Games for encouraging turn taking in pre-school children

• Sheet swing: Get an old sheet and one adult should take one side of the sheet and another adult the other.  The child lies in the sheet and the adults swing the sheet like a hammock.  The child can initiate another turn by either saying 'swing' or putting a corner of the sheet in the adults hand if they are non-verbal.
• Bouncy ball: The child sits on a gym ball and the adult takes their hands.  The adult says one, two, three bounce or ready steady bounce.  The adult should keep saying this until the child gets the idea of what is expected of them.  The adult can then start the interaction and let the child fill in the missing word i.e. one, two, three ..... or ready steady .........  The child is encouraged to say bounce.  The child can also initiate the interaction by carrying out the action themselves.
• Bubbles:  Same as the bouncy ball activity.  The adult models ready steady blow.
• Chase:  The adult starts the game by saying "coming to get you".  Chase the child pretending that you can't quite reach the child.  Eventually catch them, give them a big hug and say "got you".  To start the interaction again you can tell the child to 'run'.  Your child will eventually make eye contact with you to start the game again.