Language Activities - Speech and Language Link

It’s good to talk!

We have put together lots of games and activities for you to use with your child at home to encourage their understanding and talking. Use our everyday activities to see how to transform daily routines into language opportunities for your child.

Our language activities will give you ideas for simple games you can play at home to encourage your child’s talking and listening. We have listed them in age order for guidance but many of them are suitable for a wide age range.

Everyday Activities

The best way to encourage your child’s speech and language development is to do lots of talking and listening together. There is no need to have special tasks or extra time in the day to do this, it is always good to talk. This is why everyday routines like mealtimes, having a bath and even household jobs, such as organising the washing, are perfect. By using everyday activities, you can talk about events and situations that are very familiar to your child and gives them a chance to practice their talking.
Almost any daily event can be used, here are some ideas to get you started.

Bath Time Fun

Doing Housework

Mealtimes

Playing Computer Games

Sharing Books

Watching TV Together

Language games to play at home.

We have collated some simple games you can play at home to encourage your child's talking and listening. Watch our therapists demonstrate the games or read our easy to follow written instructions.

These activities are suitable for babies just starting to learn to listen and say some early words. Watch our therapists talk about early skills and demonstrate some simple games.

Use this game to encourage your child's first words.

Use this bubbles game to help your child follow simple instructions.

This game helps develop joint attention, an important early language skill.

These activities are suitable for young children who are understanding lots of words and beginning to join words to make short sentences. Watch our therapists explain how to encourage your child to learn new words.

Here are a few ideas for getting your child talking.

Help your child understand lots of new words.

Use this game to help your child follow isimple instructions.

These activities are suitable for children who are beginning to be more chatty. They will be using short phrases of two to three words and following instructions with two to three parts. Watch our therapists explain how to encourage listening by taking a sound walk and how to encourage early matching skills by playing shoes and socks.

Take your child on a sound walk to help them listen.

Practise action words with this game.

Use this game to help your child understand early question words.

Encourage early matching skills with this simple game.

How many items can your child remember?

These activities are suitable for children who are following longer instructions with 3 to 4 parts, and who are asking and answering lots of questions. They should be learning lots of new words and using sentences of 4 to 5 words or more. Watch our therapists explain how to encourage children to listen to sounds in words and use early describing words in their talking.

Help your child understand simple describing words with this game.

Help your child learn action words with this fast paced game.

Use this game to help your child understand early why questions.

Help your child to hear the difference between sounds in words with this listening game.

Practise following instructions with this finding game.

These activities are suitable for children who are starting school. They will be able to understand and use long sentences, answer lots of different sorts of questions including ‘why’ questions. They will be beginning to use their language to explain and describe events as well as to share their feelings and ideas. At this age your child should be learning lots of new words easily. Watch our therapists explain how to boost vocabulary learning and get your child ready to learn to read and spell.

Boost your child’s vocabulary with this naming game.

Help your child learn position words with this game.

Boost undertanding of simple what and why questions.

Get your child ready to rad and spell.

Help your child follow simple instructions with this game.

Encourage vocabulary learning with this matching game.

These activities are suitable for children who are becoming confident communicators. They should be understanding long complex sentences and using their talking to express their feelings and share ideas. They will be starting to use talking to reason and work things out. They will still be hearing and learning new words and they should be building their confidence with reading and writing. Watch our therapists explain how to encourage your child to understand the tricky concepts of time and sequence.

Help your child answer simple when questions.

Help your child complete instructions in the right order.

Help your child answer 'why' questions.

Boost your child's understanding of instructions involving 'before' and 'after.'

Build vocabulary with this sorting game.

These activities are suitable for children who are becoming experts talkers. They will be understanding long complex instructions involving words like ‘before’ and ‘after’. They will be using long grammatically correct sentences and will be able to talk about events that will happen in the future as well as in the past. They will be using their talking for a range of different purpose including to recall events, give explanations and to solve problems. Watch our therapists show you how to encourage your child to understand complex grammatical structures.

Work on 'but not' statements with this holiday game.

Improve your child's prediction skills with this game.

Help your child understand exception words e.g. unless,

Practice identifying similarities and differences to boost vocabulary learning.

Your child’s language learning will continue as they move to secondary schools. They will start to refine their talking and adjust their speaking style depending on who they are talking to. They will continue to learn lots of new words and will understand complex sentence structures that place conditions on information e.g. words like, except, instead of, rather than. They will also be continuing to use their talking to solve increasingly complex problems. Use these activities to develop children’s understanding of conditions and problem solving.

Work on understanding instructions with conditions.

This game will help your child understand conditions e.g. unless, except, but not if...

Use the game to practise completing instructions in the right order.

Your child will now be an expert communicator. They will be beginning to understand and use sarcasm. They will have a good understanding of complex ideas and sentences structures including conditions, (but not, all except.) and exclusions (unless, if.). They will be beginning to read between the lines and understand common sayings, idioms, and work out ambiguous language. Use these activities to develop children’s understanding of conditions and problem solving.

Help your child understand complex instructions.

Boost your child's understanding of inclusion and exclusion.

This activity improves understanding of complex position words.

It’s good to talk!

Everyday Activities

Language games to play at home.

Activities for ages 0 - 2 years

Activities for ages 2 - 2½

Activities for ages 2½ - 3

Activities for ages 3 - 4

Activities for ages 4 - 5

Activities for ages 5 – 7

Activities for ages 7 – 9

Activities for ages 9-12

Activities for ages 12-14