Award-winning Chatty Bats is a Language Development Programme for children aged 3 to 5. This 10 week programme supports their talking and understanding of language.
Shared reading and small group structured play sessions nurture and support the children to become more confident and independent as their understanding and spoken language develops.
Chatty Bats Language Development Programme has Early Soundplay stories at its heart, books which are full of repetition, rhythm and rhyme – brilliant for supporting young children’s language!
Fun and interactive activities link to the stories with clear aims to build vocabulary, understanding and talking. And the finger puppets included in the pack help the children engage with the stories and activities.
At the core of the programme is sharing stories. Engaging the children, building on their language, following their lead and extending on what they are saying. Using the stories as a starting point for language rich conversations with the children is a powerful tool to support their language development.
The range of activities that sit around the books reinforce the key language through interaction and play.
We’ve included action games to help build verbs, sorting games to build deeper understanding of words, games where children are giving and receiving instructions to help practise, understanding and talking. Plus practise at retelling stories with a clear structure to help support this crucial skill.
The Classroom Guidance Manual ensures the links beween the small group activities and the wider learning environment. It is packed full of ideas to integrate language activities into continuous provision. Week by week it suggests activities that will link with the curriculum whether it be outdoor play, construction or imaginative play areas.
In addition it provides a simple weekly activity sheet to share with parents. This can support parents’ involvement in the programme and give easy accessible activities to try at home.
Staff running the programme have responded positively to the engaging activities and books and to the impact they’ve seen on children’s language development and confidence.
Read about the background, impact and positive outcomes in Catch up with Chatty Bats.
