Surprisingly Fun Activities to Improve Communication Skills in Kids
By Samidha Raj
A person with good communication skills can convey or share ideas and feelings effectively. It involves verbal as well as non-verbal communication, listening, and visual communication skills.
Communication skills for kids are given utmost importance today as it is the biggest contributing factor to their personality development. Helping your kid build their communication skills during the early years can make it easy for them to grasp things quickly and hone these skills as they grow.
Why Are Communication Skill Activities Vital for Kids?
- Not every kid is a book lover – Some kids may be reluctant readers and need something more exciting and creative to keep them engaged in learning communication skills.
- Kids get a free space to learn – With interesting communication games for kids, you create a judgment-free environment where kids feel free to make mistakes. This helps them learn better and at their own pace.
- Kids get other benefits too – The various communication skills activities can also develop their interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and social intelligence.
- Kids can express their ideas better – Being academically good is not sufficient for the overall personality development of kids. With good communication skills, your kid will be able to express their ideas and feelings better.
5 Interesting Communication Activities and Games
Here are the top ones your kid will love playing:
- The Telephone Game
This game works on the listening skills of kids and can be played by all age groups.
Have everyone sit in a circle. Now ask one person to whisper a short message into the ear of the kid sitting on their right. This way, everyone has to relay the same message to their neighbor until it reaches the last kid. The last kid has to say what the message was out loud. It is quite obvious that the final message will differ from the original one, but the game is will help improve the communication skills of kids.
- Pointing Directions Game
This game works on the non-verbal communication skills of kids.
Ask your kid to write down the directions to reach their nearby favorite place. Then, follow those directions with them to reach the place. On your way, you can tell your kid how to write directions better or even a secret (alternative) route to reach their favorite place.
- Picture Storytelling Activity
Storytelling is an excellent way to work on kids’ communication skills.
Give your kid a set of pictures and ask them to arrange them in a sequence and then spin a story from it. Or you can hand them one interesting picture and ask them to narrate a short story around it.
Be a good listener and encourage your kidto use hand gestures and facial expressions to improve their presentation skills too.
- Poem Recitation or Presentation on a Specific Topic
Want to help your child become a good public speaker? Then try making them recite a poem from their favorite book. Another way to do is this activity is by asking them to prepare a small presentation on any current topic like saving the planet, coronavirus lockdown, use of smartphones, and so on.
If your kid is comfortable, you can motivate them to present in a small gathering, in front of their friends or family members to help build their confidence.
- Extempore
Extempore is the art of giving a spontaneous speech and forms an essential part of communication activities for kids.
Make a few notes on interesting topics and ask your child to pick one. Once they have read what their topic is, they have to say an impromptu speech on it.
Extempore helps kids think on their feet and express their ideas in the best way possible. This can suitably prepare them for similar impromptu class activities and even future career prospects.
The art of communication is the language of leadership as it helps one articulate and expresses their ideas well. But communication will work for those who work at it. So, it is important to focus on your kid’s communication skills as much as you’d focus on their academics. Because without it, your kid is bound to struggle in almost every field.
Communication games for kids like the extempore, the telephone game, and others are not just great for learning but also for having fun! So, pick a good day and activity, and start playing with your kid while you both laugh and learn together.
Samidha Raj works as part of the content marketing team at PlanetSpark, a platform that provides online classes to K8 learners on “New Age Skills” like, English Communication, Public Speaking, Grammar, Creative Writing, Debating, etc. She is passionate about empowering the youth by educating parents about the importance of 21st-century skills. In her free time, you can find her watching documentaries or animated movies and organizing game nights (board games are her thing)!
