Understanding Spoken Language
Following Instructions
Stage I | Stage III |
Making Statues | Puppet Show |
Hoops and Beanbags | Round Up |
Musical Beanbags | Dotty |
Jewellery Shop | Chicken Food |
Stage II | Stage IV |
Curtain Up! | Holiday Snaps |
Find It | Talkative Teacher |
Witchâs Brew | Amazing Mazes |
Magic Cauldron | Letter Strings |
Stage I
Making Statues
Aim
To be able to follow two-stage instructions containing four ideas.
Equipment
None.
How to play
Tell the children to spread out around the room. Explain that they are going to turn into statues. You will tell them how to stand or sit, and they must then keep very still while you come around to check if they are doing the right thing. People who have not followed the instructions correctly are eliminated. The last child in is the winner.
Examples
Put one hand in the air and shut your eyes.
Open your eyes and put your hand down.
Put both arms up in the air and stand on one leg.
Put your arms down and sit on the floor.
Put one finger on your nose and shut your eyes.
Open your eyes and put both hands on your head.
Take your hands off your head and lie down on the floor.
Roll over on your tummy and close your eyes.
Tip
The instructions need to follow each other, as in the example above.
Extension
Vary the instructions by occasionally saying âDonât ⌠(put your arms down, open your eyes, take your hands off your head).â This will eliminate quite a number of children! Then carry on as before.
Hoops and Beanbags
Aim
To be able to carry out instructions involving movement and position.
Equipment
A beanbag and a hoop for each child.
How to play
You need a large space to play this game â for example, the hall. Arrange the hoops and beanbags in a line, about a metre away from a wall, well spaced apart. Tell the children they are going to have a race game, but they must listen carefully and move in the right kind of way. If necessary do a demonstration. Call out an instruction, and when you say âGo!â everyone must go to the right object, moving in the right way. Anyone who ends up by the wrong object, or moves in the wrong way, is out.
Examples
Run to a beanbag.
Crawl to a hoop. Jump in a hoop.
Walk sideways to a bean-bag.
Hop to a hoop
Stand beside a beanbag.
Sit in front of a hoop.
Examples
You can make this more competitive by removing a beanbag and a hoop after each instruction, so that one person will be out each time.
Musical Beanbags
Aim
To be able to follow two-stage instructions containing four ideas.
Equipment
A beanbag for each member of the group.
Music.
How to play
This game is essentially the same as musical chairs. However in this variation the children must move to the beanbags in the way you tell them. Anyone not moving in the right way is out. Scatter the beanbags on the floor around the room, well spaced. Give the instruction before you switch on the music. When you put the music on, everyone has to walk slowly around the room. When the music stops, each child should move to a beanbag in the way you told them.
Examples
When the music stops, crawl to a beanbag.
When the music stops, jump to a beanbag.
When the music stops, skip to a beanbag.
When the music stops, walk very slowly to a beanbag.
Tip
If possible, have another adult help to monitor the activity.
Jewellery Shop
Aim
To be able to carry out two-stage instructions involving number and colour.
Equipment
âJewellery shopâ template from Teaching Resources.
Enough coloured beads for each child, and a threading lace each.
How to play
Tell the children they are going to make some necklaces to go in the âjewellerâs shopâ. You will call out which beads they are to use. Choose one of the bead pictures from the template, but do not let the children see it. Call out instructions that match your bead picture â for example, âTwo red beads and then one yellow one.â (Pause until everyone has finished.) âThree blue beads and then two green ones.â (Pause again, and so on until the necklaces are completed.) Hold up your picture for the children to see, and let them compare their necklaces with it.
Tip
It may be useful to give the instructions again slowly as the children compare their necklace with the picture. Make the game more interesting by inventing customers for each necklace the children make â for example, a princess, a film star, a character from a story or a TV programme.
Stage II
Curtain Up!
Aim
To be able to carry out a realistic mime based on received information.
Equipment
Teacher will need to prepare scenarios with a role for each member of the group.
How to play
Tell the group that they are going to pretend to be characters in a play. Explain that you are going to read the instructions at the beginning of the play, and you want them to pretend to be doing the actions. Remind them that they will need to listen carefully for their names and remember the activity. Then read the short scenario. When you have read it, tell the children to get into position, doing their action. The length of this activity depends on the group. You may be able to repeat it two or three times within the session.
Examples
Scenario: It was Saturday afternoon. Amy was digging the garden; Ben was planting seeds; Sky was trying to catch the pet rabbit; Abdul was hanging out the washing, and Rashid was watching football on TV.
Find It
Aim
To be able to find an item by its description.
Equipment
Classroom items, see examples.
Preparation
Write descriptions of everyday items found in the classroom. Do not give too much information about each item â see examples below.
How to play
Divide the group int...