Ready Steady Talk! is an activity book filled with games to help encourage and develop children’s listening and talking skills!
Trying to help children develop their speech and language in a fun and interesting way can be quite a challenge, especially with twins (who seem to have their own language at times) so I have been using toys like Mr Potato Head to encourage listening and interacting skills as well as imaginative play toys like wooden train sets (which both boys absolutely love) and I CAN, the children’s communication charity, sent me some resources, including the Ready Steady Talk! activity book, to use with the boys as they have some slight speech delay (which is apparently quite common among twins).
I have watched the I CAN Chatter Matters DVD, which is a great resource for parents and carers and is very informative and gives lots of useful and practical advice.
So my next stop was the Ready Steady Talk! book which is an Early Years activity book filled with games to help encourage and develop children’s listening and talking skills, all in a fun and educational way. It is a A4 sized paperback book and easy for little hands to hold. It also includes 8 pages of advice for parents and carers.
So for the past couple of weeks we have been trying activities from the book such as picture matching and sounds, colouring activities which are used for listening and understanding, singing nursery rhymes (the boys love their nursery rhymes and love singing along so I love how this encourages their talking), storytelling and lots more. The book gives instructions on how to play the games and how to use everyday items found around the house; so for example unpacking the shopping and getting the children to help and describe each item which helps them learn new words, expand their vocabulary and listening skills.
So while all the activities are simple and there is no need to buy additional toys or books they are all something that can be done anywhere; walking to nursery, trip to the supermarket etc. Ready Steady Talk! encourages the children to interact and learn in a fun way all while having quality time with their family and carers and you can dip in and out the book and vary the games played and adapt them to suit your owns needs as the children’s language develops.
The games and activities in Ready Steady Talk! help your child by developing five core skills:
- Paying attention and listening
- Understanding what is said
- Learning new words
- Making longer sentences
- Talking socially
So we are having lots of fun playing and learning in a very easy fashion, and at only £5.99 for this book it has already had lots of use and is definitely an invaluable resource, we are slowly but surely encouraging more talking, learning to listen better and building a better understanding of vocabulary and instructions.
For more information and resources visit www.icancharity.org.uk and get your children off to a great start with their great resources, help and support.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £5.99 (paperback)
Available to buy from I CAN here.
