5 ideas to encourage language development in children

Developing a child's language with books, a great idea!

The following article and video aim to provide some advice on using Symbolicone game books in a group setting such as in daycare (CPE, crèche) or kindergarten.

1) I like the idea of giving each child a magnetic strip with a sentence representing the main idea of one of the book's pages. The child must stand up and complete the page when it's their turn. On the strip, you could have installed the 3 main components of a page's sentence (S+V+C) in order or disorder, depending on the child's level. The child must then position the keywords of the sentence in the correct order in the book. This works well for children who like to be active and move during reading activities. This activity also allows children who have more difficulty expressing themselves verbally to participate in the reading activity.

2) Another activity is to have each child pick 2 or 3 pictograms from a book before starting the reading activity. The children are then responsible for coming forward to construct the sentence of the page currently being read. This activity therefore demands the children's attention throughout the activity, as their turn can come at any moment. 

3) Another activity is to have children pick magnets from a book in the "pronunciation" collection and then group the pictograms starting with the targeted sound on a large magnetic board. For example, group all pictograms starting with the 'f' sound. Afterward, children can go to the board one by one to find the necessary magnets to recreate a page. We know that better phonological awareness has positive effects on oral productions as well as pre-reading skills.

4) Another idea is for each child to pick a verb pictogram, then mime it and have their friends guess it. Once their friends have guessed, the child looks for the page where the action actually takes place in the book and places their pictogram there.

5) Finally, you can mix the magnets representing the 'complements' from 2 books in the "pronunciation" collection in a basket. Invite the children to pick a pictogram. For example: a complement pictogram from the ant book vs. one from the duck book. Then, ask the children to group themselves according to the initial sound of the word on their pictogram. In this example, some children would be in the 'f' group (fourmi/ant) and others in the 'k' group (canard/duck). You can validate the answers by comparing with the images in the books.

Note that these activities are interesting for children with language difficulties and for children with typical language development, promoting, among other things, the development of phonological awareness and pre-reading skills.  

Many other activities can be created... let your imagination run wild!!!