An open teal The Play Way box with the Early Years Language Play Kit contents arranged above it: a felt barn with farm animals and a farmer, a wooden teatime set, five yellow duck finger puppets, Brown Bear Brown Bear and Dear Zoo, a nursery rhyme book, People games cards, scavenger hunt cards, animal walk cards, a stacking block, a bottle of bubbles, printed communication boards, and the program and learning snapshot booklets.
A toddler sits on a blue rug and holds up a yellow felt duck finger puppet numbered five, with two more ducks on the floor alongside.
A young child and an adult sit together on a patterned lounge, both laughing, with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? open across their laps.
An adult sits on a blue rug between two toddlers, holding up a white felt polar bear while the children reach for felt farm animals on the floor.
An adult and two toddlers stand at a wooden mud kitchen in a backyard, setting out cups and a plate from the teatime set.
A child holds a fan of scavenger hunt cards out on the grass, the top card reading find something that is alive, with the card box open behind.
An adult kneels on the grass beside a toddler and points at a scavenger hunt card the child is holding.
Close up of a toddler pouring water from a white jug into a small blue teatime cup steadied by an adult hand.
An adult crouches on the grass between two toddlers who are passing a bottle of bubbles across to each other.
A toddler runs across the grass with both arms out while an adult follows a step behind, both laughing.
An adult sitting on a blue rug holds up two numbered duck finger puppets while a toddler in front holds up two more.
An open teal The Play Way box with the Early Years Language Play Kit contents arranged above it: a felt barn with farm animals and a farmer, a wooden teatime set, five yellow duck finger puppets, Brown Bear Brown Bear and Dear Zoo, a nursery rhyme book, People games cards, scavenger hunt cards, animal walk cards, a stacking block, a bottle of bubbles, printed communication boards, and the program and learning snapshot booklets.
A toddler sits on a blue rug and holds up a yellow felt duck finger puppet numbered five, with two more ducks on the floor alongside.
A young child and an adult sit together on a patterned lounge, both laughing, with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? open across their laps.
An adult sits on a blue rug between two toddlers, holding up a white felt polar bear while the children reach for felt farm animals on the floor.
An adult and two toddlers stand at a wooden mud kitchen in a backyard, setting out cups and a plate from the teatime set.
A child holds a fan of scavenger hunt cards out on the grass, the top card reading find something that is alive, with the card box open behind.
An adult kneels on the grass beside a toddler and points at a scavenger hunt card the child is holding.
Close up of a toddler pouring water from a white jug into a small blue teatime cup steadied by an adult hand.
An adult crouches on the grass between two toddlers who are passing a bottle of bubbles across to each other.
A toddler runs across the grass with both arms out while an adult follows a step behind, both laughing.
An adult sitting on a blue rug holds up two numbered duck finger puppets while a toddler in front holds up two more.
An open teal The Play Way box with the Early Years Language Play Kit contents arranged above it: a felt barn with farm animals and a farmer, a wooden teatime set, five yellow duck finger puppets, Brown Bear Brown Bear and Dear Zoo, a nursery rhyme book, People games cards, scavenger hunt cards, animal walk cards, a stacking block, a bottle of bubbles, printed communication boards, and the program and learning snapshot booklets.
A toddler sits on a blue rug and holds up a yellow felt duck finger puppet numbered five, with two more ducks on the floor alongside.
A young child and an adult sit together on a patterned lounge, both laughing, with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? open across their laps.
An adult sits on a blue rug between two toddlers, holding up a white felt polar bear while the children reach for felt farm animals on the floor.
An adult and two toddlers stand at a wooden mud kitchen in a backyard, setting out cups and a plate from the teatime set.
A child holds a fan of scavenger hunt cards out on the grass, the top card reading find something that is alive, with the card box open behind.
An adult kneels on the grass beside a toddler and points at a scavenger hunt card the child is holding.
Close up of a toddler pouring water from a white jug into a small blue teatime cup steadied by an adult hand.
An adult crouches on the grass between two toddlers who are passing a bottle of bubbles across to each other.
A toddler runs across the grass with both arms out while an adult follows a step behind, both laughing.
An adult sitting on a blue rug holds up two numbered duck finger puppets while a toddler in front holds up two more.
An open teal The Play Way box with the Early Years Language Play Kit contents arranged above it: a felt barn with farm animals and a farmer, a wooden teatime set, five yellow duck finger puppets, Brown Bear Brown Bear and Dear Zoo, a nursery rhyme book, People games cards, scavenger hunt cards, animal walk cards, a stacking block, a bottle of bubbles, printed communication boards, and the program and learning snapshot booklets.
A toddler sits on a blue rug and holds up a yellow felt duck finger puppet numbered five, with two more ducks on the floor alongside.
A young child and an adult sit together on a patterned lounge, both laughing, with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? open across their laps.
An adult sits on a blue rug between two toddlers, holding up a white felt polar bear while the children reach for felt farm animals on the floor.
An adult and two toddlers stand at a wooden mud kitchen in a backyard, setting out cups and a plate from the teatime set.
A child holds a fan of scavenger hunt cards out on the grass, the top card reading find something that is alive, with the card box open behind.
An adult kneels on the grass beside a toddler and points at a scavenger hunt card the child is holding.
Close up of a toddler pouring water from a white jug into a small blue teatime cup steadied by an adult hand.
An adult crouches on the grass between two toddlers who are passing a bottle of bubbles across to each other.
A toddler runs across the grass with both arms out while an adult follows a step behind, both laughing.
An adult sitting on a blue rug holds up two numbered duck finger puppets while a toddler in front holds up two more.

Early Years Language Play Kit

The Play Way
Regular price $197.00
Sale price $197.00 Regular price $0.00
Unit price
Save
Tax included.

Hub members get 30% off. Become a Hub member. Already a Hub Member? Log in to access your discount.

Support first words and the back and forth of a real conversation, with twelve tools that each give your child a reason to communicate with you, and a way to do it before their words are there.

This play kit was curated by our speech pathologists and occupational therapists working together, for the child who is clearly trying to tell you something that will not come out in words. Everything in the box has a gap built into it on purpose: a lid nobody can get off on their own, a tea party that needs someone to pour, five ducks that go missing one at a time. The picture boards give a child with no words yet a way to show you what they mean while the words are still coming.

This is the first in our series of three language play kits, developed for children approx 1-3 years old. Start here if your child can make it very clear when they are cross or delighted, but cannot yet tell you what it is they want using words.
Ask a question

Ask a Question

* Required fields

 Size guide Share
An open teal The Play Way box with the Early Years Language Play Kit contents arranged above it: a felt barn with farm animals and a farmer, a wooden teatime set, five yellow duck finger puppets, Brown Bear Brown Bear and Dear Zoo, a nursery rhyme book, People games cards, scavenger hunt cards, animal walk cards, a stacking block, a bottle of bubbles, printed communication boards, and the program and learning snapshot booklets.

Early Years Language Play Kit

Regular price $197.00
Sale price $197.00 Regular price $0.00
Unit price

WHAT'S INSIDE

What's in this play kit

A full kit of play-tools, curated to work together.
Farm set

Farm set

A felt barn that opens out into a farmyard, with a farmer, trees and the animals to go in it. Naming the animals is the easy part. What builds the language is everything around it: feeding the duck, putting the sheep on the roof, working out how to get the cow out of the pond.
Teatime set

Teatime set

Four silicone cups on coasters, a wooden serving platter, a spoon and a jug with a lid. Pouring, stirring and serving give your child something to ask for and someone to ask. Encourages children to engage in creative conversations and cooperative role-playing activities.
Five Little Ducks finger puppets

Five Little Ducks finger puppets

Five felt ducklings numbered one to five, and a mother duck. One duck goes over the hill in every verse, so there is a gap in the song your child can fill with a word, a sound, a gesture or a finger. Supporting language and cognitive development through songs, games and role-playing.
Communication boards

Communication boards

You point at the pictures while you talk, so the word and the picture are shown together. Your child can point back to ask for more, to say which one they want, or to tell you they are done. Support language development and social interaction through play by making language visible, providing clear prompts that offer opportunities for communication, following directions and grasping new concepts.
Nursery rhyme book

Nursery rhyme book

An illustrated book of the rhymes, so you are not left with only the three you can remember from your childhood. Rhymes repeat and they are predictable on purpose, and that is what lets a child join in on a line before they could ever say it without the rhyme.
Peter Rabbit stacking blocks

Peter Rabbit stacking blocks

Blocks that nest inside each other and stack up, printed with letters, numbers, shapes and colours. To assist with the development of motor and problem solving skills as well as recognition of numbers, alphabet letters, colours, characters, shapes and sizes.
Bubbles

Bubbles

A simple but powerful play-based tool for encouraging communication. These pair with the language display boards specifically for bubble play giving you targeted vocabulary and sample language prompts you can use.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Dear Zoo

Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Dear Zoo

Two books picked for the same reason. The language repeats, so your child knows what is coming. Stop before the last word on a page and there is a space waiting to be filled, and Dear Zoo has flaps to lift while you wait.
Scavenger hunt cards

Scavenger hunt cards

Twenty illustrated cards, each with a clue to take outside. Find something that is alive. Find something brown. Hunting for it gives you both something to talk about, which is where words like soft, prickly, under and behind get used instead of taught.
Animal walks dice

Animal walks dice

Wooden dice with animals carved into them. Roll one to decide how you are transitioning to the next part of your day together. Will it be waddling or slithering or jumping? Your child is the one who rolls the dice and initiates the sounds and movements, which gives them a new reason to talk and make sounds.
People games cards

People games cards

Thirty cards, each one has a game that needs no toys at all. Peek-a-boo, tickles, chase, hide and seek. We love these because they encourage collaborative play, engaging with others, and allow you to model and encourage language naturally in the process.
Parent Guide

Parent Guide

A short guide for you (the adult), covering what each tool in the box is for, how to get started with it, and the order language develops in.

Why we built it this way

Every tool gives them a reason to talk

Every tool gives them a reason to talk

A child whose needs are all met before they ask does not have to ask. So everything in this box has a gap left in it: you might stop mid-song and wait for them to fill in the next word, or pause during a game and give them a chance to take a turn or make a choice.
Pointing counts as talking

Pointing counts as talking

The picture boards let your child join in before the words are there. Point at more and the bubbles come back. Point at lemon and it goes in the tea. Children often start using the boards themselves after watching an adult use them for a while, so they can tell you what they want.
Using play to create opportunities

Using play to create opportunities

The videos cover the timing more than the tools: how long to wait, what to say back when your child reaches instead of speaks, and how to turn one word into two without turning it into a test. All of it happens inside the play you were going to do anyway with the things in this box.

INCLUDED WITH YOUR PLAY KIT

The videos that come with it

Everything in the kit is ready to use from the day it arrives, so your child can be pouring the tea or chasing bubbles as soon as it is open. When you want the learning behind it, there is a bit over three hours of video across fifty five short sessions. One of our speech pathologists goes through every tool in the box and what to do with it, there are fifteen short videos on the nursery rhymes alone, and a set for you on how language usually develops in the early years, what to try when it is slow, and how to keep the talking going in their normal everyday. We'll send your invitation to access it all when your kit ships.

WHO THIS PLAY KIT IS FOR

If your days sound like this

  • They know exactly what they want and I am guessing at it until one of us gives up.
  • They are not saying as many words as the other children their age at playgroup.
  • You’re wanting to proactively build language development into your days at home with your child.
If any of that sounds like your family, this is who we built the play kit for.

Who made this

Kait is an OT. She has been working with children and families for nearly 20 years, and she has four kids of her own. She built this play kit alongside our speech pathologists because language development in the early years is not something that generally is taught to parents, but they’re the ones that can have the greatest impact in that area during those years. Whether your child is just starting to talk or needs a little extra support getting there, this kit gives you the tools and knowledge to get started supporting them at home. The tools were curated by our therapy team so that each one has a reason to communicate built into it in a playful way, and the picture boards are in the box so the kit still works for a child who is not using words yet.
  • 5,000+
    Australian children have used our play kits
  • 20 years
    of Kait working with children and families

Frequently asked questions

What comes in a play kit?

What age is this play kit for?

Do I have to watch the videos?

How do I get to the videos?

How long will it take to arrive?

What if something is not right?

What if there is a medical reason behind what we are seeing?