������̳

Home > Activities > 3-4 years

You can encourage your child to think about the weather and their plans for the day by asking lots of questions about what they might wear.

Does it look cold enough for them to need a coat? Is it wet enough for them to wear wellies? What did they wear the last time it was sunny?

For inspiration, check out the families in the video below.

What are the benefits of chatting through getting ready?

• It can help build children's vocabulary with weather words and words for clothing
• It can help them problem-solve, e.g. what clothes are good for rainy weather?
• It can help encourage them to speak in the future and past tenses
• It helps build language learning into everyday routines and makes them fun

How to chat through getting ready to go out

Before heading out for the day or for a short trip, encourage your child to go to the window and check the weather. Ask them, 'what's the weather like today?'.

When they answer, ask them about what they might need to wear based on the weather, e.g. 'What do you wear when it's raining?' or 'What do you need when it's sunny?'.

Based on their answers, you could talk to them about what they decide to wear. For example, 'what do you like to do in your wellies?' or 'what do you do when it starts to rain?'.

If possible, you could offer them choices - 'which coat would you like to wear?'.

You could ask them what they wore last time it was rainy or what they wore yesterday, this will get them thinking and talking about the past.

More ways to build chat into 3 year olds' routines

There are all sorts of ways to build language learning into your everyday routines together and make them fun:

• When you're out and about, you could play a game of I Spy together. Or if you're catching a bus, these trips can give them plenty of interesting sights to point out and chat about through the window as you travel.
• You can make chores like sorting laundry together a great chance for your child to learn and use words for textures and colours.
• Children will love helping to prepare meals - it's a great chance for them to follow instructions, learn counting skills and learn all about the foods they eat.
• Bedtime can be an opportunity to play some sleepy time games, which can help your child to learn and wind down from the day.

In case you missed it