Every child has something to say, even before they have the words to say it.
In the Early Years, communication is at the heart of so many important moments. It's how children tell us what they need, share their ideas, make friends, join in with play and begin to make sense of the world around them. Makaton is one of the ways we can support those early interactions, giving children more tools to communicate, build confidence and feel understood.
What is Makaton?
Makaton is a communication programme that uses signs, symbols and speech together to support understanding and communication.
While it can be particularly valuable for children with additional communication needs, Makaton can benefit all children in the Early Years. By using a sign or visual symbol alongside the spoken word, children have an additional cue to help them understand what is being said and, importantly, another way to express themselves while their spoken language is still developing. For young children, that can make communication feel more accessible, engaging and reassuring.
Supporting speech and language development
During the Early Years, children are constantly discovering new words and learning what they mean.
Using Makaton alongside spoken language can help reinforce these new words through visual and physical cues. For example, when an educator says a word while making the corresponding sign, a child has more than one way to make the connection between the word and its meaning.
For children who don't yet have the words to express themselves confidently, signs can also give them another way to communicate. This can help them make choices, express their needs and take part in conversations while their speech continues to develop.
It isn't about replacing speech. Instead, Makaton works alongside spoken language, helping to give children another route into communication.
Creating an inclusive environment
Every child communicates differently.
Some children may be confident talkers, while others need a little more time or additional support. Children with SEND, speech and language delays or English as an Additional Language (EAL) may particularly benefit from visual and physical communication cues.
Using Makaton can help create an environment where children with different communication abilities can take part together. Whether they're joining a song, listening to a story, following a routine or communicating with friends, having different ways to understand and respond can help every child feel included.
At Storal, we believe every child has their own story to tell, and our educators are there to help those stories develop with richness and purpose. Supporting different ways to communicate is an important part of creating that sense of belonging.
Building confidence and relationships
Being understood is a powerful feeling, especially when you're little.
When children are able to make themselves understood, it can build their confidence and encourage them to communicate more. It can also reduce some of the frustration that can arise when a child knows what they want to say but doesn't yet have the words to express it.
Communication is also central to building relationships. Through everyday interactions with educators and other children, Makaton can help children connect, participate and develop a sense that their thoughts, feelings and choices are valued.
These positive early experiences can help children grow into confident communicators and strengthen their social and emotional development.
Making learning easier to understand
Young children learn through interaction, repetition and experience. Adding signs and symbols to spoken language gives them another way to process and remember information. Makaton can be woven naturally into familiar nursery experiences, including:
- Daily routines and transitions, helping children understand what's happening next
- Simple instructions, providing a visual cue alongside spoken words
- Songs and nursery rhymes, encouraging children to join in through actions and signs
- Story time, helping bring words, characters and ideas to life
- Group activities, giving children different ways to participate
- Everyday conversations, reinforcing familiar and new vocabulary
By making communication visual, physical and verbal, everyday learning experiences can become easier to follow and more engaging.
Making communication fun
One of the lovely things about using Makaton in the Early Years is how naturally it can become part of play and learning.
Adding signs to a favourite nursery rhyme can turn singing into an interactive experience. Signing familiar words during a much-loved story invites children to join in. Using signs during everyday conversations encourages participation, even from children who aren't yet ready to respond verbally.
These small moments can make a big difference, helping children feel that communication is something they can actively be part of.
Makaton is one of the many ways an Early Years environment can help children understand the world around them and make themselves understood within it. By combining speech with signs and symbols, we can provide children with more opportunities to connect, participate, learn and grow in confidence.
Because every child deserves to feel heard, understood and valued, whatever their way of communicating.
