Pass on these ideas to parents looking to help their bilingual child at home.

• look at books with your child. If you find it hard to find a book in your home language, simply talk about the pictures. You can also encourage your child to tell a story to a favourite toy or pet
• make a shopping list and go shopping with your child. Look for items on your list, name the items your child does not know yet – ask them about the items in the shop, and involve them to pick objects and place them in your shopping trolley
• name things around the house in your home language. The more words your child knows the easier is to learn the same words in English
• cook with your child. Talk about the recipe and ingredients. Describe and comment on what you are doing and what your child is doing. This is a perfect activity to introduce verbs like mix, pour, grate, melt, spread, etc
• sing songs. You can find songs on the internet in your home language, or you can make your own songs up. Regularly playing music is an easy and effective way for your child to hear their home language
• make a scrap book or family journal. You can talk about the country you came from, draw pictures together, use pictures from old magazines, use items you can find on your walks like rocks, leaves, flowers, you can paint or glitter them
• make a secret box. You can decorate it together. Use modelling clay or plasticine to make objects or animals and place them in the box. Give clues to each other to guess what the other person made
• interview each other. Use a toy microphone or make one together. Record yourselves on a video that you can play back. Help your child by having toys, books or other objects around, so that your child can talk about them
• play Kim’s Game. This is a good idea to help your child’s memory skills. Place 5 or 6 objects on a table, name them with your child. Then cover them with a cloth or scarf. Ask your child to close their eyes, so you can remove one object. Check if they can remember which object is missing
• play ‘What’s in my hand?’ Ask your child to put their hands behind their back and place something in your child’s hands. Ask them to describe the object (size, shape, feel) before naming it