Games to encourage talking

• 1.Ball Throw/Marble Roll   Have a pile of sound/word cards each. When a player says the target sound/word correctly, the other player throws the ball or rolls a marble to him/her. Keep taking turns until all the sounds/words have been named.
• 2.Build a Tower   Take turns to name a sound/word card. Each time a player says the sound/word well, he/she adds a block to a tower. See how high you can make it! Alternatively, you can start by placing a block on each card. A sound/word card is named when its block is removed and added to the tower. Colourful stacking beakers make a good alternative to blocks.
• 3.Skittles    Attach sound/word cards to skittles (these can be home made from plastic bottles) with blu tac. Ask your child to name the sound/word that he/she is going to try to knock down with the ball as well as the sound/word that was actually knocked down!
• 4.Take One Away   Place 3 sound/word cards on the table. Ask your child to look away while you remove one card. Can your child tell you which picture has been removed?
• 5.Picture Guess   Place a blank card over a sound/word card. Slowly withdraw the blank card. The child has to guess (and correctly name the sound/word) before the picture is totally revealed.
• 6.Winning Card   Ask your child to choose the ‘winning card’. Shuffle all sound/word cards, including the ‘winning one’ and place all face-down on the table. Take turns to select a card, saying the sound/word each time until the ‘winning card’ is found by the ‘winner’.
• 7.What’s Underneath?   Arrange the sound/word cards face-up on the table. Hide a prize eg. A sticker (it needs to be fairly flat and undetectable when hidden) underneath one of the cards. Your child needs to name the sound/word card correctly before lifting it up to look for the prize. You could place prizes under several/all of the cards.
• 8.Draw It   Take turns to select a card and draw the picture. Your partner must try to guess what the sound/word is from your drawing and say it correctly.
• 9. Fishing For Words or Numbers You can do this in two ways. Either use a fishing pole with a magnet to pick up sound/word cards with paperclips attached, or use the pole and magnet to pick up fish with numbers on them. The number indicates how many sounds/words to name.
• 10.Dice game   Stick post-it notes, numbered 1 to 6, on sound/word cards which are arranged face-down on the table. Take turns to throw the dice and name the corresponding sound/word. You could vary this game by using numbered pictures of cars, spiders etc instead of post-it notes. Your child may find it fun to draw or cut out pictures to use.
• 11. Placemats   You could use the sound/word cards as place mats at the   table. Ask your child which sound/word he/she would like to have today.
• 12. Charades   Take turns to do one of the Jollyphonics actions and see if your partner can say the correct sound to go with that action. You can do the same activity but with word cards (make sure the words are known to the child and can be ‘acted’!)
• 13. Pairs   Put several pairs of cards face down on the table in a random order – well mixed up. Take turns to turn over 2 cards, naming the sounds/words as you do so. Once named, the pictures should be turned face down again. If a pair is uncovered it should be removed from the game. The player with the most pairs at the end is the winner.
• 14. Barrier Game   You will need 2 sets of identical cards for this game. Take turns to name the sound/word on a card, holding the card so it cannot be seen by your partner, (you could put some sort of barrier between you). Your partner will hold up what he/she thinks is the matching card.
• 15. Washing on the Line   For this game you will need to improvise an indoor washing line which your child can reach. Place sound/word cards in a ‘washing basket’ for your child to peg on the line like washing, saying each sound/word as he/she does so.
• 16. Getting Active   Place sound/word cards around the room and ask your child to run/hop/jump/skip to, or even be a racing car (etc) to one of the sounds. When s/he arrives at the card ask them ‘‘Which sound/word is that?’’
• 17. Hide and Seek   Hide a sound/word card somewhere in the room for your child to find. You could help out with ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ clues. Remember to ask your child ‘’which sound/word have you found?’’
• 18. Musical Sound Cards   Place the sound/word cards face up on the floor.Encourage your child to dance or run about while you play some music. When you stop the music, call out a sound/word for him/her to stand on or pick up. Your child will probably enjoy being in charge of the music system and ‘calling’ the sound/word while you do the dancing!
• 19. Stepping Stones   Use the sound/word cards as pretend stepping stones to cross a river. Ask your child to name the sound/word represented on the card before standing on it.
• 20. Traffic Lights   Make red and green circles to act as traffic lights. Place sound/word cards upside down in a line. Hold up the green ‘light’ for your child to ‘go’ and fetch a card, achieving the sound/word correctly before setting off for the next one. The ‘lights’ can be used during the game or just at the beginning and end. The game could be timed to add an extra dimension!
• 21. Dressing Up         Each time your child names a sound/word card correctly, s/he runs to a dressing up box and puts something on. The sillier the items the funnier the results. This is especially good with 2 children and 2 dressing up boxes. Each child has their own set of sound/word cards to name.
• 22. Race for Treats   Turn the sound/word cards upside down in a line. Your child turns over a card, says the sound/word correctly and moves to the next card. If they say a sound/word incorrectly they need to stop and try again. At the end of the row of cards is a prize, such as something nice to eat or a sticker.
• 23. Twister   Place several sound/word cards face up on the floor. The aim is to place as many body parts (elbows, hands, fingers, nose etc) on as many cards as possible! Ask your child to say each sound/word that s/he touches.
• 24. An outdoor ball game   Stick sound/word cards onto surfaces and walls and see if your child can hit them with a ball. Remember to ask which sounds/words s/he is aiming for.