During the pre-school years (between 3 to 5 years old), your child's speech and language will become more advanced. Their increasing attention skills will mean they can listen to longer stories, recall them in their play and engage in more complex conversations.
Children at this stage also benefit from playing together with other children. Playing together helps pre-schoolers to learn to take turns, share, negotiate and make up after arguments.
Pre-schoolers love to pretend when they play. Give your child lots of opportunities for them to do this. For example, having a tea party with teddies or dressing up with friends. Sometimes the best pretend play is with cardboard boxes, where children can really use their imagination and turn it into a whole new world of fun.
Make time for play everyday. Play can happen anywhere, in the bath, in the park, in the shops and with anything, cardboard boxes, tins of food, saucepans and spoons. Talk about what they are doing. Don’t forget to name what they are looking at. This helps your child learn new words.
Remember that children learn to communicate in different ways and at different times and rates, so try not to compare them to others.
Tips for communicating and playing with your pre-school child - chat, play, grow
Continue to read, sing, listen and play together. Encourage your partner, family and friends to get involved too!
- Use photos or objects as conversation starters - talk to your child about things you have done in the past and what you are planning to do.
- Try to ask open questions which will help your child use their memory skills to recall past and future events. For example, 'I wonder what we will see at the park tomorrow' or 'How many ducks did we see on the pond yesterday'.
- Remember to introduce new words everyday and explain them to your child. This helps to develop their sentences.
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Build a den together - the perfect place to chat, have a picnic or make up a story.
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Enjoy adding puppets or soft toys to your play. Children love listening to you putting on voices and giving it ago themselves.
- Cooking and baking are great ways to spend time together. It gives your child the opportunity to hear new words and practice numbers and measurements. Ask your child to help you find the ingredients around the kitchen to challenge their memory and understanding skills. Working through the different steps of a recipe helps your child to follow instructions. It also teaches them about sequences and order in sentences. Use lots of describing words when you're cooking together and encourage them to make choices.
- Offer your child choices throughout the day. When getting your child dressed, put two t-shirts out and encourage your child to choose one. Offer them to pick one of a choice of snacks. Ask them which book they would like read at bedtime. Always remember to let them have what they choose.
- Treasure hunt - hide some objects around the room and use spoken clues to help your child find them.
- Play listening games with your child to develop their listening skills and working memory. You could try 'Simon Says'. Take turns so your child gets to give you instructions too!
- Attend a Tiny Tots session at Peterborough Museum - Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery runs monthly 'Tiny Tots' sessions, perfect for under 5s from confident walkers to pre-schoolers. Their sessions include lots of sensory and messy play activities, as well as songs, games and story time.
- Encourage musical play - use instruments or create your own musical toys using household objects. Give your child the opportunity to take turns and develop their listening skills. Learn about opposites such as loud and quiet, fast and slow etc.
- Sing songs with actions - e.g. 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' and 'Old McDonald Had A Farm' - this helps your child's vocabulary and improves their physical coordination.
- Get your child dancing with games like musical bumps and musical statues. This is a great way to develop your child's listening skills and attention. Explaining how the games work helps your child to follow instructions. You can find the rules for musical bumps and musical statues on the BBC Tiny Happy People website.
- Use books to share and retell stories - this is a great way to expand your child's language and improve their memory. Ask them questions about the book and see if your child can retell the story back to you. Visit a Peterborough library to see what books they have available. The Words for Life website has a list of book suggestions and tips on how to engage your child in reading.
- Ask your child how they would feel if something that happened in the story happened to them.
- Build your child's ability to 'sequence' - when reading a story together, ask your child to recall what happened first, what happened next, what happened at the end. Teach them keywords such as 'first', 'second', 'third', 'next', 'last'.
- Help your child expand their vocabulary by practising forming sentences in the past tense.
- Ask your child to come up with words that rhyme with each other such as 'bell, fell, shell, tell'.
How to correct speech mistakes
As your child's speech and language skills improve, they will probably make mistakes and muddle their words. Model the correct language to your child, rather than telling them they are wrong. For example, if your child says 'I stooded on the chair', respond with 'Yes, you stood on the chair.'
Praise
We all need praise to help us enjoy learning. So make sure your child knows you are pleased with them when they achieve something new. A smile, a touch, a ‘well done’ helps children feel good about themselves which will encourage them to try again.
Getting your child ready to start school
Helping your child to prepare for starting Reception at school will build their confidence. We have put together an easy checklist to help you get your child ready for school, ready to learn and ready to succeed.
How Family Hubs can support you
Family Hubs act as a 'one stop shop', offering guidance and advice on a range of circumstances to support families through pregnancy, early years and beyond.
Find out more
Check out the websites, organisations and charities below to see what other tips, activities, events, help and support are available relating to speech and language development and the early years.
What to do if you have concerns
Visit our webpage on how to get help if you're worried about your child's speech and language development. You can find out about signs and symptoms of issues plus organisations and charities that can help you.