Children gain a significant ability with language between the ages of 18 and 36 months. According to early years consultant Kathy Brodie, a child's vocabulary expands from around 50 simple words to about 200 words around this time, and they will be able to form sentences.
'At the upper end of this age range, they will start to retell a story and pervert it because they think it is funny,' explains Ms Brodie. 'You start getting the mischief of language. Complexity of language develops through this period from basic nouns and verbs to the more abstract concepts such as time, positional terms and emotions.
'You don't teach language - you support its development with a range of activities that are fun, and tap into the child's interests through actions songs, rhymes and sock puppets.
'You build on language development so, for example, when you are talking about a picture of a bus, it might first be "bus", then "red bus", then "red bus going under a bridge".'
The nature of this developmental stage should be kept in mind when creating a toddler room, so that suitable resources are included - those that encourage and support learning to its fullest. Here, some practitioners offer guidance.
CASE STUDY: LINCOLNSHIRE MONTESSORI
Jo Robinson, head of early years at Lincolnshire Montessori, says the key requirements for the toddler room are:
- a low-rise interest table with themed objects such as fruit or vegetables
- a Velcro board with removable, themed photos - this encourages talk about the picture
- soft fabrics and a comfortable area to support emotional well-being
- block play (solid and mini) - lots of conversations stem from this kind of play, particularly in the children nearer to 36 months
- storysacks or baskets with props, such as those from Early Excellence
- a song bank of age-appropriate songs that resonate with children
- heuristic materials. Don't provide too many at once and rotate them for variety
- collections of purses and bags or a basket containing bottles, brushes and rollers for hairdressing.
Ms Robinson also recommends DVDs such as Chatter Matters from I CAN, which can make a great addition to a nursery's resource bank and can be lent to parents.
CASE STUDY: RAINBOW PRE-SCHOOL NURSERY, HANDFORTH
Jasmine Mancini, manager of the Rainbow Preschool Nursery, says the key is to ensure the toddler room is inviting with low-level displays and 'child friendly' access to resources. The room should:
- enable children to stand and play if preferred, by varying heights of tables or builders' trays, as young children find it hard to sit in one place for long and often cannot access toys from a fixed spot
- allow children to bring in their own toys for comfort and to initiate discussion of interests
- provide open-ended resources to allow children to explore, investigate, take some risks, face challenges, and extend their play and thinking
- offer small-world and role-play prams and shopping trolleys
- provide treasure baskets and mirrors
- make trolleys and wheelbarrows available, and a range of containers to support children's schema
- provide small-world transport sets or animals for matching. Exploring these on mirrored trays are very effective conversation starters
- Buy Brio wooden toys for chat about children's experiences of travel, holidays, family days out and for counting, comparing, measuring and matching.
CASE STUDY: KIDDI CARU
Sue Meekings, director of childcare at Kiddi Caru nursery chain, says a toddler room should be calm and child-centred with natural colours.
She aims to provide:
- a room that is strategically designed for communication, plus a similar place outside, with corners where you can snuggle up for a chat
- only music with a purpose - music for dancing or singing but not just as wallpaper. Research tell us, she says, that background noise inhibits a small child's ability to tune into the people who are significant to them.
Among the essential resources at Kiddi Caru are:
- natural resources and everyday things. For example, in the domestic role-play area, there are little woks that can be held in a small hand
- a laminator. Laminated photos from the childen's home or magazines such as National Geographic make great talking points
- a squidgy, oversized chair that an adult and several children can climb into for a chat. There is some mosquito netting over the top so it doesn't become something to chase round or jump on
- storybooks and reference books about monster trucks, dinosaurs, farms or insects -especially good at capturing boys' interest
- room dividers such as those from www.communityplaythings.co.uk.
CASE STUDY: ROSE COTTAGE NURSERY, BOLTON
Len Steers, proprietor of Rose Cottage Nursery, Bolton, says the key is to create a language-rich environment.
'We have the printed word everywhere. In the kitchen we have shopping lists, till receipts, recipes and menu cards, while in the construction area we have catalogues, plans for buildings and "men at work" signs that have been Googled, downloaded, printed and laminated.'
The nursery's favourite resources for toddlers include:
- pop-up tents and wicker tepees. Alternatively, when you plant your runner beans up canes leave a space so that the children can make a den in the middle
- comics aimed at this age group, such as Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder
- rhymes and classic stories such as Three Billy Goats Gruff and Dear Zoo. The nursery also provides some CD versions along with small-world figures and puppets for acting out the stories
- CDs of environmental and farmyard noises.
STAFF KNOW-HOW
The most important factor for supporting language and communication in toddlers will be the staff. Specialist information and training is available to help them with their practice:
I CAN (www.ican.org.uk) and Elklan training (www.elklan.co.uk) are useful sites.
Neil Griffiths (www.cornertolearn.co.uk) offers training and a range of picture and audio books for children, useful for encouraging staff to focus on the art of reading.
The Little Books with Big Ideas series, meanwhile, has lots of useful ideas and tips for activities (Featherstone Education).
RESOURCE IDEAS
- For a soft seating area try the Soft Platform (£169) from www.designsforeducation.co.uk. Add the set of 10 Animal Squares Cushions, (£89.95) from www.arc-education.co.uk to make it snug and cosy.
- For a range of different fabrics for den play, try Cosy Direct on 01332 370152
- Chatter Matters DVD (£9.99), https://shop.ican.org.uk
- Cars and buses story basket (£70), http://shop.earlyexcellence.com
- Speaking and Listening set (£150), which includes 10 CDs from the Talk About range and the Tune Into range, www.yellow.door.net
- Brio Classic Train (£14.99), www.elc.co.uk
- Wigwam (£80), www.earlyyearsdirect.com
- Low-level Play Table (£99) www.earlyyearsdirect.com
- Soft Triangular Mirror House (£389), www.designforeducation.co.uk
- Large Red Metal Trolley, £49.99, from Cosy Direct
- Spic & Span Kit, £25, for role play, from Cosy Direct on 01332 370152
- My First Things That Go - Let's Get Moving! by Dawn Sirett (£5.99) and Hide and Seek Farm by Angela Muss (£7.99) at www.dk.co.uk
