School-age play: why it’s important for language development
As children get older and start school, play is still one of the ways they develop, learn and explore the world.
Playing with your child gives you opportunities to talk together. And when you play and talk with your child, they keep learning new words and practising conversation skills. This is good for your child’s communication and social skills at school and helps their brain develop.
When you spend time talking, interacting and playing together, it strengthens your relationship with your child. And a strong relationship with you is essential to development because it gives your child the confidence to keep exploring and learning.
What to expect: school-age language skills
Children learn new language skills over time and at different ages. But here’s what’s happening for most children between 5 and 8 years.
During the early school years, your child will learn more words and start to understand how the sounds within language work together. Your child will also become a better storyteller, as they learn to put words together in different ways and build different types of sentences. These skills also let your child share ideas and opinions.
By 8 years, your child will be able to have adult-like conversations.
School-age children can sometimes have so much news to share that they stumble over words and get frustrated. Give your child time to answer and they’ll get the words out eventually. When you listen patiently, it sends the message that what your child has to say is important to you.
Find out more about language development between 5 and 8 years.
Language development happens in the same order in most children. Small differences are usually nothing to worry about. But if you’re wondering whether your child’s language development is on track or you feel that something isn’t quite right, it’s good to get help early. Talk to your GP or your child’s teacher.
Play ideas to boost school-age language development
It’s good for your child’s language skills if you take the time to listen and chat together. This reminds your child that conversation involves both listening and talking.
Here are play ideas to encourage talking and improve your child’s vocabulary and conversation skills:
- Read together. Encourage your child to choose what to read. You and your child can also take turns reading aloud and listening.
- Play simple word games – for example, think of words that rhyme with ‘frog’ or words that start with ‘s’.
- Engage in imaginative and creative play, like art and craft, with your child. This type of play will often get your child talking.
- Listen to stories and songs or play games in the car. For example, ‘I Spy’ is a fun game that encourages children to think about sounds and letters.
- Tell jokes and riddles.
- Make time to chat about your day, and try asking open-ended questions like ‘What did you enjoy about school today?’
- Talk while you’re enjoying activities with your child, like going for a walk, kicking a footy or going to the museum.
If you’re raising multilingual or bilingual children, it’s a good idea to speak your heritage language in your home. Learning more than one language has many benefits for children. And when your child goes to child care or preschool, they can practise speaking in and listening to English.
Screen time and digital technology use for school-age children
Good-quality, age-appropriate screen time and digital technology use can support your child’s learning and language development. And when you share screen time and use digital technology with your child, you can talk together about what you’re doing and seeing.
It’s important for your child to enjoy screen time and use digital technology as part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s all about balancing screen time and digital technology use with other activities that are good for your child’s development, like physical play, reading and socialising.