gets it right (whether they needed prompting/help or not) give strong positive feedback using the words/sentence you are working on, e.g. "Mary's colouring the house!" You can also support the child's development of this skill by using signs (e.g. Signalong/Makaton) with the underlined words. |
| Physical Education Various PE activities, for example ball and beanbag or Crawl tunnel or bench or mats etc. | Make sure the child understands the names of the various objects or actions you are using. Other children who understand the language can be used as a model to help the child understand what to do. If the activity is too hard, you can start off by only having one place to go to, but two possible actions; or only using one action word with two possible places to do it. When the child gets it right (whether they needed prompting/help or not) give strong positive feedback using the words/sentence you are working on, e.g. "Sadia's jumping on the mat!" Try to make sure that there is always a choice of at least two possible actions (e.g. walk or jump) and two possible places to do the action (e.g. hoop or mat). You can use key word signs (e.g. Signalong/Makaton) to support the child's understanding. This activity should be adaptable to many gymnastic type activities. |
understand a negative and an action eg do not run
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Tell teddy to do the actions A teddy or soft toy | 1. Tell teddy to do something, e.g. "jump" and then make him do it; 2. Do this three or four times with different actions, e.g. "run", "sleep", "sit", "lie down"; 3. Give the child the teddy and tell them to do one or two actions; 4. Take the teddy back and tell him to do an action again, e.g. "run"; 5. Tell teddy "don't run" (make sure he stays still!); 6. Tell teddy to run, then tell him "don't run" (repeat); 7. Give the teddy to the child, and then give commands using just run (or another action you chose in "4"). Change between saying e.g. "run" and "don't run". Help the child to keep the teddy still when you say "don't run". 8. Repeat with different actions. | You may need to demonstrate this several times. If you say an action with a negative, for example "Don't jump" and the child starts to make the teddy jump, you will need to keep the teddy still. Be ready to hold the teddy down as soon as you have said the command. Support this activity with keyword signs if possible (such as Signalong or Makaton), or picture symbols. To go further, you could get the children to give the instructions - use pictures or symbols as a prompt as to what instructions they can give. |
| Do the action No materials required | It may be easier to make sure that the child is able to respond to the activity where you are telling teddy to do the actions (above). You may need to help children to not move if you give an instruction containing a negative (for example "don't jump"). Support this activity with keyword signs if possible (such as Signalong or Makaton), or picture symbols. To go further, you could get the children to give the instructions - use pictures or symbols as a prompt as to what instructions they can give. |
Activities to develop understanding of instructions containing 2 key words - set 1 (noun + noun)
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping game (noun + noun) - printable shopping game pictures - click here - You could substitute the printed pictures for real objects. | 1. Print and cut out the pictures. 2. Put the bag and the trolley in front of the child. 3. Lay the shopping items out on the table. 4. Explain to your child you would like them to do some shopping and put the item in either the bag or the trolley. 5. Some examle instructions you could use: - put the carrot in the bag - put the pizza in the trolley 6. After a few turns, ask you child to give you an instruction. | To simplify to one key word instructions, use the food items with either the trolley or the basket, e.g. put the banana in the basket, put the apple in the basket.
To increase complexity, click here for activities focusing on three key word instructions. |
| Posting Game (noun + noun) | To simplify to one key word instructions, use the food items with either the lion or the tortoise, e.g. give the banana to the tortoise, give the yogurt to the tortoise.
| |
| Picnic (noun + noun) - Toys - tea set, 2 different soft toys and play food. | To simplify to one key word instructions, use the food items with one of the soft toys, e.g. give the banana to the teddy, give the yogurt to the teddy.
To increase complexity, click here for activities focusing on three key word instructions. | |
| Feed the puppets (noun + noun) - 2 hand puppets - Play food |
Understand where
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing a familiar book e.g. a pop-up or a picture book | 1. When the child is familiar with a book point to pictures and ask questions using short phrases beginning with "Where?" e.g. 'Where's Spot?' 2. The child should either point to the appropriate place, or say the name of the place where the object is on the picture (e.g. "basket", "car"). | If the child is not able to respond to the question, find the object for them on the picture, and say for example "Oh! There he is." |
| Naughty puppet Puppet or teddy or doll. Items to hide and somewhere to hide them. | Choose items to hide which the children already know the names of. |
Activities to develop one key word understanding
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Puppet Feeding (nouns) - A hand puppet - Selection of play food | 1. Place the puppet on your hand and lay a few items of play food in front of you. 2. Explain that the puppet is hungry. 3. Give your child instructions, e.g. '(puppet) wants the bread', '(puppet) wants the banana'. 4. Encourage your child to give the puppet the piece of food you asked for. 5. After a few turns, swap roles and see if your child is able to tell you which food to give to the puppet. | You could sign alongside saying the word. For videos of commonly used signs - click here. |
| Find it (nouns) - A selection of every day items - A box | ||
| Action Game (verbs) | You could sign alongside saying the word. For videos of commonly used signs - click here. | |
| Posting (nouns) - Post box - you can make your own with a cardboard box Optional printable post box template here - Picture cards to post - cick here for first words picture cards. | You could sign alongside saying the word. For videos of commonly used signs - click here. |
responds to music
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Chooses a song to share with an adult Laminated song symbols on a velcro strip | 1. Sit opposite the child at the same height and make sure you have their attention 2. Start off offering the child a choice of two song symbols. Help the child choose a song if needed and then sing the song with lots of oomph! 3. Offer the child a choice of the song symbols again and repeat the process. 4. Repeat until you have an idea of the songs the child specially likes. 5. When you sing one of these songs stop before a main word e.g. sing 'Twinkle twinkle little .............' And wait. Will the child put in the word star? If they do, smile and continue. 6. Allow more and more gaps in the songs for the child to sing the words | This is a fun activity. Make sure you and the child enjoy it! Use lots of expression and body language and mime to support the meanings of the songs. Allow the child enough time to make choices - only give help if they are loosing focus on the activity. |
Indicates wanting more of an activity
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Bubbles/balloon | Blow some bubbles to get the child's attention / Blow a balloon up and then let the air out to make a noise. Get ready to do the activity again, but wait for the child to indicate that they want some more. | Use a phrase to encourage anticipation (for example "ready, steady......go!") Initially encourage eye contact to communicate wanting more. You can do this by holding the bubbles up near your face. As the child becomes more consistent in using eye contact encourage them to use the "more" sign by modelling this for them. The activity must be motivating for the child for this to work: do not labour the activity if the child is not interested in it. |
| Building a tower Bricks or stacking beakers. | Work in a quiet distraction free place. Make this activity fun and snappy! The activity must be motivating for the child for this to work: do not labour the activity if the child is not interested in it. | |
| Making sand pies with a twist Small bucket Sand in a sand pit Spade Small animal to hide at the bottom of the bucket. | Have fun! The activity must be motivating for the child for this to work: do not labour the activity if the child is not interested in it. | |
| Filling transparent container with bottle tops (or other items) Several containers Large amount of bottle tops (or other similar material) | Have fun! Rattle the bag with the bottle tops, and give a lot of encouragement and praise. Make sure the child knows they are going to be rewarded with the desired object if they indicate more. |
Reach to indicate wanting more of an activity
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Water play
| 1. Try actions that the child might enjoy, for example squeezing out the sponge, pouring water over their hands, flicking a little bit of water towards the child; 2. Stop and wait; 3. Look for any sign that the child might want the action repeated, this could be looking, smiling, a slight movement. For some children the only indication they might make is not moving their hands away; 4. Repeat the activity. | The purpose of this activity is to encourage children to use a developmentally early method of showing that they want some or more of an activity. This activity may be too low level for the child if they are beginning to make some other indication that they want some or more of an activity, for example using a gesture or sign, using some kind of vocalisation. Keep each go short so that the child has plenty of opportunities to indicate that they want the activity repeated. Do not continue the activity if there is any indication that the child does not want to do the activity. A helper sitting behind the child to assist them in making the reaching response can make this activity easier. |
| Personal battery operated fans Hand held battery operated fan. | Comments - see above. | |
| Textures/messy play One or materials with different textures, for example:
| Comments - see above. | |
| Noise makers Musical instruments, for example:
| Comments - see above. | |
| Cause and effect toys Any toys which have a quick response, e.g. a jack in a box. | For comments - see above. |
Developing the skill of looking at and responding to another person
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Peek-a-boo - A piece of material - this could be a blanket, a muslin, a cloth, a scarf. |
| Sit on the carpet or at a table dependent on where is most comfortable for your child. Your child may not respond to their name so you may need to make an interesting sound to get their attention.
|
Indicates wanting to continue an enjoyable experience
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Songs with actions No materials required. | 1. Sing songs with simple actions like 'Row row the boat' (with rocking). 2. When the song is very familiar pause after (or during) the song and encourage the child to indicate that they want the song to continue by looking at you, smiling, or pulling on your hands to continue rocking. | Use simple familiar songs with simple physical actions. Pause and allow the child time to indicate they want more. Look for actions, looks or movements which suggest the child is communicating that he wants to continue. If he makes no indication that he wants to continue pull a few times on his hands (to prompt him) and then sing the song again. |
| Sensory Toys - A selection of vibrating toys, light and sound toys. | Allow your child time to enjoy the toy before turning it off. After you turn it off pause and look for any communication. If your child makes no communication prompt him by making a sound ( 'ah'?) and turn it back on. Continue for a few turns. |
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