Are you curious about what sorts of communication exercises can help diverse learners? This article should point you in the right direction.
When it comes to improving daily living skills, being able to communicate is key. It’s not just about being able to say what you want, but also to learn new skills in the future. Communication can be receptive or expressive, verbal or nonverbal, written or spoken.
No matter what the case may be, being able to communicate is essential when it comes to improving daily living skills.
But you probably already know that.
The question you’re likely asking yourself, as the parent or educator of a child with unique learning needs, is how you can improve those skills in an authentic, long-lasting way.
Here are some communication exercises to try when you’re working with a diverse learner.
The Importance of Teaching Good Communication Skills
Any child will benefit from learning and developing solid communication skills, especially those with unique learning needs.
More effective communication skills result in a higher quality of life. Not only does it allow people to know and ask for what they need, leading to higher self-efficacy, but it can also reduce the impact of loneliness, depression, and other problems later in life as well.
Simply put, we are hard-wired to connect with other humans. But it doesn’t always happen organically, especially in the modern day and age, where technology and our many devices often get in the way of communicating.
Basic communication skills are needed for basic survival, and while many of these can be learned naturally, for students with unique learning needs, the education process often needs to be more direct. Below, we’ll give you some ideas on how you can impart better communication skills to your children and the children you work with.
Exercises to Build Receptive Communication Skills
Here are a few simple activities you can do with your child to build receptive language (which involves engaging in conversation, following directions, and answering questions).
1. Read Books
Reading with your child serves so many purposes and provides countless benefits. To improve receptive language specifically, ask the child to find and point to various pictures on the pages. Restate important parts of the story and ask questions to support comprehension.
2. Play “I Spy” or “Simon Says”
These two classic playground games are actually wonderful at building receptive language. “I Spy”, which involves finding certain objects and pointing them out, requires your child to follow simple directions, as does Simon Says.
Plus, both can be tailored to the skill level or age of your child. Start simple and work your way up!
3. Go Grocery Shopping
You can do this out in the community – something that will prove to be hugely beneficial as you are teaching your child other life skills, like how to shop for himself or stick to a budget – or even in your own home.
Create a shopping list (with pictures if necessary) and allow your child to go shopping. Give specific directions like “the milk is in the refrigerator” or ask targeted questions like “where do we keep the ice cream?”
Exercises to Build Expressive Communication Skills
Here are a few ways you can build expressive language skills (or saying what they need or want, as opposed to listening and following directions).
4. Read
It’s not a typo – we meant to include this one again. Reading is also a great way to build expressive language skills. The key here is to ask open-ended questions so your children are encouraged to talk more. Questions like, “What do you think is happening in this picture?” are a great way to get your child talking.
When you’re working with very young children (or children with very specific learning needs), you may want to consider starting with wordless books. These are even more open-ended than books with words so it’s easy for your child to put their own words in a situation.
5. Pretend Play
Playing with your children is one of the best ways to build their expressive language skills – and pretend play is some of the best. Whenever your child is creating an imagined scenario, he is working on sequencing activities and storytelling.
You can use other toys and tools in your play, too, such as playdough, toy animals, train sets and cars, play food, and even costumes for dress-up. All of these will inspire your child’s creativity and encourage him to communicate.
6. Cook Together
Cooking together is another great communication exercise that targets expressive language. Because cooking involves sequenced steps, it can help your child begin to logically put together the pieces of what he or she wants to stay.
As you cook, simply encourage your child to narrate the steps in the recipe.
Exercises to Build Written Communication Skills
The good news about written communication skills is that these tend to be heavily targeted in a school setting – there’s a pretty solid chance that your child has already worked on these a bit if he or she is already in school.
However, there are still plenty of things you can do as a parent or teacher to supplement that learning. Here are a few exercises to try.
7. Picture It & Write
Take a picture from a magazine and describe that picture, in writing, with as many details as you can. Describe the picture using adjectives, feelings, perceptions, and more.
8. Play With the Dictionary
It might take your child a while to warm up to the idea of this exercise, but it can be immensely helpful. Encourage your child to memorize a new word from the dictionary each day. Write a few sentences using the word and have them write out a few definitions that make more sense to them.
9. Play Word Games
You’ll likely get a lot more traction with this exercise to build written communication skills than the last! Download some word games on your child’s phone, like Wordscapes, Words with Friends, or something similar.
Although they’ll think they’re just playing around and having fun, they’ll actually be improving their ability to spell and use unique vocabulary in any setting.
10. Exchange Emails
Want to help your child become a stronger writer and communicator via email? Practice with them. Draft emails on a daily or weekly basis, asking your child to report back on a topic or to provide information to you. Since nearly all workplaces (and now, since distance learning, many schools as well) require communication via email, it’s helpful to practice now.
Exercises to Build Non-Verbal Communication Skills
Here are a few ways you can encourage your child to develop their nonverbal communication skills, which tend to often be overlooked in skills instruction but are just as important as verbal methods of communication.
11. Try the Eye Contact Circle
This fun activity will help your child get better at assertive nonverbal communication. Make a circle with several group participants.
Each participant will have to answer the same question, like what is your favorite sport, and after answering, must make mutual eye contact with someone else in the circle. After eye contact is made, the participant will call out the partner’s name and switch places with them, holding eye contact the other time.
12. You Don’t Say
This activity requires around five or six people. To start, have everyone write out a list of nonverbal behaviors. The groups should act out and then interpret the meanings of the behaviors so that every participant can learn how to recognize nonverbal communication skills from others.
One by one, each student will display one of the nonverbal behaviors at random while the other participants write down the nonverbal message they receive from the communication. It’s like a Pictionary!
Some behaviors you might want to target include staring around the room, nodding, frowning, smiling, leaning back in a chair, and so on.
13. Mirrors Activity
This activity also requires a few people to be successful. Start by dividing the group (of any size) into pairs, with one partner serving as the leader of the two. The other partner will be tasked with following the body language and facial expressions of the leader.
The activity can be very helpful in improving emotional awareness, the understanding of body language cues, and, of course, eye contact. After one or two rounds, the leader and the partner should switch roles so both participants get a chance to practice.
Get Started Building Communication Skills Today
If you think any of the exercises described above might help your son, daughter, or student on the path to becoming a more effective communicator, don’t delay – most of these can be started with kids of any age.
You can even build multiple types of communication skills by engaging in one simple activity at a time. For example, you can download our phone call template below to help your child learn how to make calls. Believe it or not, so many kids are petrified of using the telephone – they don’t know what to say since all they’re used to is texting!
However, this template (and using other tools, like situational flashcards and prompts) can help them build their confidence while talking on the phone. It’s a great way to build both expressive and receptive communication skills.
No matter which activity you choose to do, there’s no time like the present to teach your child to become a better communicator. Plus, there’s a good chance that you’ll learn something about yourself and your own communication skills during this process, too!
Further Reading
- Conversation Skills Course by Real-Life Conversation Skills Academy
- Nørgaard, Birgitte et al.: Communication skills training increases self-efficacy of health care professionals
- Knutson, John F. et al: The Relationship Between Communication Problems and Psychological Difficulties in Persons with Profound Acquired Hearing Loss
- Pierce, Rebekah: How to Teach Diverse Learners About Budgeting
- Pierce, Rebekah: Teaching Diverse Learners About “Smart Shopping”