Summer fun rather than drills: how everyday activities can boost children’s communication skills

Experts emphasise that children can enhance their communication skills through simple, playful routines during summer, avoiding formal drills in favour of natural conversations and games amidst everyday moments.

As the long summer break begins, speech and language specialists are urging families not to treat the holidays as a season for drills, worksheets or catch-up lessons. Across advice from schools, clinics and charities, the message is strikingly consistent: children can keep building communication skills through ordinary routines, playful conversation and shared attention. Speech and Language UK puts it plainly, telling parents: “You don’t need to be a teacher or have lots of time and resources.” Nicole Lampi, writing for Masonic Children’s Clinic, makes the same case in simpler terms, arguing that everyday summer fun can help children build “words, sentences, and confidence”.

That approach shifts the focus from formal practice to short, regular bursts of talk. Speech and Language UK recommends setting aside 10 minutes a day for conversation, whether that is on the bus, over lunch or before bed, and says adults do not need to fill every silence with questions. In fact, its therapists suggest that comments can sometimes open up richer exchanges than a rapid-fire quiz. “Wow, that ice cream looks yummy!” is one model offered to parents. Lampi’s checklist for toddlers and pre-schoolers lands in much the same place, with ideas such as “Talk in the Car” and “Snack Chat” designed to turn journeys and meals into low-pressure opportunities for language practice.

Travel time is one of the clearest recurring themes. Erin Vollmer, a speech-language pathologist and co-founder of TherapyWorks, argues that summer road trips can be used to strengthen vocabulary, turn-taking, sound awareness and articulation without making children feel they are being taught. Her version of “I Spy” keeps the familiar guessing format but suggests simplifying it for children under 3 by naming something visible, such as a tree, rather than relying on descriptive clues alone. Vollmer also recommends giving younger children a category before a round of “20 Questions”, such as “Food” or “Animal”, so that they can narrow down possibilities more easily and stay engaged for longer.

Other clinicians push the idea beyond vocabulary into storytelling and social understanding. The Speech and Language Center, writing about long car rides around Memorial Day weekend, says families can use the time for connection “no flashcards required” and encourages them to put down devices and talk to one another. Its suggested “Story Chain” game, in which each person adds a sentence to a shared tale, is presented not just as entertainment but as practice in narrative structure, sequencing, working memory and creativity. The same clinic says “20 Questions” can also sharpen reasoning, question formulation and perspective-taking, which it links directly to social skills.

Category games, meanwhile, appear again and again because they are easy to adapt for different ages and needs. Speech and Language UK suggests “Odd one out”, where an adult gives four words and the child identifies which does not belong, using examples such as animals and fruit to build an understanding of how words group together. Raglan Primary School’s summer language sheet uses a simpler household version, asking children to decide why a hairbrush is different from a knife and a spoon. That same sheet stretches the traditional “I spy” formula into richer clue-based games. In “Thinking hat”, a parent describes an object’s meaning rather than its first letter; in “Big brain”, the clue combines meaning with an opening sound, pushing children to connect categories, definitions and phonics at the same time.

The more formal Southend Learning Network activity pack shows how far these games can travel beyond a family sitting room. It says they can be used on a walk, in the car, in the classroom, in an intervention group or in the playground, and it explains their benefits in the language of expressive and receptive development. Its “What am I?/Who am I?” variation turns 20 questions into a forehead-label guessing game, with players asking yes-or-no questions until they identify the hidden word. The pack also includes charades, describing it as a classic party game that can help children practise non-verbal communication, teamwork and turn-taking as well as spoken language.

For younger children, the summer advice broadens further. Lampi’s list includes songs, bubbles and movement-based activities, reflecting a view shared across paediatric speech and language work that the youngest children learn best when language is tied to play and physical action. Her conclusion is deliberately reassuring rather than prescriptive: “Every silly game, every snack chat, every song you sing, it all helps your child grow into a confident communicator.” That emphasis on connection also helps explain why so many of the recommended activities rely on everyday moments rather than specialist materials. The aim is not perfect performance, but repeated, enjoyable chances to listen, respond, describe, remember and take turns.

Taken together, the advice amounts to a quiet challenge to the idea that summer learning must look structured to be worthwhile. Therapists and schools are instead making the case for brief, consistent, child-led interaction: follow a child’s interests, model language naturally, build on what they notice and keep the mood light. Where concerns about speech or language persist, TherapyWorks says families should consult an expert. For everyone else, the clearest message from this body of guidance is that conversation itself is the practice, and that a car ride, a snack, a guessing game or a made-up story may do more than parents think.