Play is a vital component of early childhood development as it contributes to the child’s overall physical, social, cognitive and emotional well-being. In fact, it is mainly through play that children learn about their world and discover their interests.
Honing your child’s play skills is also a great avenue for them to build their speech, language and communication abilities – preparing them to thrive in a much bigger world ahead. If you’d like to learn more about the role of play in Speech and Language development, then read on!
- Play Supports Pre-Linguistic Communication
Pre-linguistic skills are a rich form of communication using gestures, facial expressions, eye-contact, imitation and joint attention. These skills act as the foundation for speech and language development. You can facilitate many games for your child to target their pre-linguistic communication – these include ‘Peek-a-Boo’ (eye contact), clapping games (imitation), blocks (turn-taking), mirror activities and face-to-face games (joint attention), among others. When playing with your child, maximise the use of facial expressions and gestures (e.g. hand movements to accompany your speech) to give them clues about what you’re aiming to communicate.
- Play Provides Countless Language Opportunities
Playing with toys helps a child to learn new words and build on their expanding vocabulary. For example, when a child plays ‘house’, they will be motivated to learn about the different furniture, rooms and clothing items found within the house. Playing pretend kitchen will also encourage them to learn the different kitchen tools and kinds of food and the categories they fall under (e.g. fruits, vegetables, dessert, etc). Play also helps the child to learn verbs/action words – such as when they make a doll/stuffed toy dance, sing or jump or their toy cars run, stop or slow down.
- Play Boosts Social Skills
Playful interactions with peers allow children to practice their speech articulation, acquire new vocabulary and build their confidence to express their thoughts and ideas- which greatly improves their overall communication skills. This is especially reinforced when play happens in settings that allow for lots of exploration and investigation.
- Play Improves Receptive Language Skills
Before a child can use words independently, they first need to understand the meaning of these words. Simple play activities such as identification questions (e.g. asking “Where’s the tiger?” when playing with animal toys or “Show me the red block” when playing with colored blocks) are a great way to target this. Also, a game like ‘Simon Says’ can help a child to develop their listening, sequencing, processing skills and encourage them to follow (and give) directions accurately.
- Play Encourages Creativity and Imagination
Play allows your child to exercise their creative thinking and come up with new scenarios as well as new ways to solve problems. For example, when children engage in pretend play, they get an opportunity to create and control their own play worlds as well as enact different themes and characters. This improves their conversational skills, vocabulary and collaboration, among others.
Communication is an essential tool for our children to continually develop and improve as they grow. And it is our responsibility to nurture them through a variety of fun and engaging methods – having play as the heart of it all.
However, it is important to note that for children with language delays or developmental delays, play is not always an easy thing to accomplish. For instance, some children might find it overwhelming to engage in play routines or explore new toys. Or they might not show interest in games that involve pretending to be someone, something, be somewhere else. Other children may not want to interact with other kids playing in the same area.
If you find that your child’s speech, language and communication skills don’t seem to develop at the rate appropriate for their age despite providing abundant opportunities for purposeful play – then you can consider having them assessed for Speech and Language Therapy. Getting therapy that caters to your child’s individual learning needs can improve their developmental outcomes. The earlier your child receives support, the swifter they are likely to progress (If you would like to learn more about the other skills that your child can develop with Speech and Language Therapy, read our separate blog here.)
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Sensation Station Centre is one of the most reputable paediatric intervention and therapy centres that provide individualised paediatric Speech and Language Therapy and early intervention services in Dubai. Our highly qualified, experienced, and multi-cultural team will work with your child to help them develop new skills and help them to unlock their best potential. Our paediatric services are performed through evidence-based practices and are conducted in a fun, safe, and sensory-rich environment.
We need to remember that treatment options and duration of therapy will vary for each child. For specific questions about our services or to book a consultation with our therapist, reach out to us and we would be happy to assist you.
Call us today on +971 4 277 6769.
If you want to learn more about our other services, here are some helpful links:
- Click here to learn about our Paediatric Speech Therapy services
- Click here to learn about our Paediatric Occupational Therapy services
- Click here to learn about our Able-Me Early Intervention Day Programme