Help your child understand instructions at home!

The ability to follow instructions is one key way that we track a child's understanding skills in the early years. This is because being able to follow instructions shows that a child is able to understand the vocabulary used and process more language. 

You likely give your child instructions all the time during daily routines and this also helps to build their confidence and often results in more fun for everyone!








 
Here are some tips to help your child to follow instructions:

• Match your child's level

For example, if your child is able to follow 1-step instructions like "give daddy the car", try adding more details to the instruction such as "give daddy the green car" or stepping up to 2-step instructions such as "give daddy the car then drink some water".
 

• Use gestures

It might be helpful to use gestures such as pointing to the green car and then to the water bottle.
 

• Show and help them

If you are giving a new instruction that your child is not familiar with, it might be helpful to demonstrate the instruction and then letting your child have a go!
 

• Praise your child

Don't forget to give your child lots of positive praise for following the instructions! This will help your child to feel accomplished, especially if they are following more  
 
At what age should your child be able to understand some of these? Click here to see some typical receptive language milestones that you might find helpful to track your child’s growth and development!

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