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Make the most of everyday opportunities to chat with your baby or toddler, especially while you are out and about. It will help them learn new words and develop their communication skills.

Use our walk and talk trail to chat to your baby or child. Here you'll discover tips, activities and prompts to have exciting new conversations. Download the trail here. Scroll down for translated versions of the trail.

Watch the video below to see a dad talking with his daughter about what they see and hear on their journey to the park. He mimics the sounds of what he sees and hears, and encourages his daughter to join in too.

How will the trail help my baby or toddler to start talking?

Both the trail and activities on this page will support you to introduce new words to your baby or child. This will help them begin talking and communicating. If you child is already very chatty, the trail will help them develop their vocabulary.

The first five years of a child's life have a big impact. The development that happens helps improve their future learning, happiness and wellbeing. You can encourage this development by finding as many opportunities as you can to talk and listen to them, and introduce new things.

The walk and talk trail will help you get started.

What if English isn't my first language?

It's important to talk to your baby or child in your home language. Translated copies of the walk and talk trail can be downloaded below:

We like reading together. Are there any books based on chatting and exploring outside?

Sharing a book together is a great way to introduce your children to new words and develop their imagination. There's lots of great books about the outdoors you can read together, to inspire you to spend outside. Check out our booklist for suggestions. If you don't have these books at home, visit your local library to borrow a copy and see what other outdoor stories you can find.

Remember, you don't always need to read the words in books. Looking at and talking about picture books is a great way to encourage your child to enjoy stories.

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Talking to your child when you're out and about

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Walking near your home can be a good chance to get your child speaking about the things they see and hear around them.

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Bell Foundation EYFS assessment video

Handy guides!

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Chinese - simplified Guide to bilingualism 

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Chinese - simplified Guide to bilingualism 

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EDS - Advice for EAL families with children in EYFS & Preschool

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Below you'll find a huge collection of resources and activities to support teaching on a range of incredible titles from Penguin's (incomplete) Lit in Colour book list.

From incredible adventures to find monsters, to extraordinary stories about extraordinary people, we've got a whole host of brilliant resources to help make the work of writers of colour more visible in schools and homes across the UK.

Explore the Extraordinary Lives of: Katherine Johnson, Rosa Parks and, Mary Seacole!

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Lit in Colour Activities | Teaching Resources | Twinkl

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Browse our collection of resources created in partnership with Penguin to support teaching on a variety of incredible titles from their Lit in Colour book list.

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We recently met up with Warda Farah in Greenwich to talk to her about the origins of speech and language therapy and how the profession cannot move to the future without confronting and acknowledging its racist and colonial knowledge base. We know that children from Black backgrounds are overrepresented as having Speech & Language Impairments, due to biased assessment protocols. We know that our current models, practice base & service delivery is not good enough to bring about equitable change for these children/families. How can we all use our SLT skills to create meaningful change and social impact?

Good for looking at

Speech and language therapy

Anti-racist practice

Supporting speech and language development

Intersectionality

Chapters

Introduction to Warda Farah

Deficit based models of learning

Intersectionality and its importance for educators

Power dynamics in the education environment

Creating safe spaces for marginalised children

Acknowledge privilege and challenge systemic bias

Social justice - get involved

Linguistic justice - what it is and its importance

Questioning advice from a professional

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In conversation with Warda Farah, speech and language therapist

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We recently met up with Warda Farah in Greenwich to talk to her about the origins of speech and language therapy and how the profession cannot move to the future without confronting and acknowledging its racist and colonial knowledge base. We know that children from Black backgrounds are overreprese

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There is currently a great deal of interest in the future of the early years sector. This is clearly a priority as early experiences shape later life chances. However, little attention has been paid in these discussions to children in this age group who speak English as an Additional Language (EAL).

Many of these children face the challenge of adjusting to early years settings and schools while also learning English. Although reports suggest that the gap between EAL learners and their monolingual peers closes over time, evidence suggests that for some children a performance gap remains, particularly for children with low levels of English language proficiency.

Teachers we've spoken to as part of our research are also worried about this, stating that they had significant concerns about children learning EAL, as well as children from deprived backgrounds and children with special educational needs (SEN).

What does the data tell us?

In our own research, we looked at the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) of children learning EAL in the year following the first national lockdown and compared this to their monolingual peers as well as to a pre-pandemic national sample. While non-mandatory in the academic year 2020/21, our schools were still carrying out the EYFSP and shared data for over 3000 children. Our results suggested that children learning EAL were significantly impacted by COVID-19.

61.5% of children learning EAL achieved at least expected levels in Communication and Language compared to 76.5% of their monolingual peers.

53.7% of children learning EAL achieved expected levels in Literacy compared to 63.9% of their monolingual peers.

50.9% of children learning EAL in our sample achieved a good level of development compared to 61% of their monolingual peers.

50.9% of children learning EAL achieved a good level of development in the year 2020/21, compared to 67% in the national cohort 2018/19.

More recently, we began a longitudinal study exploring the impact of lockdown on children in Reception, Year One and Year Two. We collected data on a language measure that included receptive and expressive vocabulary, sentence repetition and listening comprehension. Our regression analysis shows that whether a child has English as an Additional Language is a significant predictor of performance on the language measure, and, to date, a smaller proportion of children learning EAL perform as expected compared to their monolingual peers.

The most recent EYFSP data show that this is still the case. According to the Department for Education (DfE), 70% of children learning EAL are reaching expected levels in Communication and Language compared to 82.3% of children whose first language is English. In Literacy, these figures drop further with 62.5% of children learning EAL achieving expected levels compared to 70% of children whose first language is English.

What does this mean for policy and practice?

If children who are learning EAL do not reach the English language proficiency required to fully engage with the school curriculum, this has the potential to hinder their progress on statutory assessments as they make their way through primary school. Indeed, 57.2% of children learning EAL achieve a good level of development in the EYFSP compared to 67.1% of their monolingual peers, and in Key Stage One SATS, 65% of EAL learners achieve expected levels in reading compared to 70% of their monolingual peers.

It is important to note that the complexity of this cohort is not captured by the categorical labelling of a child as EAL. The language proficiency of those falling into this category varies greatly, with some children being fluent in multiple languages including English and others having little or no English.

In a school system where all children are tested in English...these assessments do not take account of a learner's ability if tested in their own language and are therefore inherently biased towards English language speakers

Yet in a school system where all children are tested in English, like ours, these assessments do not take account of a learner's ability if tested in their own language and are therefore inherently biased towards English language speakers, hindering opportunities for children learning EAL to perform to their full potential. Early years educators and teachers need to be equipped with the tools and skills needed to identify those children who may be in need of additional support. There is little policy guidance available from the DfE to help educators support young English language learners. Educators have to rely on third sector organisations such as The Bell Foundation and NALDIC to support their practice.

The percentage of children learning EAL is increasing, and the needs of these children must be addressed. We feel strongly that the DfE, in considering changes to the early years sector, consider the specific needs of children learning EAL to address the current achievement gap and ensure it does not widen.

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Blog: EAL Children and the Early Years Sector - The Best Start?

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In this blog, Professor Claudine Bowyer-Crane and Dr Silke Fricke look at the achievement gap for EAL pupils in early years, exploring the reality behind the misleading data and what this means for policy.

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A beginners guide to Anti-Racism - Black Nursery Manager

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Recent Research - Cambridge University

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Babies Learn Language Best Through Sing-Song Speech, Not Phonetics - Neuroscience News

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New research suggests that parents should use sing-song speech, such as nursery rhymes, with their babies, as it aids language development.

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Join Kate Moxley and Kerry Payne in a safe space conversation with Laura Henry in our third podcast in this series exploring, challenging and developing our understanding of race, ethnicity and cultural diversity. Seeking to learn new ways of working, thinking and discovering action for change that informs pedagogy, practice and develops anti-racist educators.

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‎Early Years Conversations: When You Know Better You Do Better on Apple Podcasts

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Join Kate Moxley and Kerry Payne in a safe space conversation with Laura Henry in our third podcast in this series exploring, challenging and developing our understanding of race, ethnicity and cultural diversity. Seeking to learn new ways of working, thinking and discovering action for change that...

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PACEY - Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years

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Unite for Literacy provides free digital access to picture books, narrated in many languages. Literacy is at the core of a healthy community, so we unite with partners to enable all families to read with their young children.

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Download our My Family, Your Family resources

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Laura Henry-Allain MBE has put together resources to help children and adults have meaningful discussions on family and belonging.

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Download our My Family, Your Family resources

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Laura Henry-Allain MBE has put together resources to help children and adults have meaningful discussions on family and belonging.

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WELLCOMM big book of ideas- online

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At Eastwards Consortium, our focus is primarily on educating and developing the next generation of our society. To assist in this, we use our well-known 'Big Book of Ideas', a set of activities and tasks focused around pupil development. Below you will find a set of tabs which depict these tasks further.

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The benefits of bilingualism in Urdu

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PRIMARY New to English EAL Induction Pack   (Big Bear Banter resources included) 

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Here are a couple of audio files with the Hello and Goodbye songs that are used in Teddy Talk session.

Use any song, but it's important to include names and ask how they are:
Hello Song
Hello, hello, how are you? Piotr, Piotr

Hello, hello, how are you? How are you today?

(Wait for a response, thumbs "I'm good" or thumbs down "I'm not good")

Goodbye Song (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)

Now it's time to say goodbye, say goodbye, say goodbye

Now it's time to say goodbye, goodbye Piotr (or you could use the name of the objects going back into the bag)
Kodaly Hello Song
These songs have been slightly adapted from the songs used in Kodaly sessions. If you slap your knees and then clap your hands to the beat this is good for rhythm development too.

http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Hello-song.mp3
Kodaly Goodbye song
http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/goodbye-song.mp3

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Strategies for Supporting Listening and Talking at Stage 1

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Here are a couple of audio files with the Hello and Goodbye songs that are used in Teddy Talk session. Use any song, but it's important to include names and ask how they are: Hello Song Hello, hello, how are you? Piotr, Piotr Hello, hello, how are you? How are you today?

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Teddy Talk is a structured language development programme for EAL pupils in nursery schools. It is adapted from the original CHAT (Communication , Help and Awareness Team) programme provided by various Speech & Language Therapy services in Scotland.

Teddy Talk is intended for children in the early stages of English language acquisition. It has proven results for quickly developing core vocabulary and self-confidence. EAL children in the 'silent period' will often start to speak after Teddy Talk sessions.

Sessions take about 15-20 minutes, and each session is built around a repeated, predictable framework that includes:

Rules of good sitting, listening and looking

A Hello Song and greeting

Some games

A Story

A Goodbye song and farewell

A sequence of around 10 sessions is ideal, with each session provided two or three times each week to reinforce language acquisition.

Topics

Choose from any of these topics that support what you are currently doing in your nursery, or use them as a framework for developing your own. Just click the theme title to download a Word document with guidance and visual resources. If possible, use actual objects or toys in preference to flashcards. The topics are ordered in terms of difficulty. The first topics are suitable for pupils new to English and the latter ones for pupils working towards greater fluency:

Parental Permission

If you think parents may be concerned about their child participating in this activity, here's an information and permission slip that will hopefully alleviate any concerns.

Here are a couple of audio files with the Hello and Goodbye songs that are used in Teddy Talk session.

Use any song, but it's important to include names and ask how they are:
Hello Song
Hello, hello, how are you? Piotr, Piotr

Hello, hello, how are you? How are you today?

(Wait for a response, thumbs "I'm good" or thumbs down "I'm not good")

http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Hello-Song-v2.wav

Goodbye Song (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)

Now it's time to say goodbye, say goodbye, say goodbye

Now it's time to say goodbye, goodbye Piotr (or you could use the name of the objects going back into the bag)

http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Goodbye-Song-v2.wav
Kodaly Hello Song
These songs have been slightly adapted from the songs used in Kodaly sessions. If you slap your knees and then clap your hands to the beat this is good for rhythm development too.

http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Hello-song.mp3
Kodaly Goodbye song
http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/goodbye-song.mp3
http://www.bilingualism-matters.ppls.ed.ac.uk
Bilingualism Matters is a centre for research and information on language learning and bilingualism based at Edinburgh University. Links to a variety of resources including a newsletter, language and identity and relevance of language learning in today's society.

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Teddy Talk: Supporting EAL Children in Nursery School

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Teddy Talk is a structured language development programme for EAL pupils in nursery schools. It is adapted from the original CHAT (Communication , Help and Awareness Team) programme provided by various Speech & Language Therapy services in Scotland. Teddy Talk is intended for children in the early stages of English language acquisition.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teddy Talk is a structured language development programme for EAL pupils in nursery schools. It is adapted from the original CHAT (Communication , Help and Awareness Team) programme provided by various Speech & Language Therapy services in Scotland.

Teddy Talk is intended for children in the early stages of English language acquisition. It has proven results for quickly developing core vocabulary and self-confidence. EAL children in the 'silent period' will often start to speak after Teddy Talk sessions.

Sessions take about 15-20 minutes, and each session is built around a repeated, predictable framework that includes:

Rules of good sitting, listening and looking

A Hello Song and greeting

Some games

A Story

A Goodbye song and farewell

A sequence of around 10 sessions is ideal, with each session provided two or three times each week to reinforce language acquisition.

Topics

Choose from any of these topics that support what you are currently doing in your nursery, or use them as a framework for developing your own. Just click the theme title to download a Word document with guidance and visual resources. If possible, use actual objects or toys in preference to flashcards. The topics are ordered in terms of difficulty. The first topics are suitable for pupils new to English and the latter ones for pupils working towards greater fluency:

Parental Permission

If you think parents may be concerned about their child participating in this activity, here's an information and permission slip that will hopefully alleviate any concerns.

Here are a couple of audio files with the Hello and Goodbye songs that are used in Teddy Talk session.

Use any song, but it's important to include names and ask how they are:
Hello Song
Hello, hello, how are you? Piotr, Piotr

Hello, hello, how are you? How are you today?

(Wait for a response, thumbs "I'm good" or thumbs down "I'm not good")

http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Hello-Song-v2.wav

Goodbye Song (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)

Now it's time to say goodbye, say goodbye, say goodbye

Now it's time to say goodbye, goodbye Piotr (or you could use the name of the objects going back into the bag)

http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Goodbye-Song-v2.wav
Kodaly Hello Song
These songs have been slightly adapted from the songs used in Kodaly sessions. If you slap your knees and then clap your hands to the beat this is good for rhythm development too.

http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Hello-song.mp3
Kodaly Goodbye song
http://ealhighland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/goodbye-song.mp3
http://www.bilingualism-matters.ppls.ed.ac.uk
Bilingualism Matters is a centre for research and information on language learning and bilingualism based at Edinburgh University. Links to a variety of resources including a newsletter, language and identity and relevance of language learning in today's society.

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Teddy Talk: Supporting EAL Children in Nursery School

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Teddy Talk is a structured language development programme for EAL pupils in nursery schools. It is adapted from the original CHAT (Communication , Help and Awareness Team) programme provided by various Speech & Language Therapy services in Scotland. Teddy Talk is intended for children in the early stages of English language acquisition.

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Bilingual babies and speaking multiple languages at home - BBC Tiny Happy People

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Will hearing me speak more than one language confuse my child? Is the speech of bilingual children delayed? What language should I use at home? Tips for parents on introducing children to more than one language.

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Bilingual babies and speaking multiple languages at home - BBC Tiny Happy People

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Will hearing me speak more than one language confuse my child? Is the speech of bilingual children delayed? What language should I use at home? Tips for parents on introducing children to more than one language.

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This article by Early Education Associate Anni McTavish explores the term "cultural capital", and what it might mean for early years practitioners and their settings. Following the publication of the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) in May 2019, the updated Ofsted School and Early Years (EY) Inspection Handbooks came into effect from September 2019.

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The myth of speech delay in bilingual toddlers: Top tips for speaking two languages to baby

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Does speaking two languages to a baby confuse them? It is a common myth is that speaking more than one language confuses children and can lead to speech delay. In fact, being able to speak more than one language has plenty of advantages…

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Books suitable for discussing Refugees written with EYFS learners in mind

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Guide for Parents- Primary School (Chinese)

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Guide for Parents- Primary School (Chinese)