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Activity

I Can Listen

Practice following directions

Part of a CollectionOn Our Way to School

Listening to and following directions happens throughout the school day. A typical school day includes circle time or morning meetings, where the class learns what happens during the day. During activities, they need to know what steps to follow. These skills help children feel like part of the group. When children feel that they belong, it’s easier to make friends, work together, and be ready to learn in school.

Audience
Caregiver
Subject
School Readiness
Age
KindergartenPre-KPreschoolToddler
Languages
Brazilian PortugueseEnglishHaitian CreoleSimplified ChineseSpanish
Materials
Scarves, paint sticks, large sheet of paper
child painting with mom

Listening to and following directions happens throughout the school day. These skills help children feel like part of the group. When children feel that they belong, it’s easier to make friends, work together, and be ready to learn in school.

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Try these activities together! 

Music and movement

Dance like me
  • Ask your child to follow your movement. Ideas to try:
    • Wave the scarf up and down or sideways.
    • Clap hands, turn around, and jump up and down.
Freeze dance
  • Play music and pause it after a while.
  • When you pause, ask your child to stay in the pose by saying “freeze!”
  • Take turns being the leader and the follower, or dance together!
Match me with paint
  • Use paint sticks to paint together on the large sheet of paper while trying to match each other's style.
  • Encourage your child to match “how” you paint (but not “what” you paint), like…
    • Colors
    • Dots or lines
    • Thick or thin lines
    • Straight or wavy lines
  • You can also match the way your child paints.
  • Talk about how different your pictures look even when you painted the same way.

Everyday Interactions

Daily routines have lots of opportunities for listening to and following directions. Encourage your child to clean up their toys by saying, “Let’s pick up the blue toys first. Then, all the green toys.” Add some silliness to your directions to make it fun, “Put on your jacket, twirl around once, and skip to the door!” There are many other places where your child can practice following directions—kitchen, bathroom, or outdoors.

Ways to Support Your Child

“Watch me. Can you try it?”
Give one step at a time. Then, give the next step after your child is done with the first one. With practice, they can follow more steps at a time!
“What did we do first? Can you show me the steps?”
Following steps for what happens next can be hard. Help your child remember the steps they just did to practice the idea of following directions.
“Let's look at the steps together. We are doing clean-up first, then we are eating snacks.”
Visual aids can help your child remember the steps. Write or draw the steps so your child can see them. Singing songs can also help remember regular routines like clean-up time.

Just for the grown-ups

Schools will give parents and caregivers lots of directions. There will be events and meetings, and general information about what to bring (and what not to bring) to school. Find your favorite calendar app or a schedule notebook so you are ready to keep track of the school schedule and reminders!

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