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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Social and Emotional Development

Turn-taking

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCommon term

In child development & early education, turn-taking means: Taking turns with others in play, games and conversation, which involves waiting, sharing and paying attention to the other person.

In Turkish: sıra alma, sırayla yapma, sıra bekleme

How it is used

Used for social skills and for early communication: babies and adults take turns in 'conversations' of sounds long before words. The verb phrase is take turns (US) or take it in turns (UK).

Example sentences

  1. Simple board games are a fun way to practise turn-taking.

  2. We used a sand timer to support turn-taking on the swing.

Common collocations

  • take turns
  • take it in turns
  • turn-taking games
  • wait for your turn
  • self-regulationThe ability to manage your own feelings, attention and behaviour, for example calming down after being upset or waiting for a turn.
  • parallel playPlay in which children play next to each other, often with similar toys, but mostly do not play together or join in each other's games.
  • empathyThe ability to understand and share how another person feels, for example noticing that a friend is sad and offering comfort.
  • circle timeA short group session when children sit together, usually in a circle, to talk, sing, share news or play games led by an adult.

More terms: Social and Emotional Development

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