No doubt you’ve heard the message “play with your child” but what they don’t tell you is what games are good to play and how to play them. Did you know it’s these two things – the what and how – that makes the difference to your child’s development?
So why take the time to play with your child? Well research shows us play allows children to use their creativity as they develop their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and social and emotional skills. Phew! That’s a lot of areas play can influence. Play is also so important for healthy brain development. Most of all play is fun and a simple joy that children love and by playing with your child, you are giving them time when they feel special.
To help you out we’re going to answer the what and how for playing with your child by telling you about a game we like to use in clinic and sharing our top three tips on how to play the game to encourage your child’s listening, talking and thinking skills.
Slug in a Jug by Orchard Toys
What’s it about?
Slug in a Jug 
is a colourful and fun game for matching pictures of things that rhyme. Players take turns to choose which pictures rhyme. Better yet, Slug in a Jug has made teaching rhymes a lot easier by highlighting the sounds at the end of the words. In this way, children are able to match the letters as well as the sounds when learning about rhymes.
Rhyme awareness is a phonological awareness skill. Phonological awareness refers to the ability to recognise patterns of letter sounds (such as rhyme and alliteration), know how many syllables and sounds there are within words, and being able to recognise how these sounds can be changed or manipulated. Phonological awareness is strongly linked to our children’s ability to read and spell during their school years.
Our top 3 tips
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Children in preschool or kindergarten are encouraged to increase their awareness of rhyme. One way to do this is to choose three pictures: two that rhyme, and one that does not. Then ask your child which two rhyme. For example, “I have a king. Which one rhymes with king?Ring or cup?”
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For older kids, you can take matching pairs of rhyming words and sort them into a game of Have all cards faced down. Take turns flipping over two cards, and if they rhyme, you get to keep them. If not, you must put them back. This way, both you and your child get a mental workout with your memory skills whilst targeting your child’s ability to recognise rhyme.
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Get your child to come up with another word that rhymes that is not on any of the Slug in a Jug It can be a real or made up word! This way, children can use their imagination and demonstrate how well they understand the concept of rhyme.
REMEMBER: MOST OF ALL HAVE FUN PLAYING TOGETHER.
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