Allied Health News

Social Skills – Taking Turns in Play

As a part of the Jackson School new Social Skills Initiative this week your child learned about taking turns in play. Learning to take turns in play is a vital foundational skill that simultaneously supports communication development i.e., the conversational back and forth exchange. It also facilitates the development of higher skills such as emotional regulation, impulse control and theory of mind. 

Tips for supporting your child to develop their turn taking skills during play:

• Reinforce and use consistent simple language “my turn, your turn”.
• You may wish to use a visual cue to indicate whose turn it is. Get your child to move the arrow to indicate whose turn it is on the spinner.

Play board games that are aligned to your child’s interests. Introduce turn taking in play by having your child play a 2-player board game or simple puzzle with you. Make sure to start with games that ensure your child’s turn comes around quickly to facilitate success. 

• Provide labelled positive reinforcement when your child is waiting e.g., “Great waiting Ben”. 
• To support waiting, you can provide your child with a ‘waiting box’.  This may include items/activities to keep your child’s hands busy whilst they are waiting. 
• Practice waiting within everyday routines. For example, you may wish to set a timer to show your child how long they need to wait for mealtimes (start with a short duration of time i.e., <30secs.)
• As your child becomes more proficient at waiting, introduce multi-player games to extend the time period your child is waiting for before their turn. 
• Bring awareness to when you are waiting e.g., in line at the supermarket. 
• Bring awareness to when members of your family are taking turns throughout your daily routines.
• Have a look as Two Headed Monster Muppet shows us how it is done! 

WORD OF THE WEEK