Boost Language Acquisition: 10 Practical Sensory Play Ideas for EAL

10 Tough Tray Activities for EAL Learners: Boosting Language Skills Through Sensory Play

Sensory play is a powerful tool for language development, especially for English as Additional Language (EAL) learners. By engaging multiple senses, these activities create rich, memorable experiences that support vocabulary acquisition and encourage communication. This article presents 10 practical tough tray activities designed specifically for EAL learners, providing teachers with ready-to-use ideas to implement in their classrooms immediately.

10 Ways to Develop Language Skills Through Sensory Play

Fruit Market Sensory Bin

Language Focus: Food vocabulary, colors, numbers, simple phrases for buying/selling
Materials: Plastic fruits, play money, small baskets, labels, sand or rice (optional)
Setup: Fill tray with sand/rice, add fruit, set up a ‘market stall’ area
Activity: Students role-play buying and selling fruit, describing items
Key Vocabulary: Fruit names, colors, “How much?”, “I would like…”, numbers
Extension: Add writing activity for shopping lists
Adaptations: Beginners focus on naming fruits, advanced learners create recipes

Seasons Sorting Tray

Language Focus: Weather vocabulary, clothing, seasons
Materials: Small objects or pictures representing different seasons, divided tray
Setup: Divide tray into four sections labelled with seasons, mix objects in the center
Activity: Students sort items into correct seasons, describing each object
Key Vocabulary: Season names, weather terms, clothing items
Extension: Students create weather reports for each season
Adaptations: Use only two seasons for beginners, add written descriptions for advanced

Sensory Letter Hunt

Language Focus: Alphabet, phonics, initial sounds
Materials: Sand or rice, magnetic letters, objects beginning with various letters
Setup: Hide letters and objects in the sensory base
Activity: Students find items, match objects to their initial letters
Key Vocabulary: Alphabet, object names, “This begins with…”
Extension: Create simple words with found letters
Adaptations: Focus on just vowels or consonants for beginners

Texture Town

Language Focus: Descriptive adjectives, prepositions
Materials: Various textured materials (sandpaper, felt, bubble wrap), small toys
Setup: Create a mini town using different textures for roads, buildings, etc.
Activity: Students describe textures and positions of objects in the town
Key Vocabulary: Texture adjectives (smooth, rough), prepositions (on, under, next to)
Extension: Students give directions from one point to another
Adaptations: Simplified map for beginners, written town guide for advanced

Build-a-Beast Workshop

Language Focus: Body parts, descriptive language
Materials: Playdough, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, feathers
Setup: Provide materials in separate sections of the tray
Activity: Students create imaginary creatures and describe them
Key Vocabulary: Body parts, colors, sizes, “It has…”, “It can…”
Extension: Write a short story about the creature
Adaptations: Pre-made body part cards for beginners to assemble, use robots if you don’t fancy beasts/

Sensory Storytelling

Language Focus: Narrative skills, past tense verbs
Materials: Sand, small world play figures, natural materials (twigs, pebbles)
Setup: Create a basic landscape in the tray
Activity: Teacher starts a story, students continue it using items from the tray, it can be a prewritten sensory story, favourite book or teacher written
Key Vocabulary: Story sequence words (first, then, after), past tense verbs
Extension: Students write down their story
Adaptations: Picture prompts for beginners, genre-specific stories for advanced

Job Junction

Language Focus: Occupation vocabulary, simple present tense
Materials: Tools/items representing different jobs, labels
Setup: Arrange items in the tray, with space for sorting
Activity: Students match items to job labels, describe what each professional does
Key Vocabulary: Job titles, “He/She works as…”, “They use…”
Extension: Role-play different occupations
Adaptations: Picture matching for beginners, job advertisement writing for advanced

Sensory Science Lab

Language Focus: Scientific vocabulary, prediction language
Materials: Baking soda, vinegar, food colouring, small containers
Setup: Separate materials into different sections of the tray
Activity: Students conduct simple experiments, describing processes and results
Key Vocabulary: Action verbs (pour, mix), prediction phrases (“I think…”)
Extension: Students write up experiment results
Adaptations: Pre-written steps for beginners, hypotheses formation for advanced

Emotion Ocean

Language Focus: Feelings vocabulary, facial expressions
Materials: Blue water beads, laminated emotion cards, mirrors
Setup: Fill tray with water beads, hide emotion cards throughout
Activity: Students find cards, act out emotions, describe feelings
Key Vocabulary: Emotion words, “I feel…”, “He/She looks…”
Extension: Students create scenarios for each emotion
Adaptations: Basic emotions for beginners, complex emotional scenarios for advanced

Construction Site Sounds

Language Focus: Onomatopoeia, construction vocabulary
Materials: Kinetic sand, toy construction vehicles, sound cards
Setup: Create a construction site scene in the sand
Activity: Students play with vehicles, matching actions to sound words
Key Vocabulary: Construction vehicle names, sound words (beep, crash, vroom)
Extension: Create a written or recorded construction site soundscape
Adaptations: Focus on matching sounds to vehicles for beginners

Implementation: General Tips and Challenges

1. Preparation and Organization:
   • Tip: Prepare materials in advance to maximize learning time.
   • Challenge: Storage and organization of diverse materials can be tricky. Consider using labeled bins or zip-lock bags for easy access and cleanup.
2. Language Support:
   • Tip: Create visual aids like word walls, anchor charts, or picture cards to support new vocabulary.
   • Challenge: Balancing use of English with home languages. Encourage English use while validating students’ native languages.
3. Differentiation:
   • Tip: Have extension activities ready for fast finishers or more advanced learners.
   • Challenge: Managing different language levels in one group. Use peer pairing and tiered activities to address varied needs.
4. Engagement and Focus:
   • Tip: Introduce each activity with clear objectives and model expected language use.
   • Challenge: Some students may focus more on play than language. Gently redirect with specific language prompts or questions.
5. Assessment:
   • Tip: Use observation checklists to track language use and progress during activities.
   • Challenge: Assessing individual progress in group settings. Consider using recording devices or enlisting teaching assistant help for more detailed observations.
6. Hygiene and Safety:
   • Tip: Establish clear rules for material use and hand washing.
   • Challenge: Maintaining cleanliness of sensory materials. Consider individual trays or regular sanitization of shared materials. Risk assessments can help if you are using materials which may cause allergies.
7. Cultural Sensitivity:
   • Tip: Incorporate elements from students’ diverse cultural backgrounds into activities.
   • Challenge: Ensuring all cultures are represented. Regularly seek input from students and families about culturally significant items or practices.
8. Time Management:
   • Tip: Use timers to help students transition between activity stages.
   • Challenge: Activities may take longer than expected. Be flexible and have a backup plan for extending or shortening activities as needed.
9. Parental Involvement:
   • Tip: Share activity ideas with parents for home reinforcement.
   • Challenge: Language barriers with parents. Provide simple, visual instructions for home activities.
10. Reflection and Improvement:
    • Tip: Keep a teaching journal to note what works well and ideas for improvement.
    • Challenge: Finding time for reflection. Schedule short debriefing sessions after activities or at the end of the week.

Conclusion

Tough tray activities ignite EAL learning. They offer engaging, multisensory experiences that support English skill development. Concrete, hands-on opportunities make language acquisition natural and enjoyable. Teachers can create an environment where words come alive and communication flourishes. Adapt these activities to your students’ levels and interests. This flexibility ensures each learner is appropriately challenged and motivated. With consistent use, tough tray sensory play becomes an invaluable asset in your teaching toolkit. It fosters confidence in your students. It builds competence in their English language journey. Through these tactile experiences, learners connect with language in meaningful ways. They explore, they discover, they communicate. And with each activity, they grow more adept at expressing themselves in English.