Using Makaton at Nursery

What is Makaton and why do we use it?

If you follow our Daisykins social media pages you may have seen that recently we have shared some videos of our children using Makaton. You may be wondering exactly what Makaton is and why we use it. Here at Daisykins Nursery, we do all we can to promote children's speech and language development, including having a Speech and Language Champion, and one way we do this is by using Makaton.

Makaton is a way for those who struggle to verbally communicate, to communicate through sign. It is slightly different to British Sign Language as this is the language of the deaf community. As all children are learning how to speak, pronounce words and increase their understanding of language, Makaton is a brilliant tool to allow them to communicate when words fail them. Makaton does not replace spoken language and does not hinder the development of spoken language but works alongside it and promote verbal communications.

Here at Daisykins Nursery, we use Makaton signs alongside using Communication in Print symbol cards such as good morning, toilet, food/eating, the golden rules and of course during some song times. Using Makaton alongside song is a very effective way to promote communication. It encourages those singing to slow down as they do they actions to the words which gives children the opportunity to hear speech sounds more and to process the language.

It also increases understanding of language and what exactly words mean. As children use Makaton alongside songs and rhymes they begin to pick up simple signs and can then use these when they can't find the right words to express themselves.