Effective communication activities for kids (top 7)

This blog highlights the importance of communication skills for kids and few communication activities for kids that can improve areas of their social life and in their academics as well.

Kids tend to carry a lot of innocence in their conversations, with a lack of filter in what they have to say, unlike us adults.

It is important for parents, families, and educators to take an active part in stimulating the child’s communication skills as this can really have an impact on the child’s personality development.

These communication activities for kids provide them to learn in a fun environment where they can feel free to make mistakes and learn from the same at their own pace.

Some communication activities for kids are as follows:

• whispers
• Picture storytelling
• Toothpaste in a tube
• I spy with my little eye
• Point and tell
• Finish the rhyming story
• Blindfold game
• Back to back drawing

Importance of communication skills for kids

By learning communication skills, children can express how they feel, think and the ideas they have with more clarity.

Communication is essential for the development of interpersonal skills in children. This forms the basis of how they exchange information and build their social circle.

It facilitates a clearer understanding of concepts that need to be explored and learned by the child from a young age.

It also builds the base for a child’s academic performance and how easily he/she is able to grasp concepts that are introduced to them and use them in their day-to-day lives.

It helps in the development of communication style that the child will use later ahead in the future. This style tends to evolve as years pass by with all the learning and exposure.

By encouraging children to talk and creating a safe space that is free of judgments we can help in actively inculcating the skill of communication within them.

By doing so they might also feel like they can approach you and share how they are feeling or anything that they would want to talk about, out of the blue.

Communicating back to them with the same vigor that they are talking to you might encourage them to keep in touch with their emotions and also allow them to express it freely.

The skill of listening plays a major role in developing communication skills. Thus by listening to them keenly while they are talking and not interrupting them or trying to correct them, children tend to understand and learn how important it is to listen in order to communicate better.

Creating a sense of trust and providing children with moral support can facilitate them openly communicating without any fear.

Studies show that increased screen time can have an impact on the child’s face-to-face interaction with people around them. 

By spending time with them and encouraging them to take part in tiny activities and extracurriculars, we can reduce their screen time and inculcate social skills.

Some communication activities for kids are as follows:

• whispers 
• Picture storytelling 
• Toothpaste in a tube 
• I spy with my little eye 
• Point and tell 
• Finish the rhyming story 
• Blindfold game 
• Back to back drawing 

Toothpaste in a tube

This activity can be conducted by giving a tube of toothpaste to your child and asking him/her to squeeze the paste on the plate. You can ask your child to put the paste back into the tube from the plate.

This can be demonstrated with kids to make them understand that once they have squeezed outside the tube, no matter how much effort they put, it will prove to be pointless. 

The concept of mindful communication can be introduced to the child. The toothpaste here represents the choice of words the child decides to use in his or her conversation. 

Teaching them that it is better to pause and consider what we are saying and how we say it, really matters instead of getting it all out there in one go.

Demonstrating this communication-related activity with kids can foster the idea of them thinking before speaking and not actually creating a mess and then trying to get out of it.

Whispers

Directions- The group can have a minimum of 7-8 players. All the players are asked to sit close enough to whisper into the other person’s ear.

To start off the game, one player whispers a word into the other, at a rather fast pace.

This is then continued where one player passes what they heard to another at a fast pace.

This will continue until all the players are done with their turn and the last player in the group is then asked to mention the word they heard out loud.

This game can start off with simple words and later shift to simple sentences.

This is one common group game that we all must have played while we were growing up, and it helps in developing good listening skills as well as increases one’s attention span.

Picture storytelling

As much as children love listening to stories, they also like using their imagination to narrate one. In the communication activity, kids are given cards with pictures on them and they are asked to make up a story and narrate it out loud.

This activity brings about a lot of creative communication and at the same time, it is something the child might really like doing as they get to use their vivid imagination and say it out loud.

I spy with my little eye

In this communication activity, you can take your kid out to the park or simply peek out of the window and ask them to guess the place, animal, object, or color by giving them clues.

Once the child has guessed the game he or she is asked to talk a few lines about how he or she feels about the word. This communication activity not only strengthens vocabulary but also develops their knowledge of things around them and they can also be encouraged to ask questions regarding the same.

Point and tell

In this activity, you can point at any object, place, animal, or color and ask your kid to speak a minimum of 4-5 lines.

You can make this activity a bit more fun by asking them to make a short story with all the objects that you pointed out.

This activity helps in building vocabulary, fluency, and pronunciation as well.

Finish the rhyming story

Rhymes that are familiar to the child can be used for this activity. This communication activity is even more fun when played in groups. You can help the kids in coming up with an alternative ending to the rhyming story.

This activity helps in building creativity, listening, and communication skills in an environment that they might consider as fun and not be afraid to make mistakes in.

The blindfold game

Materials required:

• Four or more participants
• Blindfolds
• Obstacles such as chairs, boxes, etc

Directions- Obstacles are constructed in the room/ open area and the group is divided into pairs.

One among the kids in the pair is blindfolded and the other kid is required to navigate.

The latter needs to call out directions to the one who is blindfolded and they are supposed to make it to the finish line without tripping and falling down.

Benefits- This communication-based activity encourages active listening, cooperation, trust and these are basic components of effective communication.

This activity is suitable for all age groups and can be demonstrated with friends or even family.

These activities can be fun and interactive and can really help you in building effective communication skills without being able to feel pressured to do so.

Back-to-back drawing

Materials required:

• Even number of people
• Pen
• Paper
• Whiteboard

Directions- the kids in the group are paired and are made to either sit or stand with their backs facing each other.

One of them will take the role of the speaker who will give out instructions and the other member will be in charge of drawing.

The speaker is asked to describe the comical image in the prepared set of cards designated to them and the listener will draw the image, solely based on the instructions received from the speaker’s description.

The listener (the child who is drawing) is not allowed to speak or ask doubts during the course of this communication activity.

Benefits- This activity shows that effective communication takes place only when both parties are equally invested but it can also take place through active listening.

Patiently listening to the instructions and being able to comprehend without asking questions is a difficult task but this activity does inculcate effective communication and listening skills and cooperation.

Frequently asked questions

References:

Arshi. (2015, April 14). 10 Interesting And Fun Communication Games For Kids. MomJunction. https://www.momjunction.com/articles/communication-games-for-kids_00349640/

Kindra, Y. (2021, January 11). Communication Skills for Kids: Activities To Improve [Expert Advice]. SKIDOS. https://skidos.com/blog/communication-skills-for-kids/

Bronwyn. (2021, March 11). Mindful Communication Activities for Kids. Teach Starter. https://www.teachstarter.com/au/blog/mindful-communication-activities-kids/

EYFS Focus: 10 Communication and Language Activities | Famly. (n.d.). www.famly.co. Retrieved June 17, 2021, from https://www.famly.co/blog/10-simple-communication-and-language-activities

39 Communication Games and Activities for Kids, Teens, and Students. (2019, May 21). PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/communication-activities-adults-students/

Activities to Improve Communication Skills in Kids: How Can Games Improve Communication Skills? (2021, February 24). The Real School | Blog |. https://therealschool.in/blog/activities-to-improve-communication-skills/

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