Learning to take turns is one of the most crucial social skills in your childs' daily life.It helps to develop friendships, communicate with others and take part in games. We put lots of hard work into nursery to help your child take turns,it is a skill that needs to be incorporated into everyday daily life. To help your child continue and understand the importance and concept,they need lots of practise.
Here are some to help children understand turn taking and practice the skills with their peers:
Social Stories
It is always a good start by reading fun social stories or any stories about turn taking. A social story teaches children the basic concept of taking turn and waiting. Check out www.boardmarkershare.com for stories and ideas.
Modelling Turn Taking
Use a puppet to act out the ‘proper way’ to take turns in a conversation ,this will help show your child what turn taking looks like.
Language and Gestures
It is important to use simple language to describe taking turns. Start each turn with, “My turn,” or “Your turn” to draw attention to the fact that only one person plays at a time. Using gestural as tapping their chest or pointing to the child can help children understand when it is their turn and emphasise the idea of turn taking.
Practise Waiting
we understand that waiting is often the most difficult part in taking turns for children. Start with a short duration to wait and prolong the duration as your child begins to understand the idea of waiting. A timer or singing a song can help children to predict when their turn ends or begins. Some children may need a toy to hold while they are waiting for their turn which helps to ease some of the tension while waiting.
Games
Rolling a ball back and forth or playing catch is a simple way to demonstrate how turn-taking works. It demonstrates that only one person can take their turn at a time. Table-top games such as Jenga can be used to reinforce the idea that taking turns is fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNlj0cosD6E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaQHoJSTTuE
