To develop children's communication, language and literacy skills, practitioners can provide:
* telephones to promote communication and language development (they often stimulate children to use their 'voice')
* books, magazines, newspapers, etc, in a variety of scripts, junk mail and writing materials, so that children can recreate the purposeful reading and writing activity they see at home
* bedtime stories to be read to dolls and soft toys
* signs and labels reflecting real life, for example, food packaging, open/closed signs and 'keep out' signs
* taped stories
* playground chalk used out of doors to mark out and label role play areas, for example, the island where the pirates live
* menus, invitations and note pads for taking messages and sending letters.
Numeracy
Through role play children will be able to use mathematical vocabulary of:
* quantity - not enough, more than, too small, etc
* position, such as the teddy under the blanket, the cup on the shelf.
They will also be able to learn about concepts such as:
* space, by learning how to use space in an enclosed area, moving furniture to suit their purposes, defining and marking out play spaces.
To support children's mathematical development, provide:
* number labels, for example, door numbers, numbered chairs in the doctor's waiting room and for organising resources, such as four cups and saucers
* chairs, bowls, etc of different sizes to compare
* cups and saucers, dolls and hats, plates in various colours, etc for matching and 1:1 correspondence
* money - plastic, notes, coins and foreign currency - for buying tickets, shopping
* writing materials to reflect numeral writing in the home, for example, Lottery numbers and shopping lists
* four dolls but only three cakes, fitting equipment and a limited number of boxes, etc to encourage problem solving
* bowls, buckets, etc for exploring capacity
* clocks, watches and timers to explore time
* scales and weights
* washing lines, clothes pegs
* resources of different shapes.
