{"id":391,"date":"2025-12-18T14:38:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/?page_id=391"},"modified":"2025-12-18T15:02:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T15:02:33","slug":"activities-supporting-second-language-development","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/eal-in-eearly-years\/activities-supporting-second-language-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Activities supporting second language development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Activities to Develop Second Language Skills in Early Years<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Developing a second language in Early Years requires engaging, play-based activities that integrate vocabulary, sentence structure, and confidence-building. Below are suggested activities, examples, and what they help develop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Messy Play \u2013 Focus on Verbs<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Example:<\/strong> Children explore paint, sand, or water while adults model action words like pour, mix, splash, squeeze<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Understanding and using verbs in context; linking actions to words; promoting expressive language.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    2. What\u2019s Missing? \u2013 Nouns and Adjectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Example:<\/strong> Show a tray of objects, then remove one and ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s missing?\u201d<\/em> Encourage responses like \u201cThe red ball is missing.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Vocabulary for objects (nouns) and descriptive words (adjectives); memory and observation skills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      3. Sensory Games \u2013 Adjectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Example:<\/strong> Use textured materials (soft, rough, smooth) and ask children to describe what they feel.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Expanding descriptive vocabulary; connecting sensory experiences to language.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        4. Instruction Games \u2013 Prepositions<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Example:<\/strong> Play \u201cSimon Says\u201d with positional language: \u201cPut the block under the chair,\u201d \u201cStand next to the table.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Understanding spatial concepts; listening comprehension; following multi-step instructions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          5. Building Together \u2013 Vocabulary for Position<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Example:<\/strong> Construct towers or models and discuss placement: \u201cThe blue block is on top,\u201d \u201cThe green block is beside the red one.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Positional vocabulary; collaborative language use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            6. Puppets \u2013 Confidence to Speak Out Loud<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Example:<\/strong> Use puppets for storytelling or dialogue practice. Children can \u201cspeak\u201d through the puppet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Oral confidence; turn-taking; expressive language.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              7. Sorting Games \u2013 Words for Colour, Shape, Texture, Size<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              • Example:<\/strong> Sort objects by colour or shape and name categories: \u201cThese are round,\u201d \u201cThese are smooth.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Categorisation; descriptive vocabulary; early classification skills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                8. Animal Activities \u2013 Body Parts and Categories<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
                  \n
                • Example:<\/strong> Match animals to their body parts or habitats: \u201cThe cat has whiskers,\u201d \u201cFish live in water.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Vocabulary for animals and body parts; understanding categories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                  9. Number and Action \u2013 Sentence Structure<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  • Example:<\/strong> Combine counting with actions: \u201cClap three times,\u201d \u201cJump two times.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Sentence structure; verb-noun agreement; number recognition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                    10. What\u2019s in the Bag? \u2013 Adjectives and Everyday Objects<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    • Example:<\/strong> Children feel an object in a bag and describe it before guessing: \u201cIt\u2019s soft and round.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Adjectives; inference skills; oral expression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                      11. Role Play \u2013 Sentence Structure, Turn-Taking, Negotiation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
                        \n
                      • Example:<\/strong> Set up a shop or doctor\u2019s office for pretend play. Encourage phrases like \u201cCan I have\u2026?\u201d \u201cHow much is\u2026?\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      • Skills Developed:<\/strong> Functional language; conversational skills; social interaction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                        \n\n\n\n

                        What These Activities Develop<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                          \n
                        • Vocabulary Expansion:<\/strong> Nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Sentence Structure:<\/strong> Understanding word order and grammar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Listening and Comprehension:<\/strong> Following instructions and responding appropriately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Confidence and Social Skills:<\/strong> Speaking in groups, turn-taking, negotiation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Cognitive Skills:<\/strong> Categorisation, memory, problem-solving.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                          \n\n\n\n

                          Recommended Resource<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

                          Book:<\/strong> 50 Fantastic Ideas for Children with EAL<\/em> by Natasha Wood
                          This book offers practical, creative strategies for supporting children with English as an Additional Language through play-based learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                          Activities to Develop Second Language Skills in Early Years Developing a second language in Early Years requires engaging, play-based activities that integrate vocabulary, sentence structure, and confidence-building. Below are suggested activities, examples, and what they help develop: 1. Messy Play \u2013 Focus on Verbs 2. What\u2019s Missing? \u2013 Nouns and Adjectives 3. Sensory Games \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25599,"featured_media":0,"parent":369,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-391","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":392,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/391\/revisions\/392"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/ealss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}