EYFS Show and Tell Mats

EYFS show and tell mats are a calm and supportive way to help young children build confidence with speaking, listening, and presenting. This printable set of EYFS show and tell mats has been designed for EYFS and KS1 learners, giving children a gentle structure for sharing important people, places, objects, ideas, and calming supports in a way that feels safe, predictable, and manageable.

In the early years, spoken language is a vital part of learning and development. The Department for Education says that children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development, and that the number and quality of conversations children have with adults and peers in a language-rich environment is crucial. That makes these EYFS show and tell mats a valuable resource for classrooms, nurture groups, and home learning spaces where children are developing communication at their own pace.

This resource includes six themed mats to gently scaffold sharing:

• My Special Thing

• My Special Person

• My Favourite Place

• My Calming Thing

• Something I Made

• My Brilliant Idea

Each mat includes a central space for an object, photo, or drawing, along with simple sentence stems to help children begin speaking. These prompts make the activity feel more accessible, especially for children who may find open-ended speaking tasks overwhelming.

Why Choose EYFS Show and Tell Mats?

Traditional show and tell can be enjoyable, but it can also feel high-pressure for some children. These EYFS show and tell mats have been created to make speaking opportunities gentler and more inclusive. Instead of expecting children to stand up and talk without support, the mats offer clear visual structure and predictable prompts.

The Department for Education’s early years guidance explains that good interactions between adults and children make a big difference to how well communication and language skills develop. Children benefit from being with responsive and enthusiastic adults who show interest in talking with them. This is exactly why these gentle show and tell mats work so well. They help adults model language, scaffold participation, and create speaking opportunities that feel relational rather than performative.

These printable communication mats are especially useful for children who benefit from more structure, including some autistic learners, anxious children, shy speakers, and those who need extra time to process and respond. They also support a more respectful approach by allowing children to participate in a way that feels comfortable, including passing if needed.

How EYFS Show and Tell Mats Support Communication and Confidence

These EYFS show and tell mats support much more than simple sharing. They help children build vocabulary, sentence confidence, listening skills, and self-expression. Because the themes are personal and meaningful, children are more likely to have something real to say, whether that is about a favourite place, a calming object, or something they have made.

Department for Education guidance says that children’s back-and-forth interactions form the foundations for language and cognitive development, and that adults build children’s language effectively by echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added. These mats naturally encourage that kind of interaction. An adult can listen, reflect back, extend a sentence, and support the child to communicate more confidently.

This speaking and listening resource EYFS can help children:

• practise speaking in a low-pressure way

• build confidence with presenting

• develop vocabulary and descriptive language

• strengthen turn-taking and listening skills

• express preferences, feelings, and ideas

• take part in gentle oracy activities

• feel more secure during speaking tasks

Because the mats include supportive sentence stems, they also work well as a sentence stems for speaking resource, helping children organise thoughts without needing to start from scratch.

Ways to Use EYFS Show and Tell Mats

There are lots of flexible ways to use these EYFS show and tell mats across your setting. You might introduce them during carpet time, use them in a nurture group, add them to a speaking and listening area, or use them in one-to-one sessions where children need a calmer environment to practise talking.

These early years presenting activity mats work especially well for:

• whole-class carpet time

• nurture groups

• one-to-one sessions

• speech and language support

• emotional literacy work

• home education family sharing time

• KS1 oracy and listening tasks

Because the themes go beyond “bring in your favourite toy,” these mats help widen the purpose of sharing. A child can talk about a person who helps them feel safe, a place they love, a calming object, or an idea they feel proud of. That makes this a more child-centred and emotionally aware trauma informed speaking activity.

For a wider communication and emotional literacy approach, these mats pair beautifully with Emotions Talk Cards, helping children move from describing special things to expressing feelings, needs, and preferences.

You can also connect this resource to trusted Department for Education guidance on Communication and language and Interactions, which emphasises the importance of responsive conversation, strong adult-child interaction, and rich speaking opportunities in the early years.

What’s Included in These EYFS Show and Tell Mats?

These printable EYFS show and tell mats include:

✅ 6 A4 communication mats
✅ A central space for an object, photo, or drawing
✅ Simple sentence stems to support sharing
✅ A short instructions page with gentle guidance for adults
✅ A print-and-use format that can also be laminated for reuse

This makes them a practical and flexible set of printable communication mats for teachers, TAs, childminders, and families who want to create calm speaking opportunities.

Perfect For

These EYFS show and tell mats are ideal for:

• EYFS and KS1 classrooms

• whole-class carpet time

• nurture groups and 1:1 sessions

• speech and language support

• emotional literacy work

• home education

• children who benefit from predictable visual scaffolds

If you are looking for a gentle, inclusive, and confidence-building way to support speaking and listening, these EYFS show and tell mats are a brilliant addition to your provision. Designed to help children share special people, places, objects, and ideas at a pace that feels safe and supported, these gentle show and tell mats make presenting more accessible, more meaningful, and more joyful.