Sharing family photographs with the grandchildren is a great way for them to learn about their family and to practise talking about the past.
Watch the video below for some inspiration on how to help little ones understand what they're seeing and practise their language skills.
Do you want to look at some photos of Nanny? Let's go then.
Is that Mummy?
It is! How did you know? What's Mummy doing?
She's playing! She's wearing a coat.
She is! She's wearing red. And she's also wearing a yellow hat.
Is that Nanny?
Well done Alina! Says on the back of the picture Nanny and Aunty Jennifer at carnival in May 1988. 1988!T hat was a long time ago. How old do you think Nanny was there?
Erm, two?
Two! More like twenty two. You guys are hilarious, you are.
Why look at photographs with young children?
- Photos are a great way of getting children to talk about and describe family members.
- Looking at old family photographs allows children to practise talking in the past tense.
- Talking about events in the past helps children visualise things that aren't happening right here, right now.
- Photographs allow children to point out and talk about small details - what people are wearing, what they're doing, what they look like.
- Photographs are great starting points for telling stories about children's families and the things they've done.
Tips for talking about photographs
Ask children if they recognise the people in the photographs and see if they can name them.
If they can’t name them see if they can point to things that you name.
You can also turn this into a listening and understanding game by asking questions like ‘who is wearing the red dress?’, "who has a hat on?" etc. See if your child can point or say the answer.
Ask simple what, why and where questions to see if they can tell you what they think is happening in the photographs. Asking open questions is a great way to encourage children to talk in longer, more detailed sentences.
See what details they notice in the pictures. Can you add detail to the things they say about them?
If they say 'wearing a hat', you could repeat it back to them correctly, 'yes, she's wearing a hat' and try adding details like 'it was her favourite red hat, she wore it to the party'.
Why talk to children about the past?
- Our Tools for Talking film explains a little more about why children should practise talking about the past.
- You could try playing memory games to build this skill even more.
- It's also a good idea to have a go at the future tense - maybe you could plan some adventures for teddy?
