Clap Your Name
What you need
- a few soft toys, or photos of the family
How to do it
- Say their name slowly and clap once for each beat: "A-li-ya" is three claps, "Sam" is one.
- Do the same with your name, then the names of the soft toys or the people in the photos.
- Let them clap a name on their own while you count the claps.
- Try a long one for fun, like "hip-po-pot-a-mus" or "spa-ghet-ti".
Why it matters
Clapping the beats in a name lets them hear that words come in parts, and names are the words they care about most.
What they're learning
- Hearing beats in words
- One clap for each part is listening to how a word is built.
- Counting claps
- Saying how many claps a name has joins sounds to numbers.
- Keeping a beat
- Clapping in time with their own voice.
What to look for
Notice them clapping a new word on their own, like the dog's name or their favourite food.
A tip
Say the names in your normal voice, just a bit slower. Words stretched out too far are harder to hear in parts.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: clap together at the same time, with their hands in yours if they like
Harder: clap a name without saying it and ask them to guess whose it was
