Talk Cards: 24 Conversation Starters

The central resource of this pack — 24 cut-out talk cards designed to provoke genuine conversation, not one-word answers. Each card poses an open question that requires the speaker to articulate, justify, or imagine: “If you could invent a new flavour of ice cream, what would it be and why?” or “What would you take to a desert island and why?” The cards are deliberately graded across four kinds: Imagining (encourages hypothesising), Justifying (encourages reasoning), Describing (encourages well-structured narratives), and Comparing (encourages evaluation). The teacher pack maps each card type to its specific NC spoken language requirement. Designed to be printed once and used hundreds of times. Take one card on the school run, at the dinner table, at circle time, or in a quiet moment. Each conversation can last 30 seconds or 30 minutes — depends on the child.