Supporting development: how to boost children’s vocabulary
Posted by EYR Team on 12th Aug 2019
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This article has been written by storytelling specialists, Tonya and Natasha, from Little Creative Days
A child speaking their first words is a magical time and once they start there’s usually no stopping them. But after that, children need to know how to put those words into context. There’s no better way of doing that than with a story!
What most people don’t realise is that we all tell stories every day. It’s what makes us human and being able to make up a story isn’t as terrifying as it sounds!
Storytelling games to boost vocabulary
- Why not put some random items into a bag and give it to your class. Children then have to make up a story about who the bag belongs to by incorporating the objects.
- Why not try a storytelling relay? One person starts the story with a sentence and the next person has to add to the story with a sentence and so on. You can play this with as many people as you like and really have some fun with it.
- Or maybe the parents can start a story and the children have to finish it.
- The thing is making up stories is not as difficult as it sounds and it’s fun for all the family as well as a great way to make some lasting memories.
- For more storytelling inspiration, why not try our Really Random Story Bags? A wonderful starting point for creating stories and a great speaking and listening resource.
To find out more about how parents can boost their child's vocabulary, why not come along to our interactive Engaging Parents to Develop Language and Communication workshop followed by the Creative Ways to Improve Language and Communication workshop on the 15th February 2019 to get some hands-on practical advice and fresh ideas.
Little Creative Days
Tonya and Natasha, the storytelling sisters, are authors of a series of books about a little dog called Pojo who gets itchy paws and goes off on adventures.
They have won multiple awards for their puppet making kits that accompany the stories including Teach Early Years Excellence award for Communication and Language Resource.