It’s hard to leave behind the things we love, or deal with the disappointment of something being finished. For me, it’s tearing myself away from a good book or realising that I’ve polished off that big bag of crisps.

For toddlers, it’s saying goodbye to the park. Or no more crisps.

If your toddler has big feelings about things being over, you’re definitely not alone.  In response to a few questions from parents recently about how to deal with this, I went to the local park to shoot you a video…

Acknowledge the feelings. When young children express big feelings it’s because it really feels like that big of a deal to them! It can be helpful to start by acknowledging that, with tone of voice and simple phrases like ‘I know,’ ‘I’m sorry’.

Show, don’t tell. When we’re moving towards a change it’s easy for us adults to start doing lots of talking. Often, it’s more useful to say less and to model the simple steps towards the next activity. This helps children to learn from what you’re doing, rather than adding the additional load of lots of language.

Talk less. Even if your child is understanding spoken language, if they’re having an emotional moment they’re definitely understanding less than usual. Allow lots of quiet time for them to process what you’ve said. Use short and simple phrases.

Consider sensory needs. If your child is loving the swing or the slide and simply never wants to get off, perhaps they need more of that kind of sensory feedback. Are there ways you can plan in more of that movement across their week?

Finally, be kind to yourself. We’ve all had tricky moments where we feel like we’re not managing it well. And there will always be people judging from the sidelines. Shrug them off and give yourself a kind word to acknowledge just how much you are doing.

Found this useful? You might like my video with strategies for teaching turn-taking.

Probably the guaranteed-number-one item in every paediatric speech therapist’s bag… a pot of bubbles! Bubbles are a great item for grabbing attention and modelling some simple, motivating vocabulary. There’s lots of reasons why bubbles are useful for encouraging communication and there’s a few simple tweaks you can make to really seize those opportunities. Find out more in this video…

1. Hold the pot right by your face, so that your child can easily see what you’re doing with your face, whilst they pay attention to the bubbles.
2. Put the lid back on the pot after every bubble blow. This gives you more opportunities to model ‘more’, ‘again’ and ‘open’ as your child returns for another blow of bubbles.
3. Think about what other useful action words you can model, such as ‘blow’ ‘pop’ ‘pull [out the wand]’
4. We can start to introduce some simple descriptive vocabulary, such as ‘big’ or ‘small’ bubbles
5. We can model some early speech sounds with bubbles, including ‘p’ and ‘b’, ‘h’ and ‘w’

If your child loves bubbles, they probably love sandcastles too. Check out this post for some ways that you can use sandcastles to build attention and vocabulary.

It is often quite the leap for kids to go from using a bunch of single words to making simple phrases. So, it’s no surprise that I’m regularly asked by parents how to help children at this stage of development. Being able to use that big jumble of words to construct phrases is a key part of language development and one that we can help children with, using a few simple tips.

In this video I share a simple game that you can play with your child to model two word phrases and support them in having a go themselves.

One of the key considerations is word type. We need both object and action words to be able to build simple phrases. Heading out on a walk is a great opportunity to focus on some key action words to support your child’s learning. Once you’ve focused on some action words, you can build these into simple ‘magic instructions’ to ask people to do different things. In the video you’ll spot examples like: ‘Tom hop,’ ‘Bryony spin,’ and ‘Rolo jump’.

If your little one is at this stage in their communication journey, then I encourage you to head outdoors, find a magic wand (aka stick!) and get practising those simple phrases. Have fun!

For more activity ideas, check out this simple listening game and these ideas for what to do with a cardboard box.

Often in pre-school visits I hear adults having to step in and tell a child to ‘share nicely’. But sharing is such an abstract concept. It can be hard for all of us to share at times, not least when you’re three years old and fully absorbed in your play!

In the early years, it can be a tall order to expect a child to share toys and take turns with others. It’s also an important skill for learning within a group. When I received a question about this from a learning support assistant, I was glad to give some suggestions to help us proactively teach turn-taking, rather than only intervene when it all goes wrong.

In this video I share a simple, structured approach to helping your child learn to take turns.

Avoid trying to get your child to give you the toy first. There’s lots of steps before handing over a toy that can help a child learn about sharing and taking turns.

Let’s start with some simple turn-taking games in a 1:1 situation, then build up to taking turns with our own objects, then taking turns with one object between us, all before we try introducing the idea of sharing with another child.

I hope you have fun with these game suggestions!

PS. Did you like this? Check out my post on sharing books to build language right here.

Peppa is a sure-fire win in my speech and language therapy sessions. Most of my children absolutely adore Peppa and friends! So, I’ll often make the most of this natural interest to create an exploratory play activity where we can practise some key vocabulary together.

Here’s a simple water play activity that includes Peppa and friends.

I love the challenge of creating inviting play opportunities from the toys that children love. So, if your child has a particular interest or favourite character, do let me know and I’ll do my best to create a game out of it.

Liked this idea? Then do check out my suggestions for sandcastle play.

For young children, a big empty cardboard box is one of the best invitations to play. There’s so many creative things we can do with a box and there’s plenty of ways to squeeze in some language activities while we play. Whether your child is learning their first words, starting to use simple phrases or having full-blown conversations with you, this video will give you some ideas to support them along the way.

First word learners: Model simple phrases that match the activity, for example ‘put it in’ or ‘pull it out’. Or, name each object. A big expectant pause is a useful way to give your child the opportunity to name something, without putting them ‘on the spot’ with a direct question.

Phrase talkers: If your child is starting to use simple phrases, then it’s a great time to model positional language (e.g. in/on/under). Remember to sit next to your child if you use ‘behind’ or ‘next to’, because perspective matters with these more complex position words.

Conversationalists: As your child becomes more confident in chatting with you, it’s a great time to start developing their ability to use more descriptive vocabulary. The ‘clues game’ is a great excuse to practice this. Take turns to give each other clues to guess what’s in the box. You can use some key questions to help you: What do you do with it? Where would you find it? What are its parts? Can you describe it?

Sometimes, the simplest toys are the ones that give us the greatest excuse for conversation. I hope you have fun with these ideas!

When I first qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist, my clinical supervisor told me that his favourite therapy resource was paper and a stack of felt tip pens. I was baffled at the time, still lugging around board games, picture books and every other resource I could get my hands on; still spending my evenings printing, cutting and laminating…

But over the years I’ve come to see what a fantastically powerful and flexible resource a pen and paper can be, to support communication at every stage. From team meetings, to conversations with teenagers, to negotiating plans with pre-schoolers, putting our ideas on paper is hugely helpful.

In this video I share with you how I use Sketchnoting in my therapy sessions to support attention, comprehension and memory.

Whether you’re a teacher, therapist, parent or team leader, I encourage you to get doodling and explore its potential for improving communication.

You can find out more about Mike Rohde, the inventor of Sketchnoting on his website. I can also heartily recommend his book, the Sketchnote Handbook.

For more visual learning ideas, check out my blog post on Thinking Maps.