Turn-taking is an important part of communication development. It helps us develop reciprocal (two-way) interaction skills with others. It can also help children develop their attention and listening skills.

Some children with language and communication difficulties may find it difficult to take turns during play, as well as in conversation.

Developing turn-taking skills through games and activities helps children learn skills that they can later use in conversation as their language develops.

The following activities may help to develop your child's turn-taking skills.

Activities to support turn taking

• Ball or bean bags – sit opposite your child and take turns throwing a ball or bean bag to each other or into a basket
• Wind-up toys – take turns winding up the toy and sending it across the table
• Posting boxes – take turns posting items into a post box. You could make one together using an old shoe box
• Skittles and ball – take turns knocking down the skittles
• Building blocks – take turns adding one brick at a time to build a tower using Duplo®, blocks, foam bricks or Jenga®. Once finished, practise "Ready, steady...go" before knocking it down
• Everyday chores – take turns putting one item at a time into the washing machine, adding ingredients to a mixing bowl or taking items out of a shopping bag
• Toy cars – take turns pushing a car to each other or rolling it down a ramp
• Inset puzzles – take turns putting one piece into the puzzle
• Feely bags – take turns choosing one item each from a bag and talk about what you found
• Bath time – take turns pouring water into the bath
• Bubbles – take turns blowing bubbles
• Musical instruments – take turns banging a drum or shaking bells. You can vary the rhythm and encourage your child to copy you.

Remember

• Start by practising turn-taking with just you and your child
• minimise distractions where possible, for example turn off the television, put your phone away and make sure siblings have something to do so that interruptions are limited
• keep each turn very short to begin with so your child does not have to wait long before their turn comes again
• as this becomes easier, introduce activities where each person has a longer turn
• when your child can take turns easily with you, introduce a sibling or peer into the activity. This may be more challenging because they will have to wait longer for their turn
• use simple language and focus on what you would like them to do, for example "look", "listen" and "waiting"
• using "waiting hands" (hands flat on the table while waiting) can be helpful for children who find it difficult not to touch or grab items when it is someone else's turn
• Use visuals (such as the ones below) and point to these as it’s each person’s turn. This will help them to visually see that it can be someone else’s turn instead of theirs. You should model this yourself and your child may also point to these. It may be helpful to
  start off with photos of each person so that it is easier to identify whose turn it actually is.