Set up shared experiences that children can reflect upon, e.g. visits, cooking, or stories that can be re-enacted.
Help children to predict and order events coherently, by providing props and materials that encourage children to re-enact, using talk and action
Find out from parents how children make themselves understood at home; confirm which their preferred language other modes of communication are.
Tune into children’s preferred modes of communication – perhaps direct questions feel confronting but shared making or an exchange of funny expressions or gestures creates a connection more effectively.
Provide practical experiences that encourage children to ask and respond to questions, e.g. explaining pulleys or wet and dry sand.
Alongside books, introduce story props, such as pictures, puppets and objects, to encourage children to retell stories and to think about how the characters feel.
Displays can connect experiences across places or provide reminders of previous trips, events or seasons, for example.
Set up displays that are interactive so children can touch, pick up etc and talk about/reflect on their experiences
Provide for, initiate and join in imaginative play and role-play or real life storytelling encouraging children to talk about what is happening and to act out the scenarios in character.
